How Does New Patient Acquisition Work?

New patient acquisition is the process of attracting new patients to a medical practice. It’s a key strategy for growing a practice’s patient base and revenue. Patient acquisition companies help healthcare providers grow their practices by acquiring new patients. These companies can help with marketing, online presence, and patient engagement. To get more patients, you can improve your online presence, optimize the patient experience, and market to your target audience. Start with your practice’s website.

1. New patient acquisition is not a simple task anymore

Patients look for your services online. Millions of patients do this every day, and the majority of the patients find you on Google and Social Media sites, and over 80 percent of patients do this on a mobile device.

2. Where do patients look and where do patients come from?

Patients look for your healthcare services on:

1) Google SEO (Learn more about how healthcare SEO works) This strategy takes time.
2) Google local SEO (Learn more about how local SEO works) This strategy is typically mid to long term.
3) Google Ads (Learn more about how Google ads work) This is a short term strategy and is expensive.
4) Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok Ads (Learn more about social media advertising) This is a short term strategy and is expensive.
5) Digital ads on other secondary websites (Insurance websites, healthgrades, vitals, and other medical and dental directories etc)
6) Offline traditional advertising (Newspapers, TV, Yellow pages, billboards, leaflets, flyers, USPS mailed attention grabbers)
7) Referrals and relationship marketing (Referrals from your network of other providers, building local relationships, referral events, local presence events)
8) Influencer marketing (Using social media influencer personalities endorsing your services, another form is other patients posting good experience with your practice, A.K.A Google Reviews)
9) Word of mouth marketing (Existing happy patients tell their family members, friends and neighbors)
10) Ecommerce apps (Like Amazon, etc)

The first four points are the most important mediums for your online success. Also note: If used properly, conversion from Google search is 3 times higher than from social media sites. However, if you are building your brand, then social media is a better channel. Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok and YouTube ads are the best way to increase awareness, do promotional marketing, and interact with patients. Google ads and Bing ads are the best search PPC platforms that can quickly convert new patients. Overall the best marketing tool with high ROI is marketing automation solution, based on AI agents, apps, HIPAA compliance, high performance website and professional services. A patient focus website that caters to your existing patients and attracts new patients, every day for your healthcare practice.

3. Patients check you out!

Initially, patients look for your reviews and rankings; primarily Google reviews online. They then look at your website for useful information about your services, provider’s background, location and insurance coverage. If you offer cash-pay services patients immediately go to “offers” page. Since they are mostly mobile, the website should be optimized for mobile and should have mobile apps embedded into the website for easy conversion.

4. Patients contact you – this is called “conversion”

Patients contact you using:

1) Phone (This is still the no 1 way patients contact you, so call tracking is indispensable)
2) Texting/SMS (Instant Messaging from your website, in the form of a text/SMS – No 2 way patients contact you)
3) ChatBot (Automated ChatBot should be HIPAA compliant and mobile optimized)
4) Appointment request (There are 4 different ways an appointment app can be configured to increase conversions)
5) Redeem or Click on Buy-Now promotion (Extremely important for self-pay options)
6) Contact form (This is a common way for a patient to send you a request from your website, but it must be HIPAA compliant)
7) Sign up for your monthly newsletter (Very effective to capture Emails)
Your website should make it very easy for your patients to contact you and ask questions. If you have a multi-channel engagement apps, you will receive more patient inquiries, hence more patients. Patients are then automatically added to a “Leads Funnel”, which is a HIPAA compliant patient marketing database.

5. Providers or practice staff engage with patients

Your internal staff are the main points of contact that reply to interested patients and answer phone calls. Phone calls are still the number one way patients contact you. Then in this order: Texting/SMS, ChatBot, Appointments and Contact Forms. If the interested patient initiates from social media, their usual preferred way to contact you is by using texting/SMS (instant messaging).

6. You see the patient in person or virtually

Healthcare providers see the patients either in person or virtually using telemedicine. This part of the healthcare experience is your responsibility. Providers who focus on excellent patient care, win online and offline! If you only provide telemedicine, then your patient acquisition cost is higher.

