Meet and greet

Q: I'm a specialist in a community with a lot of old-guard general practitioners. How can I build rapport and convince them I'm not out to steal their clients?

"Referral letters and day-to-day phone calls don't give you enough opportunity to nurture a relationship," says Ann Selander, CVT, CVPM, MBA, hospital administrator at WestVet Emergency & Specialty Center in Boise, Idaho. Instead, hold local CE meetings to get to know referral veterinarians and educate them about using specialists as an extension of their practice.

Ann Selander

You can hold the meeting at your practice, a hotel conference room, or even your local library. Dinner or refreshments will draw a larger crowd, Selander says. Contact your state veterinary board and ask to obtain CE credits for the veterinarians who attend. Focus your presentation on medical topics that are interesting and applicable to general practice and that will lead to discussions about when it's appropriate to refer to a specialist. Leave ample time at the beginning and end of your presentation to answer questions one-on-one and socialize with attendees.

For large practices, Selander suggests hosting a "lunch and learn" meeting that the whole staff can attend. Provide lunch and conduct a short presentation. Afterward, follow up with the attendees to gather feedback and create a list of topics that would be of interest for future talks. Offer to provide notes to veterinarians and team members who were unable to attend.