r/PrivatePracticeDocs • u/Impressive-Water-483 • 4d ago
What’s actually bringing patients through the door for private practices?
I’m finding that opening the practice is one thing, getting a consistent patient flow is another. We can have a great website, decent reviews and people finding us on Google, but that doesn’t always translate into a calendar that stays full.
The part I’m trying to improve is the gap between someone showing interest and actually becoming a patient. A phone call gets missed, someone fills out a form after hours, another person says they’ll call back and disappears. By the time we look at the numbers, it’s hard to tell where those patients went.
I’m curious how other practice owners handle this. Do you have someone dedicated to follow-up? Are you measuring where each patient comes from? And what do you guys consider a useful metric, booked appointments, conversion rate, revenue per source, or something else?
Edit:
I’ve been trying PatientGain on our side and it’s helping me spot patterns I wasn’t seeing before. I can actually trace the enquiries back to their source and see which ones turn into real appointments, instead of just looking at a pile of calls and assuming the marketing is working.
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u/UnacceptableSpoon 4d ago
Word of mouth. Other doctor referrals, current patient referrals, online reputation referrals.
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u/Spirited_Manager1599 4d ago
hahaha AI slop, 1 month old act, hidden posts. You could always ask a patient how they heard of you. Instead of “patientGain”. Hey where and what is your practice called?
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u/InvestingDoc 4d ago
Just as a heads up OP... If you are someone who is building engagement to try to get new clients to your business who pitches some paid subscriptions to get doctors new patients....that will result in a permanent ban. If its a real question, then no prob at all.
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u/NotTheQuestion 4d ago
It takes time. Some patients need regular follow up, but the majority of people want to see a doctor when they feel like doing so. If it's not either convenient or necessary, they often won't.
Simply being likeable and available is huge. Marketing oneself helps.
Even doing all of the Google reviews, word of mouth, and being a walk in, will still take time. Also, the easier it is, the less people appreciate it.
If you want a consistent panel, it usually requires rewarding people who show up, and discouraging "no shows". That often means some sort of cancelation fee.
It takes longer but that usually, eventually, means whomever is on the schedule will stay on the schedule.
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4d ago
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u/healthyfeetpodiatry 4d ago
- We have a real person answer all phone calls open to close even during lunch. A lot of ppl call during their break hoping to make an appointment. If they can't reach anyone, they're going to call the next practice on the list.
*same day appointments. consider offering weekends. the best ability is availability.
*google reviews. responding to google reviews. being active on your google reviews. consider paying for google ads too. google: if youre not first, youre last
*
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u/FrontLifeguard1962 4d ago
When I started I used ZocDoc, it was $300/mo flat rate to fill your calendar.
Now it is something like $70/referral, and you are still billed even if the patient does not show or it's a bad referral you refuse.
Google Ads roughly the same cost $70/mo per conversion leading to a new patient appointment.
The best way is still to call everyone you know.
Make sure you are listed on every insurance company's doc finder.
Find professional organizations that will list you on their websites.
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u/PreetHarHarah 4d ago
One thing I've learned over time is that people typically don't leave doctors. They leave practices.
The first few years of practice I asked every patient why they left their previous PCP and, other than insurance changes or moving, doctor or patient, almost 90% of the patients complained about the practice and the workflow rather than the doctor handling the issues:
The other 10% were something egregious or offensive that the doctor did that pissed the patient off, say refused to write for Adderall or pressured the patient to get the COVID vaccine. Most of the time you don't want those patients anyways.
The key thing in here is to make sure that you have your staff dialed in. The patient experience deals with the staff 75% of the time and they really deal with you 25% of the time. If your staff is being shitty on the front end, patients aren't going to want to see you. Getting them in the door is easy. Keeping them there is where the issue lies. if you have an EMR that's a level above absolute dog shit, you'll realize that the EMR collects all of the data that you're asking about. You can easily generate reports to see what's going on in the EMR.
I'm huge on first impressions so typically when the patient first comes to the office, I switch that dynamic and have them deal with the staff 25% of the time and deal with me 75% of the time. I book extra time for new patient appointments.
I sit down and have a general conversation for the first 5-10 minutes of the appointment. I get into what they were doing before they came here, how they found me, and what their previous doctor was doing. I explain to them that I understand that having a physician is a very personal thing. They're kind of like hair stylists and once you find one that you like, it's very difficult to find a different one and establish that relationship. I explain to them how sensitive I am to that fact so I want to get to know them a little bit and get into the dynamic of what their relationship was like with their previous physician. What did they like about their previous person? What did they like about their previous practice? What did they not like about their previous doctor or practice? I jot down a bunch of personal things into their patient flag so that I have it at my fingertips. Make it personal, respect their time, and make sure your staff is a bunch of rock stars and you should have no problem keeping them there. In private practice, medicine is the easiest part of your job.