Attracting and retaining patients requires ongoing effort and strategy for medical practices. This continued effort supports staffing and security while creating the opportunity for growth. Even medical practices with a full patient load can benefit from making improvements that generate a waitlist or optimize patient care.
Here are five strategies for attracting new patients in 2023 while retaining your existing caseload.
Revisit Your Digital Marketing
Medical practitioners often overlook the value of digital marketing— especially in long-standing practices that predate the social media revolution. However, creating a strong online presence that’s aligned with your brand can help attract new patients and enrich your relationship with the ones you have.
Consider working with a medical website design agency to create or revitalize a user-friendly website. Look for an agency that can create something that fits your brand without sacrificing user flow. A digital marketing agency can also help you develop a SEO (search engine optimization) strategy to help draw more traffic to your website and ensure local search users are directed to your practice.
Offer Telehealth Services
Telehealth and virtual medicine are the future. The global pandemic made this offering a necessity during trying times. Yet, the benefits of telehealth services can’t be overstated.
Offering telemedicine allows you to cast a wider net when attracting patients, often leading to appointments from those outside your general operating area. Patients in regions with struggling healthcare systems can access quality care without traveling miles for an appointment.
Similarly, telehealth improves accessibility for patients with socioeconomic or mobility challenges. These appointments allow patients to conference in without missing work, paying to commute, or finding childcare. Similarly, elderly patients can get quality care from the safety of their homes.
Conduct Market Research
Before you invest in new improvements and offerings, consider asking your existing patients about their experience. Send out incentivized surveys to determine what issues frustrate your patients, what aspects of your practice they enjoy, and what improvements you could make to gain more word-of-mouth referrals.
You can also work with a marketing research agency to conduct broader community research with the patients of other practices in your area.
Hire a Physician Liaison
A physician liaison is a dedicated networking professional who cultivates relationships with other practitioners to create a strong referral network. Rather than focusing directly on client relations, this individual explores different referral streams to attract new patients.
A physician liaison may also engage in some general marketing work. Physician networking is essential for ensuring a continuous supply of patient referrals. Unfortunately, it’s also a time-consuming task. Hiring a skilled liaison can transform your practice.
Automate and Outsource Recurring Tasks
You can also improve the patient experience and create more availability by automating and outsourcing recurring tasks. Take some time to assess your existing systems to identify gaps and bottlenecks. Consider upgrading to a centralized system that streamlines bookings, reminders, and billing to enhance the patient experience.
Working with your web designer to create an online patient portal, where patients can manage scheduling, review literature, and check prescriptions, can also streamline processes. In addition to creating more space for new patients, these efforts also contribute to patient engagement and satisfaction.
Medical professionals should not be completing tasks that aren’t patient-centric. If time management and scheduling overload are an issue in your practice, consider outsourcing transcription and account management services. Hire a virtual medical assistant to manage these tasks to minimize hiring costs while creating scalability.
Bonus: Increase Word-of-Mouth Referrals
These patient acquisition strategies will also create a better experience for your existing patients, which leads to the bonus strategy: increasing word-of-mouth referrals.
The happier and more satisfied your existing patients are, the more likely they will recommend your practice to others. With the tips above, you can nourish these relationships and create a sustainable, successful medical practice in 2023.
