A Friendly Letter is a letter written to “one” patient, but is sent to every patient. The letter is short, sweet and asks them to call you.  A Friendly Letter is not signed by hand (because you don’t have time for it) but simply double-spaced after the closing and your first name typed.

Depending upon the size of your practice and the involvement of the owner, you may have someone other than the owner’s name on the letter.  I do not recommend that you place a PT’s name on the letters to his or her individual patients because it is a nightmare to handle if that staff member leaves.  You should put someone else’s name on the letter. In the larger practice where the owner is not “connected” to the patients or personally well-known, I like to assign a staff member (called a Patient Representative) to be the liaison between your clinic and the patients.

If your practice is not that large, the letter could be from your front desk person or the office manager.

Note: If you were to create a position called a Patient Representative the first letter that you would send before the Friendly Letters would be one to introduce the Patient Representative.  You would make it known that it is this person responsible for seeing to it that, from the time a patient enters the clinic to the point where they are discharged, everything is perfect.

In a Friendly Letter, just tell the patient you want to know how they are doing and you want them to contact you. Make sure this letter is written in a way that the person who reads it will think it was only written to him or her.

I recommend that you not mail these letters to patients who have a patient balance greater than 60 days. Do you really want them to come back?

Also, do not send these letters out as bulk mail. Think about it – a personal letter sent out bulk rate? I don’t think so. Use stamps for postage.


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Samples of “The Friendly Letter”

Dear (Patient’s Name),

I just wanted to drop you a line to see how you are doing.  Please give me a call.

Best Wishes,
___________________

Dear (Patient’s Name),

How are you feeling?  Give me a call and let me know.

Sincerely,

The shorter the better!

These are fun and easy to send out, but be sure to work out at your front desk how to handle these calls because they will call!

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