But does it really work?

When you spend money on marketing, you want to know that you’ll get a return on your investment. 

 Face to Face marketing as a part of a purposeful physician liaison program does work! 

Take a look at these case studies:
 
*  The physician liaison worked with a cardiologist to develop a plan to capture more of a peripheral market.  From one meeting between the liaison and a family practice doc, that cardiologist saw $140,000 in new procedures from those referrals that next calendar month.  The physician liaison continued to distribute cardiology service line material in the market, as well as performing actual liaison duties with those offices (making sure they weren't having problems with the referral process, that reports back were timely, etc.), and the cardiology market share jumped considerably.  Eventually, that cardiologist began holding a clinic in that market at least once per week to take care of all of his new patients.

* Through a good relationship with leadership at rural hospital (cultivated through several months of visiting), the physician liaison was able to set up a meeting between hospital leadership and a vascular surgeon to arrange for a vascular clinic/screenings to be held in their hospital.  That physician was able to gain much volume in surgical procedures both at the hospital and in his office. Most of the volume was for newer stenting procedures that the physician had begun doing -- these were procedures that the physician liaison had "marketed" to hospital family practice docs and leadership for quite some time. 

* Through regular rounding, the physician liaison discovered that one independent physician practice in was terribly frustrated with the service and communication they were receiving from an orthopaedic practice in the area where they were sending most of their patients.  This was mentioned in passing to the liaison by the office manager, so the liaison mentioned one of her clients, another orthopaedic practice in the area.  Because she was in the field and was a trusted "ear," she was able to bring key players to the table from both sides, and out of that dissatisfaction that might've gone unnoticed, came a transferral of 70% or more of that office's orthopaedic referrals from the first specialty practice to the liaison’s client’s practice.  

* Again, through rounding and good relationships with nursing staff at physician offices, the physician liaison discovered that there was misinformation in them arket about the technological capabilities of imaging equipment of a specialty practice’s radiology department.  She was able to correct the misinformation at area referring offices, take the practice’s radiology technician with her on rounds to answer questions, and ultimately, to capture the referrals that were going to another imaging center that was thought to have "better images."  The practice ultimately had to increase staffing and hours of availability to compensate for this influx.