Most interventional psychiatry practices face the same paradox: referrals are both the biggest barrier to growth and the most effective channel for new patients. An NP with two-week availability sits 15 minutes from a hospital with a six-month waitlist. They never call her. She starts calling them monthly to remind them she exists.
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This guide breaks down how to build a referral network that produces consistent patient volume, based on insights from Monique Black, a growth marketing specialist who works with interventional psychiatry practices nationwide.

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What you'll learn:

• Why most referral efforts fail (and how to fix the underlying problem)
• Which referral sources to prioritize for interventional procedures
• The outreach sequence that works
• How to avoid killing referrals before they convert
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Building a Referral Network Requires Systems Rather than one-off Events and Outreach

Practices report the same pattern: a well-attended open house, lots of enthusiasm, promises to refer. Then two referrals total. The rule of thumb is seven touches before someone responds. One event gets you in the door. Seven touches gets you a referral. Without consistent outreach afterward, the relationships evaporate. Don't let this discourage you; building referral networks take time, but with dedicated systems, you don't need to take a scattershot approach.
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Which Providers Should You Target for Psychiatric Referrals?

Not all referral sources are equal. For interventional psychiatry, Monique recommends prioritiziing this order:

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1. Other psychiatrists

Highest volume of treatment-resistant patients. They should know the most about ketamine and TMS (though many don't). The challenge: you're playing in the same sandbox, which creates hesitation. But once trust is established, psychiatrists become the most consistent high-volume referrers.

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2. Therapists

They actively want to partner. Interventional procedures have better outcomes when paired with therapy, so the relationship benefits both sides. Lower patient volume than psychiatrists, but they refer consistently and are easier to meet with.

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3. IOPs, PHPs, and addiction centers

Many have their own sales teams already working the territory. Build a relationship and you can cross-refer, piggybacking on their outreach.

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4. Primary care (including women's health and pediatrics)

Higher volume but harder to reach. You may not realize you're making an impact until random referrals suddenly appear. Be patient.

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5. Specialty medical practices

Oncology and cardiology may sound surprising, but a high percentage of their patients have depression—sometimes caused by their medications. Community health centers screen for mental health and can become reliable sources.

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What about hospital systems?

Hospital referrals are a separate vertical. Health systems are closed loops—they refer internally before going outside. Breaking in requires understanding their specific barriers, navigating referral departments, and accepting longer timelines. Systems like the VA may route referrals by geography alone, regardless of availability or quality.

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For most private practices, the broader community offers faster returns. "Before you even spend any money marketing, you should be looking in your own network," Monique says. "A third of your patients are likely candidates for your interventional procedures. Start there. You don't even have to pay for it."

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How Do You Build a Referral Target List?

The easiest source: insurance company websites.

Go to Blue Cross (or whatever insurers you accept) for your state. Pull the provider directory for your area. You'll get a location-specific list of potential referral sources who share your patient demographics.

For TMS for OCD specifically, check the International OCD Foundation directory. Psychology Today works for finding therapists.

But don't try to call 3,000 providers. Start with a focused list of 50 or less.

"It's better to have a smaller number of referring providers who are consistent and whom you're growing patient volume with," Monique says. "It's much easier to manage."

Prioritize providers with a strong web presence; they're savvy, they're trying to attract patients themselves, and they tend to be better referral sources than practices with no online footprint.

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What Should You Fix Before Marketing Your Practice?

The most common mistake practices make is spending time and money on outreach before operations can handle the referrals.

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Audit your operations:

Phone response time: If you're calling patients back "within a day," that's too slow for most ketamine or TMS inquiries. These patients are often in crisis and need same-day callbacks. One practice Monique worked with was 6,000 calls behind but wanted to grow. "Before we grow, let's get out of this hole first."

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Referral intake flow: Is it easy for a referring provider to send you a patient? Is it easy for that patient to contact you? Every friction point is a leak. Monique identified about 27 points where a lead can drop between referral and appointment.

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Staff knowledge: Everyone in your office should understand your procedures. When the front desk doesn't know what TMS is, it shows in their voice. Enthusiasm comes from understanding.

Related reading: Building Your Interventional Psychiatry Dream Team: A Complete Hiring Guide

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Website credibility: A poorly built website signals an unreliable practice. Referring providers check. Make sure SEO is in progress (it takes six months), the site looks professional, and the referral process is obvious. Related reading: Establish Your Psychiatry Private Practice Online: What to Put on Your Website

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"All it takes is one patient complaining that they called and nobody called them back," Monique says. "That's the end of that referral relationship."

