Powerful Leads to Enhance Patient Volume and Expand your Practice
over the country, medical practices now have the opportunity to reengage with their patients and, in fact, increase their patient volume. Individuals who previously did not think about preventive healthcare may now seek a primary care provider.Covid-19 has brought to the fore the need for monitoring one’s health and wellness. More than ever, people have realized that self-care is the way to go forward. Despite the billions in lost revenue all over the country, medical practices now have the opportunity to reengage with their patients and, in fact, increase their patient volume. Individuals who previously did not think about preventive healthcare may now seek a primary care provider. Also, technology has now enabled a new option for patients and providers, namely, telehealth.
The following leads will assuredly help you in increasing patient volume and growing your practice.
Use an in-vogue website theme that is fast.
No user will spend valuable time looking up a website that looks outdated. Patients are no different. Practices should refresh their website design if it looks outdated, even if the content is excellent. Along with the design, the speed at which the website loads is another critical factor. Apart from potential patients, Google also takes website load time while ranking websites on their front page.
Most patients search for physicians or practices using their mobile phones or tablets. Let your website be mobile-friendly for patients to have a streamlined experience.
Offer more digital options.
The pandemic has made us adopt digital ways in many facets of everyday living. It is natural that this convenience is expected from the healthcare provider. Studies have shown that patients are likely to visit a provider who offers digital services.
Having a website that allows everything from appointment self-scheduling to pre-registration and intake forms to be completed online provides the trouble-free experience that patients are looking for. Provide a large call-to-action button and large buttons for entering demographic entry information for hassle-free use by patients. Having the facility to digitally store personal and insurance information increases convenience since patients can quickly confirm or update details during check-in. It will also ensure that all demographic information is accurate. It is a win-win situation for both patients and providers.
Another must-have is online payment options. 80% of people prefer online payment options. In this way, practices will receive payments faster and it is also secure.
Reduce no-shows by sending notifications and reminders via text messages. The first message should be sent after the patient schedules an appointment. Send an email notification too. The second message is a reminder, perhaps 1 day or 2 days before the appointment, depending on the practice’s policy.
Maintain unbroken communication
With more and more individuals realizing the importance of investment in their wellness, now is the time to build stronger relationships with them. Practices can use text messaging, emails and social media tools to reach out to patients. Despite the popularity of social media, email is a vital mode of communication. It is a more one-to-one way of communicating and studies have shown that 99% of consumers read email every day. Develop an email strategy and a social media strategy to keep patients informed of new services, any changes in check-in procedures, or any other pertinent information.
Sending out newsletters and having interesting information regularly can help create a tight-knit community of your patients. Belonging to a community is in itself therapeutic for patients.
The personal touch and regular communication will make patients loyal to your practice.
Having a blog to answer the questions that people generally ask is a great way to increase traffic and bring in more patients. Google ranks blogs with expertise, authority and trustworthiness higher than others.
Expand your service bouquet
Practices should study the dynamics of their patient population and the local community and introduce changes that align with those dynamics, especially in the post-Covid environment. Changes that can be considered include:
• Offering direct pay pricing options. With the loss of jobs due to the pandemic, many have lost health insurance. Practices can think about extending direct pay pricing options to these patients.
• Offering telehealth services. CMS has enabled Medicare to cover more than 250 telehealth services and allowed healthcare providers to bill for telehealth visits at the same rate as in-person visits. Offering telehealth services is bound to increase your patient volume.
• Adding behavior health to the practice. The pandemic has produced a lot of anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. The practice can consider the possibility of creating a behavioral health program.
• Adding a physician assistant to your practice. Bringing in a physician assistant to administer standard exams or prescribe antibiotics could help bring back patients.
• Meeting demand with the right solutions at the right time will boost the expansion of your practice.
Encourage patients to post positive reviews.
Consumers everywhere read reviews before they make a purchasing decision. In healthcare, patients approach physicians who have at least a 4-star rating (out of 5). It is vital to get your current patients to post positive reviews about your practice, as potential patients would like to know about the experiences of others who have visited you. Reviews should feature on the homepage of your website or a page dedicated to reviews.
Significantly, reviews will boost the SEO of your practice across search engines. It is good to get feedback from patients so that improvements if needed, can be made.
Taking action on these leads will certainly help your practice to attract more patients and expand your practice.
How can Bristol Healthcare help you?
With the increase in patient volume and expansion of your practice will come additional front-office and back-office work. Your practice must be prepared to handle the increase in the volume of work. But have no worries on this account. Bristol Healthcare Services is there for you. We are a medical billing and coding company serving healthcare professionals for over two decades. Our team of certified and trained professionals will ensure that all your front and back-office needs are taken care of, leaving you with time and energy to deliver excellent patient care. We will see to it that you are reimbursed to the maximum and quickly.
Let us partner, together for a mutually rewarding relationship!