Creative Ways to Help Increase Patient Volume

Patient volume is critical for your health and wellness practice or business. A consistent and growing volume of patients and clients can help ensure stable revenue while optimizing staffing and supply costs.¹

While increasing your patient volume doesn't happen without effort, there are many proven (and even creative) ways to help make it happen. From ensuring your marketing is on point to delivering an exceptional patient experience, the strategies below can help you attract and retain more patients over time.

Get Noticed in Your Neighborhood

Being known in your area and forging authentic connections may help make a lasting impression. Here are some creative ways to make yourself and your services known in your community:

• Show up in your neighborhood. Set up a health and wellness check-up station for your specialty at events like local sporting events, charitable walks or other activities. Opportunities to engage in events that bring people out is a great way to help your community and become a familiar and trusted face.
• Set up patient education events. Host a wellness workshop where you cover a basic topic and open it up to questions. You might discuss a chronic condition or give a short talk on preventive health. This can help you reach a broader audience.²
• Strengthen community ties. Partner with providers or community organizations in your area to address broader health needs that can be challenging to meet individually. This can better connect you to your community and other providers that can offer value-added services, which can help your business in the long term.²
• Step into health. Start and publicize a monthly walking meet-up where current and potential patients can connect with healthcare practitioners in a relaxed, informal setting. A short stroll around a local park or neighborhood can create a low-pressure space for conversation, questions and building trust, not to mention highlighting the importance of movement for overall wellness.³

Supercharge Your Business With Reviews

Train your front office to ask every patient or client for a review for your website. Potential patients and clients often research health and wellness providers before deciding who to call, and many evaluate providers by reading online reviews.⁴

• Get creative with your ask. Instead of simply asking patients or clients if they would write a review, you might add a fun frame or two in your waiting room with an engaging call-out for them to share their experiences.
• Seize the moment. Thank a patient who compliments your service and ask if they'd be willing to post a short online review. This request might be included in a post-care, follow-up email with links to posting sites.
• Use social media. Post your social media handles and use QR codes to remind or entice patients to check out your pages and then leave a short review or referral.

Expand Your Network With Social Media

Don’t underestimate the power of social media to also reach new clients. If you’re not strong in this area, find someone on your staff who is, go online and teach yourself about effective social media or hire a social media consultant you can put in charge of your social media accounts.

• Choose the right platforms. Consider your target audience when determining which platforms to post on. Think Facebook for building a local community and sharing announcements, Instagram for showcasing your practice visually, TikTok for creating short, fun videos that reach younger audiences, X (formerly Twitter) for quick updates and health and wellness tips and LinkedIn to connect with other providers.
• Stay consistent. Keep a content calendar where you plan and schedule posts in advance.
• Run creative campaigns. Try giveaways, contests or collaborations with local influencers to help improve visibility and engagement. These types of campaigns can help you get in front of new audiences and potentially bring in new patients or clients.
• Follow the rules. Understand the dos and don'ts and social media guidelines for healthcare professionals. Balance creativity with maintaining professionalism and patient and client confidentiality.⁵

Help Improve Your Reach With Video and Audio

In an era when online content is widely popular and well-received, video and audio are strong ways to share information and reach potential new patients and clients. Record regular online video or audio content, and make sure your patient or client base knows about it.

• Start a YouTube channel. Share videos where you post about common health conditions or wellness topics, which may attract potential patients or clients. Licensed healthcare professionals can apply to YouTube to be identified as an authoritative health source on the platform, meaning viewers will see that label, and your video may show at or near the top of search results.⁶
• Add videos to your website. Link to your YouTube videos on your website, too, because that can help cross-promote it and may mean more people find your site.⁷
• Tap into audio. Host your own podcast or appear as a guest on others in your niche. Podcast content lets you explore topics in more depth and connect with audiences who prefer to listen on the go.
• Create engaging content across formats. Consider posting audio and video patient testimonials, doctor and staff introductions and educational clips that showcase your practice’s expertise. These are all popular types of healthcare content that can help better engage patients and increase engagement.

Make Your Website Work Harder

Make sure your website is up to date, functionally flawless and makes your practice or business look inviting. You may want to work with a professional to update your site often.

• Tell your story. Ensure your website tells the story of your practice, your specialties, the treatments you offer and your reputation.
• Check your phone. Your website should be mobile-friendly so it's easy for potential (and often impatient) patients or clients to navigate.
• Show your expertise. Write great blog posts that highlight your knowledge and help build trust with potential clients.
• Stay searchable. Use relevant keywords throughout your site, specifically within your blog; service, treatment or product listings; and headlines to improve your chances of appearing in search results. If someone looks up your health and wellness specialty and city but your site doesn’t show up, you may be missing out on valuable traffic — and clients.⁸

Strengthen Your Digital Presence and Patient Outreach

• Learn the basics about SEO. If you don’t understand what makes website and social media content rise to the top and get more exposure when someone searches Google, Microsoft Bing or another search engine, teach yourself about it or find someone who does.
• Make it fun. Research and then suggest helpful health and wellness apps that can benefit your patients or clients. There are ones that track fitness activity, sugar levels, meditation time, hydration goals, workout consistency, runs, walking, cycling, weight tracking and loss, sleep hygiene and more.
• Reengage lost leads. Reach back out to people who expressed interest but never booked through retargeting ads, two-way texts or limited-time offers. A simple follow-up could convert a missed opportunity into your next loyal patient.

Grow Your Practice Through Referrals

Being consistent about asking for referrals can be a strong way to build your client base and volume.

• Encourage referrals. Remind satisfied patients or clients to tell their friends and family about your practice, and consider offering referral perks like service discounts or small thank-you gifts to help make it worth their while.
• Tap into existing relationships. Consider starting with current contacts, including the top doctors who refer patients to you. Get to know their staff and update them on your practice, leave business cards and let them know you appreciate their referrals. When a physician or member of their team refers a patient to you, follow up with a thank you.
• Teach your team. Train your employees to offer excellent customer service so referred patients and clients are satisfied with the referral and can relay a positive experience back to the referring doctor or current client.

Give Patients Options to Pay Over Time

Make it simpler for your patients and clients to pay by offering financing options. Financing can provide budget flexibility and empower these individuals to move forward with care, and may mean greater satisfaction with your practice or business.

One trusted health and wellness financing solution is the CareCredit credit card, which has a vast network of cardholders you may attract when you accept the card. (There are more than 12 million CareCredit open cardholder accounts.) Patients and clients can pay for their care over time, and you get paid within two business days.

Use Creativity to Increase Your Patient Volume

Using creative methods to increase patient volume in a health and wellness practice or business may help you stand out in a competitive healthcare landscape. Innovative strategies can help you attract new clients, retain existing ones and allow you to showcase your unique value.

Offer Flexible Financing at Your Practice

If you are looking for a way to connect your patients or clients with flexible financing that empowers them to pay for the care they want and need, consider offering CareCredit as a financing solution. CareCredit allows cardholders to pay for out-of-pocket health and wellness expenses over time while helping enhance the payments process for your practice or business.

When you accept CareCredit, patients or clients can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score, and those who apply, if approved, can take advantage of special financing on qualifying purchases.* Additionally, you will be paid directly within two business days.

Learn more about the CareCredit credit card as a financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Leslie Lang is a writer with more than 20 years of experience covering health and wellness, banking and finance and technology. She has written for leading publications and organizations, including GoodRx.com, Healthgrades.com, Google, Adobe, Microsoft and more.

Healthcare payment and financing solution

The CareCredit health and wellness credit card helps improve the payment experience for patients and clients, and your financial performance.

Get Started