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What Should Front Desk Staff Know About Referrals?

Your front desk is the front line. They need to:

• Understand the treatments you offer. Not just the names; what they do and why they matter. When staff understand the mission of your practice and the reasoning behind treatments, enthusiasm comes through.
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• Capture referral source on every new patient call.
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• Respond fast. Again, for interventional psychiatry, "within a day" is not fast. Have a designated person monitoring calls, with a backup protocol when they're busy.

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What's the Best Outreach Sequence for Provider Referrals?

You know you should reach out to your network; here’s how:
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Step 1: The introductory letter

Start with a welcome letter from the medical director. Include clinical background, credentials, and services offered. This letter gets faxed and emailed. Yes, faxed. In healthcare, fax is still the preferred method. It's considered end-to-end encryption, it's how prior authorizations arrive, and it won't get deleted like an unknown email.

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Step 2: Request a meeting

The goal of the letter is to set up a clinician-to-clinician meeting. Physician to physician outreach carries more weight than any marketing material.

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Step 3: Consistent follow-up

Every two weeks to monthly. Not with the same message; share relevant content like. Set up Google Alerts for depression, anxiety, TMS, ketamine. There's always news. Sending useful information periodically keeps you top of mind without feeling salesy.

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What types of Content Should you Reach Out to Practices With? Here are examples of messages you can follow-up with over time to avoid feeling “salesy” or pushy:

Treatment Updates & Capacity

• "Hi [name], just wanted to let you know we now have TMS capacity and can start patients within 2 weeks"
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• "We've added evening appointments for working patients who need medication management"
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• "Update on our current availability: accepting new Spravato referrals with 1-week start time"
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Educational Resources

• Share a recent article or study about treatment outcomes: "Saw this recent data on ketamine for treatment-resistant depression, thought it might be helpful for your team"
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• Send a simple one-pager explaining who's a good candidate for TMS/Spravato/ketamine
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• "Here's a quick reference guide we created on when to consider interventional treatments"
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Case Success Stories (De-identified)

• "Had a great outcome recently with a patient similar to those you typically refer - thought you'd want to know the approach is working well"
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• Share aggregated outcome data if you track it: "Just reviewed our last quarter - 70% of our TMS patients showed significant improvement"
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Operational Updates

• "Added a dedicated referral coordinator so your team has a direct contact"
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• "Now accepting [specific insurance] if that helps with referrals"

Community Resources

• Share information about support groups you're aware of
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• Let them know about relevant continuing education opportunities
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• "There's a great webinar on perinatal psychiatry coming up. I thought your discharge planning team might be interested"
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What About Lunch-and-Learns? Do They Actually Work?

Lunch-and-learns work when you follow up. Without it, you bought someone a sandwich.

A few rules:

Qualify first. You're not a pharma rep with unlimited budget. Make sure clinicians will actually attend.
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Do it virtually when possible. Have lunch delivered to the office, then meet via video during their lunch hour. Saves your time and travel.
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Structure the conversation. Don't just present clinical information. Cover four things:

1. Rapport building / trust - establish who you are and how you can help them
2. Clinical discussion (brief) - educating them on a clinical topic like treatment-resistant depression
3. Logistics - How do they actually refer once they identify someone with TRD?
4. Identifying patients - ask them to think of candidates before they leave.
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Step 4: The call to action

After discussing your services—whether in your letter, on the phone, or during a lunch and learn, ask directly: "Can you think of any patients right now who might be good candidates?"
Most practices skip this step. The second a referring provider walks away from a conversation, they forget. Even psychiatrists with treatment-resistant patients don't always connect the dots to ketamine or TMS. Help them make that connection before they leave.
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How Should You Track Referral Relationships?

Use a CRM. HubSpot is free for basic use and works fine for managing referral relationships. Track who you've contacted, when, and what response you got.

If you won't use a CRM, at least use a Google Sheet. "It's not going to be as organized, but it's better than what I've seen," Monique says.

Always ask new patients who referred them. This data tells you which relationships are producing and where to double down.
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Do Patient Testimonials Help With Provider Referrals?

Patient testimonials matter mainly for patients to trust you.

Referring providers want clinical evidence, your outcomes data, and operational logistics (how easy is it to refer?).