7. Your patient marketing system takes over (GOLD service), using reviews, surveys, Email marketing, social media posts, relationship building and outreach

PatientGain’s patient CRM database makes your outreach tasks and relationship building easy. There are several apps designed to make it easy for you to retain patients and build a referral machine. Reputation management and sending review requests and surveys is one of the apps.

Additional apps include:

1) Email marketing (educational and promotional)
2) Sending thank you notes
3) Appointment reminders
4) Happy-birthday cards
5) Happy holidays
6) Promotions app
7) Billing app for online payments
8) Paperless registration and insurance verification

Patient Acquisition Plan

A patient acquisition plan is a strategic approach designed to attract new patients to a healthcare facility or medical practice. It involves a combination of online and offline marketing strategies, operational improvements, and patient care enhancements to increase the patient base and improve healthcare delivery. Here’s how you can develop a comprehensive plan:

1. Market Research

Understand the local community, demographic shifts, common health issues, and the competitive landscape to tailor your services and marketing effectively.

2. Defining Target Audience

Identify your ideal patients based on age, gender, health conditions, and socioeconomic status to craft targeted marketing campaigns.

3. Value Proposition

Articulate what makes your practice unique, such as specialized services, superior patient care, or innovative treatment options.

4. Marketing Strategy

Outline a mix of online and offline marketing strategies to reach your target audience:

• Website Optimization: Ensure your website is user-friendly, informative, and optimized for search engines (SEO) to rank higher in search results.
• Content Marketing: Create valuable content that educates potential patients about your services and relevant health topics.
• Social Media Marketing: Build a strong presence on relevant platforms to connect with patients, share educational content, and establish your practice as a trusted resource.
• Online Advertising: Utilize search engine advertising (PPC) or social media ads to target specific demographics and reach a wider audience.
• Patient Reviews: Encourage satisfied patients to leave positive online reviews, which can significantly influence potential patients’ choices.
• Offline Marketing: Explore traditional marketing methods like print ads, local partnerships, or community events to reach patients who may not be active online.

5. Online Presence

Maintain a strong online presence with a professional website that provides useful information and includes clear calls to action.

6. Patient Experience

Enhance the patient experience from initial contact and scheduling to visit and follow-up care.

7. Operational Efficiency

Streamline operations to handle an increase in patient volume without compromising care quality.

8. Monitoring and Analytics

Use data analytics to track the effectiveness of your strategies and refine them based on performance metrics.

9. Compliance and Ethics

Ensure all practices comply with healthcare regulations and ethical standards.

10. Budget Allocation

Allocate your marketing budget strategically across your chosen channels based on potential return on investment (ROI).

This patient acquisition plan is continuously evolving and requires regular review and adaptation to changes in market conditions, patient expectations, and healthcare innovations. By focusing on meeting the needs of patients and delivering excellent care, a healthcare practice can build a loyal patient base for long-term success.

How can PatientGain help you?

New patient acquisition platform & marketing service costs $799 to $1999/mon. No upfront costs, best customer service in the industry and easy start. Hundreds of healthcare practices, and thousands of providers, use PatientGain in US and Canada.

PLATINUM service by PatientGain is a single platform solution for your medical and dental practice. It is a proven medical and dental marketing automation solution, based on AI agents, apps, HIPAA compliance.
It includes 1) SEO optimized fast loading HIPAA compliant WordPress website 2) marketing apps  3) advertising apps 4) conversion tracking apps  5) patient communication apps 6) HIPAA compliance 7) project manager  8) technical staff  9) service and apps are a part of the solution, so you have minimum technical involvement.  10) automation and awesome customer service results in very high ROI and customer happiness.  Hundreds of practices and thousands of providers use this service everyday.

The PLATINUM service from PatientGain is used by telemedicine physicians, dentists, surgeons, pediatrics, medical spas, pain management, functional medicine, primary & urgent care, cardiologists, podiatrists, addiction medicine, regenerative, wellness, therapy, OBGYN, integrative medicine, dentists, dermatologists, IVF & reproductive, pharma, bio-tech & many other medical practices.