Family medicine and internal medicine practices are among the most frequent patrons of clinical laboratory services. These practices are often the first point of contact for patients seeking diagnosis and health screening, as well as chronic disease management. So, they order tests from labs frequently and consistently.
In other words, general practitioners and internists love clinic labs.
If you have laboratories, it is obvious successfully targeting these practices will add a significant amount of revenue to the business. That is true if you have varied offerings ranging from routine panels to specialty diagnostics.
In this guide, we’ll explore how clinical labs can strategically target family medicine and internal medicine practices to grow their business and maintain strong provider relationships.
Why Family and Internal Medicine Practices Love Clinical Labs?
The simple answer is that their practices relies a lot on the output of clinical labs. These doctors orders tests on almost daily basis, and they prefer to keep ordering from labs that offers timely results.
Take a closer look on family medicine physicians, which provide care for patients of all ages and therefore would always have a line of patients waiting in their clinics. Meanwhile, internal medicine specialists have to deal with health issues in adults and would need to see patients in their clinics and hospitals they rotate with.
That means both specialties face and handle high patient volumes, which translates into frequent ordering of tests such as:
- Complete blood counts (CBC) and blood profile
- Lipid profiles, including cholesterol tests
- Blood sugar tests and diabetes monitoring, including HbA1c
- Liver, kidney, and thyroid function tests
- Tests for infectious diseases
- Cancer screening
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), these specialties account for a significant share of outpatient diagnostic orders, so labs should partner with these clinics to grow revenue.
Here are the steps for clinics to target family doctors and internists.
Step 1: Build a Data-Driven Target List
The most efficient way to target these practices is to start with a clean, segmented provider database.
Data accuracy is critical. Outdated contact lists often lead to wasted outreach efforts.
Healthcare data intelligence software, like Voyager, provides updated, accurate data and can quickly identify family and internal medicine practices by:
- Specialty filter – Isolating family medicine and internal medicine physicians from a national database
- Location filter – Targeting practices within a specific service radius
- Practice size filter – Identifying high-volume clinics vs. solo practitioners
- Testing patterns – Matching your lab’s services to the types of tests they frequently order
Step 2: Tailor Outreach Messaging
It is best not to rely on placeholder outreach emails and documents. When approaching family and internal medicine physicians, focus on how your lab supports patient care and practice efficiency.
Key points to emphasize:
- Faster turnaround times for common tests
- Integration with EHR systems for seamless ordering
- Access to specialist consultations for complex results
- Transparent pricing to support patient adherence
Avoid generic sales language when building your network with practices.
Instead, tie your lab’s strengths to specific patient care scenarios these physicians encounter daily.
Step 3: Offer Testing Solutions Aligned with the Needs of the Market
Labs that want to win referrals should position themselves as problem-solvers.
So take a close look at your market.
For example, if the waiting time for a certain blood test is 4 days and there is a significant backlog, position your clinic do deliver results in as short as two days.
Or, if your data shows that a local internal medicine group manages a high number of diabetic patients, you can tailor an outreach campaign promoting your HbA1c and microalbumin testing services.
More examples include:
- Offer bundled preventive care panels for annual physicals
- Providing chronic disease monitoring panels for lifestyle conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia
- Create and offer “same-day results” workflows for urgent care situations
Step 4: Engage Through Education
Educational outreach builds trust and positions your lab as a clinical partner rather than just a vendor.
There are things you can do to position yourself as an educator. Strategies include:
- Hosting CME-accredited webinars on interpreting test results
- Providing updated guidelines from NIH or CDC relevant to primary care testing
- Sharing local epidemiology reports (e.g., seasonal flu strain prevalence)
Step 5: Track and Refine Your Targeting Efforts
With all the steps we provided, it is up to you to refine and track the results to see which one works for you.
Once outreach begins, measure:
- Number of new ordering providers
- Volume increase in targeted test types
- Referral leakage rates (how often patients are sent to competing labs)
It can be somewhat difficult to track marketing efforts, especially if you have different offers and performed outreach to several markets.
Make things easier by using tools like the Voyager, which has verified provider data in a specific geographic area. You can use its data to further refine marketing and expand into new areas.
FAQs on Targeting Primary Care Practices for Lab Testing
Q1: What’s the best way for a lab to identify high-volume family medicine practices?
A: Use a healthcare provider database that includes specialty, patient panel size, and location. Voyager offers filters that allow you to find high-patient-volume practices in your service area.
Q2: How do labs convince primary care doctors to switch from another lab?
A: Demonstrate clear advantages — such as faster turnaround, better customer service, EHR integration, and competitive pricing. Case studies and peer recommendations help.
Q3: What tests do family medicine physicians order most often?
A: Common tests include CBC, lipid panel, HbA1c, basic metabolic panel, thyroid function tests, and vitamin D levels.
Q4: Can smaller labs compete with national reference labs?
A: Yes, by offering personalized service, local pickup, and faster results for urgent tests — things large labs may not prioritize.
