How do you bring patients to your practice?

How do you bring patients to your practice?

Effective marketing is essential for any business to grow, and medical practices are no exception. Yet, healthcare marketing is a specialized field that needs a different approach. So, how do you get patients to your practice? You need not only innovative ways to attract new patients but also strategies to retain existing patients.

Did you know that any doctor who wants to grow their practice at a healthy rate should be seeing a minimum of 30 new patients each month. This may sound like an ambitious goal, but it is achievable. There are the obvious ways to attract more patients, such as offering high-quality services at affordable, market-sensitive prices and relying on word of mouth publicity from existing patients. But unless you take your healthcare marketing to the next level with a comprehensive approach, you are unlikely to see these numbers.

If you have been struggling with questions like... How do I bring a patient to my clinic? Or... How do I get new patients in private practice?.... please continue reading for some tips and creative marketing ideas. Some of these are established practices that you are surely aware of, but could use a little more focus. Others may surprise you but are the future of healthcare. All are proven ways to attract more patients and retain current patients to help your medical practice grow.

How to attract new patients to your medical practice?

It is essential to ain a good relationship with existing patients, but it is equally important to add new patients to your medical practice if you want to grow. The usual ways to achieve this include referrals and other traditional marketing techniques. But if you want to attract more patients to your practice, you will have to look beyond physician referrals.

This is because, now more than ever, potential patients are using social media and other other digital channels such as search engines to proactively look for physicians. Some practices report that up to 70% of their new patients are self-referred through digital platforms. Which is why, to bring new patients to your medical practice, you'll have to look beyond traditional healthcare marketing strategies such as referrals.

Building an online presence and visibility is the key. Fortunately, you do not need to spend huge amounts of money on advertising to reach out to new patients. Here are some cost-effective tips on building a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to get potential patients through your door. Keep in mind that what works for one practice may not work for you. You will have to experiment a little to figure out what works to grow your practice.

Know your target audience

To attract more patients to your practice, you should be aware of the demographics of the area where you are located. You can get this information from research on existing patient records. The average age, gender, and occupations of your patients should influence your marketing strategies. For instance, if there is a high percentage of elderly people in your region and no doctors or medical practices that offer geriatric services, this is certainly a gap worth filling. Analyzing this kind of data will help you develop targeted marketing campaigns that can give you impressive results.

Develop a marketing strategy

Your medical practice is like any other business. To thrive, it needs a clear marketing strategy and strong brand identity. This is critical to build trust and loyalty among your patients. You can develop your healthcare brand by answering questions like: Who is my ideal patient? What are my service goals? What can I do to stand out from the competition? To ensure easy brand recall, ain consistency in your style and logo across all your advertising channels, including your signage, stationery, appointment cards, website, and social media.

Nurture relationships with existing patients

A tried and tested way to attract more patients to your practice is word of mouth. If your existing patients are satisfied with your services, they are highly likely to recommend you to their family and friends. This is a no-cost method to grow your practice. But don't become complacent and assume your current patients are satisfied. Ask them during visits and through periodic surveys. You might be surprised with what you uncover. Use this information to improve the patient experience at your practice. Even small, easily overlooked details can sometimes make a big difference.

Ask for reviews

When potential patients are searching for new physicians on social media or through search engines, they rely heavily on what current patients are saying about a physician. This is essentially the new-age, digital version of a timeless practice - word of mouth. Patients will search online reviews for specific treatments as well as overall experience, especially if they are new to the area. Make sure you don't miss this opportunity for advertising your practice. After each patient visit, consider sending a follow-up email that includes a link to leave an online review. Also, ensure you are on all the popular review websites such as Healthgrades, Yelp, ZocDoc, Angie's List, and Google Reviews. Keep an eye out for negative reviews and address the most common complaints. Be sure to leave both positive and negative feedback online for authenticity. Of course, the more positive reviews you collect, the more likely you are to attract potential patients.

Create or improve your website

A healthcare website is the modern-day version of a physician's business card. If you do not have one, you are missing out on a great opportunity to reach potential patients in your community. If you have a website, but it is outdated or user-unfriendly, then it is high time you updated it. Your website is often the first impression new patients have of your practice. It can be a great source of referrals with reviews and testimonials from existing patients. You can publish a blog with accurate and useful health information to add value and engage and attract patients. Adding new posts to your website will also help you rank better in search engine results, with a direct positive impact on growing your practice. Remember, if you are located in an area with a high ethnic minority population, it is a great idea to have your website translated into other languages, for example, Chinese or Spanish.

