#216 - Patient Acquisition Starts With Operations

So you worked with a range of organizations from lower acuity to more specialty care.

And in the specialty care space, something that I think we're going to dig into first is how has the patient acquisition strategies evolved? Historically, those types of organizations have really relied on physician referrals, but patients are taking control.

They are looking for their own providers.

They are trying to find the doctor that best fits their needs.

So how do you think about patient acquisition for specialty groups in this new world?

Patient acquisition was primarily referral driven and now physician referrals are still really important, but Patients are passively accepting the first referral that they receive.

So we know they're going online, they're evaluating physicians, they're reading reviews, they're comparing locations, availability, and really trying to decide if an organization or the doctor is credible.

And most recently, is it easy to navigate? Is it easy to get an appointment? Is it easy to be a patient? I always say we should be making it an easy button like staples to become one of our patients.

And healthcare groups have to perform well at two different moments.

They have to be visible when they're referred by a provider.

And then when they call the practice or the practice reaches out to the patient, the practice has to be persuasive.

And patient acquisition isn't really just about generating demand.

It's making sure the doctor and the practice are local, that they're differentiated, that they're credible, and that patients can find them.

That really requires strength.

strong local search visibility, and especially in multi-site.

And the provider information has to be accurate.

We have to have online reputation management, useful content.

Many of the groups I start working with don't have intuitive websites and we have to make sure that the service line positioning is clear.

And again, that it's easy for a patient to make an appointment.

I don't look actually as,

okay, referrals and patient marketing as competing strategies.

They're part of the same patient journey.

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, you get that recommendation from your trusted doctor, but then it continues on after that.

And because you have to be appearing on search, you have to be appearing on the local maps.