Use testimonials on your website, in patient-facing materials, and in the waiting room. Patients who've had success with ketamine or TMS are often enthusiastic advocates; ask them to write a quote or record a short video.

Don't ask patients to refer other patients directly. That creates ethical complications. But capturing their stories for social proof is fair game.
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Why Should You Send End-of-Treatment Reports to Referrers?

Close the loop with referrers to show them they made a wise decision. When a referred patient finishes treatment, send an end-of-treatment report to the referring provider. Include patient outcomes, treatment notes, and relevant follow-up recommendations.

Most practices skip this step, which is exactly what makes it memorable when you don't. It builds trust, demonstrates clinical competence, and reminds them you exist so they’ll send more patients your way.

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What Referral Marketing Tactics Don't Work?

Physical mailers are expensive and rarely produce returns worth the cost for small practices. Unless you can commit to sending them consistently every month, skip it. Fax and email accomplish the same thing with less budget.

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One-time events without follow-up (open houses, single lunch-and-learns) don't move the needle. Events only work as part of a sequence. Alone, they're expensive one-offs.

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Waiting for referrals to come to you. Med management practices can fill up just by existing. Interventional practices cannot. The shift to interventional psychiatry requires active marketing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you overcome discomfort with marketing your practice?

Many clinicians feel uncomfortable marketing themselves. They worry about sounding salesy or bothering potential referral partners.

Think of it differently: there are millions of people who've tried everything and haven't gotten better. They could benefit from what you do, but they don't know you exist.

"Channel your mission into what you're doing," Monique says. "That removes some of the jitters about sounding like a salesperson. You're actually not."

If you're too introverted to walk into offices and introduce yourself, slip a brochure under the door. Email works. Fax works. Virtual lunch-and-learns work.

Staying invisible is the only approach that guarantees failure.

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What's the difference between hospital referrals and community referrals?

Hospital systems operate as closed loops that prefer internal referrals, requiring you to navigate referral departments and accept longer relationship-building timelines. Community referrals—from independent psychiatrists, therapists, and primary care—typically convert faster because there's less bureaucracy. Most private interventional practices see better ROI focusing on community providers first, then pursuing hospital relationships as a longer-term play.

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Should I hire someone dedicated to referral development?

It depends on your growth stage. The consistent outreach required—weekly follow-ups, tracking relationships, attending meetings—is difficult for a practicing clinician to maintain. If you're serious about growth, having someone whose primary job includes referral development (even part-time) increases success rates. The alternative is blocking dedicated time on your calendar that you protect as rigorously as patient appointments.

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What should I include in my introductory letter to referrers?

Lead with the medical director's credentials and clinical background. Referring providers want to know they're sending patients to someone qualified. Include a clear list of services (TMS, ketamine, Spravato, etc.), the conditions you treat, and insurance panels you're on. End with a specific call to action: request a brief phone call or meeting to discuss how you might work together. Keep it to one page.

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How do I handle referrers who promised to send patients but never do?

This is normal, so don't take it personally. Most providers genuinely intend to refer but forget in the moment with patients. The solution is making it easier: send periodic clinical updates or relevant articles (your "seven touches"), provide a simple referral form or direct phone line, and when you do connect, ask them to think of specific patients right then. Some relationships simply won't produce volume; track your data and reallocate time toward providers who actually refer.

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Is it worth paying for referral marketing services or agencies?

Be cautious. Many healthcare marketing agencies focus on patient acquisition (ads, SEO) rather than provider referral development, which requires relationship-building that's hard to outsource. If you're evaluating an agency, ask specifically about their provider outreach methodology, how they'll represent your practice in clinical conversations, and what metrics they'll track. The most effective referral development usually involves someone who can speak credibly about your clinical offerings.

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Summary and Conclusion

• Audit and fix your operations (phone response time, intake flow, staff knowledge) before investing in outreach.
• Use insurance websites to build a focused list of 50 contacts.
• Fax still works in healthcare.
• Follow up every 2–4 weeks with useful content, and always ask referrers to identify specific patients before ending conversations. Close the loop with end-of-treatment reports. Expect 6–12 months to see real volume.
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Most practices give up too early, but the ones that succeed aren't doing anything magical, they're just staying visible and showing up consistently while others drop off after month two. Persistence, not perfection, is what turns referrals from a barrier into your most effective growth channel.