Get listed on local directories

If your medical practice is relatively new, it is important to let potential patients in the community know of your presence. The Yellow Pages have pretty much been relegated to history. Now, the internet gives you multiple options to reach your target audience. To this end, it is a good idea to sign up for all the major online directories. The biggest search engines, such as Google My Business, provide this service for free. It will put your practice on the map not only for the local population but worldwide. Prospective patients will be able to quickly obtain your contact details and learn about your services.

How to retain patients in your practice?

If you think attracting new patients to your practice is difficult, aining current patients is no easier. It takes a lot of time, effort, and sometimes even a financial commitment to retain existing patients and prevent them from going to your competition. Here are some well-known and some not-so-well-known healthcare marketing strategies that can help physicians retain patients.

ain a good relationship with existing patients

One mistake many physicians make when they want to grow their business is they focus solely on attracting new patients. While this is essential, it is also important to ensure your existing patients are happy with your services. This is one of the cheapest ways of advertising your medical practice, because happy patients will recommend you to their family, friends, and colleagues. Besides giving you a referral, they will be unlikely to leave you for your competition. A simple example: Always answer emergency calls promptly. If you are available for your patients in an emergency and go above and beyond, they are highly unlikely to leave your practice.

Keep current patients engaged with your practice

You can retain current patients by showing them you care. There are several ways to do this. Organize friends and family events, send reminders for upcoming appointments, or send e-mails with discount offers on certain services. Not only do these activities add value to your patients' healthcare, they also keep them engaged with your practice. Just make sure you do not overdo it so it becomes spam. Be positive, friendly, and to-the-point. Also, be sure to choose the right channel - text, email, phone call, or social media, as appropriate.

Upgrade to modern technology

Healthcare organizations and medical practices that do not embrace the digital age are bound to get left behind. Using modern technology may sound intimidating and expensive, but it is usually easier than it sounds. The most important thing you can do is make it easier for patients to get in touch with you, whether it is to book an appointment or ask a quick question. This convenience not only saves times for patients for also for you and your staff.

Expand your services

If you want to grow your medical practice and retain current patients, consider expanding the range of services you offer. Start offering new and popular procedures that are sought after by the demographic you serve. Also, think beyond treatment - focus on the overall patient experience at your office. For example, if your area has mostly families with young children, adding a supervised children's play area to your aesthetic practice will encourage young mothers to come in for cosmetic treatments. If you have more elderly patients, connecting with a transport service can make it easier for your patients to travel for appointments at your practice. The more services you offer to patients, the easier it will be for you to retain them. Of course, it goes without saying, you should offer high-quality care and have polite and friendly staff to meet all the expectations of your current and future patients.

How do you promote a medical practice?

Google handles 3.5 billion searches every day. An estimated 8 out of 10 people use a search engine to look for healthcare information online. Given this, if you aren't online (Google My Business, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), then there's a good chance many prospective patients in your community do not know you exist. A website is a great way for physicians to take baby steps into the digital world. Even if you create a basic website, make sure it is designed well and mobile-responsive (6 out of 10 people access the internet on their mobile phones). Take a look at competitor websites and think about what you can do better. And don't sit back once you're up and running. ain an active online presence by listing your practice on directories, creating a profile on review sites, and using social media ads such as Facebook ads to target the local population.

Find innovative ways to connect with patients

Facebook groups - check. Live videos - check. Paid advertising - check. If you've been there, done that when it comes to healthcare marketing, it's time to amp up your strategies. Both new patients and current patients want a seamless experience with their medical practice. When you make yourself discoverable and easily accessible, it is half the battle won.

The MeTime app is a great way to become accessible to patients. Physicians can list their specialties and experience, chat with patients, upload photos and videos, and do video consultations, all through a single intuitive, user-friendly platform.

To summarize, to grow your practice and bring more patients in, you can't afford to ignore digital marketing, social media, and an online presence in general. Whether you work with an in-house marketing team or outsource to an external marketing agency with specialization in healthcare, be consistent with your branding and proactive in your approach. Periodically review your marketing strategy and be open to new and emerging ideas and technologies. Before you know it, your patient list will grow and you'll have more on your hands than you can handle.