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How To Get More Patients To Your Clinic

How To Get More Patients To Your Clinic & Medical Practice

Proven To Work For Hundreds of Medical Practices in US and Canada. Cost $799/mon. No Yearly Contracts.

If you aren’t growing your patient count, you are falling behind your competitors. Attracting new patients to your clinic not only replaces those who no longer need your services but helps grow your business and expand your ability to reach the community. More patients also help increase your bottom line. Here are some tips to have your door swinging open more often.

1. Have a website that is user-friendly, intelligent & loads quickly

Patients who have never visited your clinic before are not going to walk through the front door and ask for information. They will go online and visit your website for more details. They should be able to navigate your website to find the information they need quickly. There’s no need to spends tens of thousands of dollars on a fancy website. Something simple that provides rich useful information is enough to get your clinic started. The more features you add to your website that makes it easier for patients to learn about your practice or make an appointment, the better served you will be. Finally, ensure your site loads up quickly on a desktop or mobile device. The longer it takes for a website to load, the more likely someone will click on the “back” button and seek out a different solution to their healthcare need.

2. Positive reviews drive new patients to your medical practice

Even before a potential new patient visits your website, they are going to look at your review rating. They will pick a practice with hundreds of positive reviews over a practice with a few negative or neutral reviews every time. It’s impossible to avoid negative reviews, but if you provide quality service, any negative review will be buried in a mountain of positive reviews if you proactively seek them out. Positive reviews with a few less than positive ones will add authenticity to your clinic.

It is essential to keep tabs on your reviews and monitor them. Respond to every review, even if they are positive. This will show potential patients that you take their concerns seriously, and you go out of your way to help those who did not have a pleasant experience. Avoid being confrontational with reviewers in your replies, and instead, strive to fix whatever they were unhappy with at your clinic.

3. Establish social media accounts – start with Google my business, Facebook and Instagram

Social media is here to stay, and medical clinics that ignore them are giving their competitors an advantage. Use social media to engage with current and potential patients. You want to avoid being overly technical, graphic, or promotional with your posts. Doctors who post things of this nature will suffer from low engagement, and patients will end up unlikely or muting the social media channels. Clinics should also never post anything that would violate the privacy of one of their patients. While it is okay to sprinkle in some promotional posts, try to share information that would be of interest to patients. Health news, local health updates, or even local stories make for great, engaging posts. Finally, post pictures and updates of doctors and staff. This will help make your clinic look more authentic, and patients will start to get to know the people who will be taking care of them.

4. Use search engine optimization (SEO) so search engines can find you easier

No matter how slick a website might look, it would be best if you optimized it so a search engine will find it. Also known as SEO, the process will improve your search rankings for targeted keywords. There are many ways to improve your SEO Rankings, but they all do not need to be done overnight. You can incrementally improve your SEO by expanding the content pages of your website and adding more information. Check your pages, so they include the relevant keywords you are targeting. Since you are running a medical practice and not a national corporation, your clinic should also focus on local SEO. Add local keywords to your website so that you return as a relevant result. Local keywords could include:

  • The town you are located in
  • Towns nearby
  • Neighborhoods
  • Major roadways
  • Landmarks
  • Bus or Subway stations
  • Parks or other public areas 
  • University & Colleges

5. Offer more services – Run the procedure code report in your EMR to determine which services have higher margins

The services you offered when you first open your clinic may no longer be a good fit for your community. If the needs of your patient population have shifted, shift your services to match them. Track local news events and see if your services match what is going on in your community. Watch competitors and check what services they are offering to see if they are filling a need your clinic does not. Everyone wants to be first, but if you can’t be the first to provide a service to your community, at the very least, don’t be last. The more you can match your clinic’s services with the needs of your community, the more patients will likely choose your practice for their healthcare needs.

6. Follow up appointments – Use automation and reduce costs

Don’t assume patients will make their own follow up appointments for treatment or annual checkups. Train your staff to schedule a patient for a follow-up appointment, even if it is six to twelve months into the future. Once they are scheduled, be sure you sign them up for your reminder system, so they don’t miss their appointment. Clinics accomplish this using postcards, emails, or text messages. Some even use all three to make sure someone doesn’t miss their appointment. 

Another benefit of a follow-up appointment is to show your patient that you take their health care needs seriously. A follow up allows you to ensure a treatment course is working correctly, and they are getting the results they need. This attention to detail to a patient helps secures them to be a long-term patient to your clinic.

7. Attend Community Events

There are likely to be loads of annual events in your community, giving you opportunities to meet people who are not your patients and give you additional exposure. This engagement can range from setting up a stand to offer free screenings and information, to sponsorships, or even volunteering to assist at an event’s “medical tent.” These opportunities are a great way to get in front of people’s eyes and make a good impression. 

Depending on the nature of your practice, there could be opportunities to go into schools to give presentations to parents and students. Free seminars are always welcomed by school districts and appreciated by the local community. Again, you will make a good impression on potential patients, and it isn’t uncommon for people to make appointments based on the information they learned at your seminar or presentation.

8. Introduce your staff – Start with introducing yourself

Many doctors are afraid that someone else will “poach” their staff and steal them. However, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Posting pictures and biographic information of your doctors and staff help you connect with potential patients and adds authenticity to your website. Patients will want to know how long someone has worked at your clinic and their areas of expertise. The more information they have, the easier it will be for them to make their healthcare decision. As for your employee being whisked away, if you have a great working environment, you shouldn’t worry about them being hired away from you.

These tips should help you maintain and grow your patient base. It will not happen overnight, but if you commit to these areas, it will help! Patient Gain is here to help you with many of these areas and can show you what other clinics have successfully done!