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Orthopaedic clinics · Referral marketing

Know which GP, physio and coach sends you patients, and thank them properly.

Referral marketing for an orthopaedic clinic is the planned way GPs, physiotherapists, scan centres, sports coaches and past patients send people to your surgeon. GullySales records who referred each patient, prepares the letter a referring doctor needs, and keeps every thank-you inside medical ethics rules.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

A healthcare coordinator explains an appointment form to a visitor at a reception desk

What referral marketing means

Referral marketing in a regulated practice is being the one a physician, a colleague or a former patient names, without being paid to, because paying for a referral is restricted in most of these professions. GullySales builds the ask into the moment a patient is satisfied and into the note that goes back to the referring doctor, and it never involves a fee.

Also for orthopaedic clinics

Sales and marketing for orthopaedic clinics, the overview.

Last updated 6 Oct 2026. Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. We describe restrictions in general terms, so check the current position with your own council or adviser before you publish anything.

For orthopaedic clinics

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “Nobody writes down who sent the patient”

    The front desk asks who referred you, hears a name and forgets it. A year later the clinic cannot say which GPs send its knee patients.

  • “The referring GP never hears what happened”

    A GP sends a patient with a suspected ligament tear and hears nothing back. The next patient goes to the surgeon who wrote a short note after the consultation.

  • “A referral fee is not a thank-you”

    Paying a doctor, lab or physio per patient is fee-splitting, which the ethics codes doctors work under treat as misconduct. The thanks that are allowed are a letter back, a quick slot and a teaching session.

What we do

What we deliver for orthopaedic clinics.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A referral source on every enquiry

    A field in the register or CRM for who referred the patient: the GP's name, the physio, the scan centre, the coach or a past patient.

    Result: You can name the people who send you patients.

  2. A letter back to the referring doctor

    A short template the surgeon signs after the consultation, giving the finding and the plan, sent with the patient's consent.

    Result: The GP knows the patient was seen and what happens next.

  3. Referral slips and a direct line for doctors

    A printed slip and a number or WhatsApp line that GPs and physios use to book their patient in without the OPD queue.

    Result: Referring to you is easier than sending the patient elsewhere.

  4. Teaching sessions for GPs and physios

    A talk by your surgeon on when to refer a knee, a shoulder or a back, held at the clinic or a local doctors' association meeting.

    Result: Doctors nearby learn what your surgeon treats and when to send.

  5. A route for past patients, with no rewards

    A card and a WhatsApp number for patients who want to tell a friend, and nothing offered in return.

    Result: Word of mouth has somewhere to go.

  6. Referrals counted by source against the baseline

    Patients by referring doctor, physio, scan centre, coach and past patient, compared with the count recorded before the work began.

    Result: You see which relationships are growing and which have gone quiet.

How the result is measured

  • Referrals received
  • Referral conversion rate
  • Cost per referred customer

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full referral marketing page

How referrals work here

Where an orthopaedic clinic's referrals come from, and how to look after each one.

Family doctors and GPs
They see the knee or the back first. Send a written note after each consultation with the patient's consent, give them a direct line for urgent fractures, and record the GP's name on the file.
Physiotherapists
A physio sees a patient who is not improving and wants a surgeon's view. Agree in writing how patients come back to them for rehab after surgery, so referring does not cost them the patient.
Radiology and scan centres
A patient holding a worrying MRI asks the radiologist whom to see. Make sure the centre has your consulting days and booking number. Never pay a scan centre per patient sent.
Sports coaches, gyms and cricket academies
A coach decides who sees a twisted knee first. Offer an injury talk at the academy and a quick slot for their players, and note the academy as the source when a player books.
Past joint replacement patients
A patient walking well tells neighbours in the park. Give them a card with the clinic's number, offer no reward, and never publish their story without written consent.
What never to do
No cash, gifts or commission to doctors, labs or physios for patients sent. Medical councils treat it as misconduct and their codes differ, so check yours before any referral arrangement.

Who it is for

This is written for these orthopaedic clinics.

  • Single-surgeon OPD clinics that operate at partner hospitals
  • Joint replacement centres
  • Sports injury and arthroscopy clinics
  • Spine clinics
  • Fracture and trauma clinics on highways and ring roads
  • Paediatric orthopaedic practices
  • Orthopaedic nursing homes and day-care surgery units
  • Multi-surgeon bone and joint groups with branches

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
  • You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
  • You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.

How it works

From your first message to the first report.

No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.

  1. First

    Your brief

    You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.

  2. After the brief

    A conversation and a written scope

    We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.

  3. Before work starts

    Baseline recorded

    Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.

  4. After the baseline

    The first fix goes live

    The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is reply time, a follow-up sequence, the page buyers land on or the handover between marketing and sales.

  5. As agreed

    Report against the baseline

    What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.

  6. At renewal

    Renew on the numbers

    The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.

How the referral marketing work runs

  1. 1

    Understand your margin and customer relationship

    We agree what reward is genuinely sustainable and appropriate for your business and customer type.

  2. 2

    Audit existing informal referrals

    We check how much word of mouth already happens, to size expectations for the formal programme realistically.

  3. 3

    Design the offer and mechanism

    A specific reward and an easy sharing method are built and tested.

  4. 4

    Implement and promote

    The programme is surfaced at the right moments in your customer journey.

  5. 5

    Measure and adjust

    We track referrals and conversions, adjusting the reward or promotion if uptake is low.

Why us

Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.

  • Marketing and sales, as one job

    Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.

  • The person on the first call does the work

    No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.

  • A baseline before anything starts

    Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.

  • The fee in writing, split three ways

    Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.

  • No guarantees we cannot keep

    The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.

  • One office, and we say so

    Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.

#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.

Your brief

Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Can we give a gift to a GP who refers a lot?
No gift tied to referrals, whatever it is called. The codes doctors in India work under treat payment for referrals as misconduct. A prompt letter back, a quick appointment for their patients and an invitation to a case talk are the thanks that are allowed.
How do we find out who referred a walk-in patient?
Ask at registration, with a short list on the form: doctor, physio, scan centre, coach, friend, Google, Practo. If they name a doctor, write the name and the area. Ask again at the first follow-up, when patients remember better.
How do we approach a physio who sends patients to another surgeon?
Meet them, ask what they need from a surgeon, and listen. The answer is frequently a clear plan back and the patient returned for rehab. Offer that in writing and let the first few shared patients show how you work.
Is it all right to ask past patients to refer friends?
Once, kindly, at a good moment such as a follow-up where they are walking well, and never again if they decline. Offer nothing for it. A card they can hand on is enough.
Is an orthopaedic surgeon allowed to advertise?
Within limits set by medical councils, which differ by state and change. Words such as best or painless, discounts and any promise of a result are the usual problems. We write pages and ads that describe the procedure and the surgeon's qualifications, and you check them against your own council's current rules before they go live.
Can we show a patient walking after a knee replacement?
Ask your council or adviser first. A video or photograph of a result works as a testimonial, and doctors' advertising rules restrict those. If it is allowed, take written consent for that specific use. We would sooner film the physio room and the surgeon explaining the stay.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.

From the blog

Further reading for orthopaedic clinics.

All articles

More for orthopaedic clinics

Everything else we would do for you.

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for orthopaedic clinics.

Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

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