Regardless of your specialty, your medical office can often struggle to maintain enough patients to keep your practice financially stable and operational.
You’re not out of options; increasing patient volume in a medical office is possible by implementing strategies ranging from increasing online visibility to optimizing scheduling and patient retention.
Ready to find out how to increase patient volume in a medical office? Let’s get started!
How to increase patient volume in a medical office
In this next section, we’ll dive into strategies for your practice that you can use to increase patient volume in your medical office.
1. Leverage local SEO to reach more potential patients
Like SEO (search engine optimization) practices, local SEO is a business strategy that maximizes your visibility online. However, local SEO specifically optimizes organic search results based on the location of your medical office. Local SEO is critical for medical offices as it’s a way to become more visible, the best way to gain a competitive advantage over your competitors, and the best way to engender a sense of trust and credibility within your local community.
To more effectively leverage local SEO, here are a few steps:
- Google Business Profile (GBP) – By creating an accurate, expansive Google Business Profile, you can ensure prioritized placement in organic local Google searches. Make sure to include hours, identify the category of your business, and submit patient reviews for easy access
- Add Local Keywords – When writing the copy for your website, include targeted local keywords (e.g., “best pediatrician in [city]”) that will draw traffic based on exact matches.
- Building Local Backlinks – When designing your practice’s website, create links that take users to other health directories and local healthcare sites. These backlinks will act as endorsements and designate your website as a place of credibility and prominence, increasing your ranking on search engines.
2. Encourage current customers to leave online reviews
With satisfied customers, encouraging them to leave a positive online review for your practice is always a good idea. It’s been proven that patients trust reviews on places like Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades. In fact, nearly 75 percent of patients turn to online reviews as the first step when searching for a new physician or healthcare provider.
To encourage more positive reviews, here are two things you can do:
- Automated post-visit emails/texts – By setting up an automation service, you can message patients immediately through emails and texts. This is a great way to stay on top of things and ensure patients receive the care they need.
- QR Codes — QR codes are becoming increasingly common, from wedding invitations to restaurant menus, and it’s smart to adopt QR-code-enabled materials in the office that allow quick links to add reviews or feedback.
Positive reviews are always a boon to your practice, but sometimes, you may also have to deal with negative reviews.
When receiving negative reviews, examine the critiques and look for trends. If multiple patients mention similar issues, identify the issue and work with your staff to improve performance in that area. Respond to both complaints and recommendations to show that your practice is seeing this feedback and will consider it.
3. Use social media to engage with the local community online
As a medical practice, social media is one of the most effective ways to communicate and increase awareness of your business. Patients will regularly look for recommendations on places like Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok, so think about how to use these platforms with your personal accounts.
Here are a few different ideas for social media content:
- Educational Health Tips – Offer educational health tips and materials demonstrating your credibility and approachability on social media. Make sure to curate these materials for each platform (i.e., an Instagram post should focus on a picture, while TikTok needs to be a video).
- Patient Testimonials – Posting patient testimonials is a practical, casual way to show that your practice is thriving and can prove its ability to care for patients
- Behind-the-scenes Content – Your practice is not just a business; you want to specify that passionate people run it. Things like “meet the staff” profiles and office updates show an interest in building a relationship with a patient.
- Digital Ads — In addition to your social media posts, you can leverage these platforms with paid digital ads that can target certain demographics.
4. Make scheduling with your office easy
All of the online visibility in the world isn’t going to help if your practice doesn’t offer easily accessible and flexible scheduling options. Patients are more likely to choose a provider with convenient scheduling options than one who cannot accommodate their needs.
Here are a few strategies to optimize scheduling at your practice
- Same-day and next-day appointment availability
- Telemedicine
- Online appointment booking systems
5. Develop a strong referral program
Another option for increasing patient volume is to develop a strong, structured referral program. With these programs, you will have a system to track, retain, and bring in new patients. When designing a patient referral program, the best approach is to implement a multi-channel strategy that will increase patient flow through offline and online channels.
Here are a few ways to encourage patient referrals:
- Partnerships – By partnering with other healthcare specialists, you can create a mutual patient referral system where it’s in your best interest to nurture this system.
- Networking — Networking doesn’t only have to involve healthcare practices. You can also reach out to local businesses that have a vested interest in their customers’ health, like gyms and wellness centers. These businesses are also looking for more credibility, which your practice can bring.
Check out this comprehensive guide to increasing your patient referrals.
How RANQ helps medical offices increase patient volume
With so many competing practices, standing out has never been more important, and that requires a strong, optimized online presence. Without guidance, many practices struggle with the best SEO, patient engagement, and digital advertising practices, but that’s where Ranq can help.
Ranq is a digital marketing company that specializes in helping healthcare providers optimize their online visibility, attract more patients, and improve retention. Visit Ranq today, and learn how we can tailor our services to your needs.