Tips to Improve Patient Volume and Drive Growth

Patient visits generate revenue to sustain healthcare practice’s business. But the primary question is how to increase revenues in healthcare as part of this competitive space? In the global marketplace, the crushing administrative burden and rising operating costs help the practice be profitable. While you might wonder how to increase revenues for your medical practice or hospital you need to have the right tactics to work your best.

As part of this write-up, I’m trying to include strategies that would create a powerful impact to increase revenue in healthcare. Though let me warn you - it would include just a little bit of time or cost investment.

While it is not new that the entire world has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. However, what may come as a surprise is that even medical practices saw a 60 percent drop in patient volume since COVID-19 started. Sure, it will still be a while till patient volumes go back to pre-pandemic levels, but here are some steps you can take to help things along.

1. Proactively reach out to patients: No matter how sensitively one may feel about the concept of healthcare, one can’t deny that it is essentially a service. Hence, its customers too must be made to feel that they are valued by the service provider, i.e. the medical facility. This can be done via calling patients to personally let them know it is now safe to come in for a consult, visit, etc. But who should you call? Plenty of people tend to, really: patients who are long overdue for tests, some vaccinations, regular checkups, etc. This group can be further expanded to add people who have an impending appointment with the facility. While on such calls, please remember to keep the focus on the measures already implemented for safety, followed by how patients can expect their appointments to proceed. To further ensure that the message gets across, it may also be a good idea to share this information on your website, social media handles, etc.
2. Tend to patients without delay: Now that restrictions are being eased, people are unlikely to be impressed with the continued wait for an appointment. Some studies have already found that 30 percent of consumers would jump ship and find another provider if that meant a shorter waiting time for an appointment. Plus, it may also help to ensure reduced or no waiting times at the facility. For this, robust scheduling tools, telehealth solutions, etc. may come in handy.
3. Foster strong relationships with patients: While marketing is important even for hospitals and other such medical facilities, the truth is that a lot has changed since the pandemic. Hence, the run-of-the-mill marketing strategies and efforts may not bear the kind of results one may expect from them and deliver an increased influx of patients. This is why it is important to focus on building stronger relationships with patients instead. No matter if they are new or existing patients, hospitals must now focus on fostering trust with them. Such efforts, in return, will likely result in improved word-of-mouth publicity for the establishment.

Unlike what the layman may have thought, patient volumes have declined dramatically during COVID-19. Now, even as the situation gradually improves and restrictions start to ease up, one may be inclined to believe the issue concerning patient volume will be automatically resolved as well. While patient volumes are indeed starting to grow once again, the truth is that the growth is painfully slow, which is unlikely to be sustainable for a lot of medical practices and hospitals if not all of them.

Hence, it is imperative to adopt the aforementioned tips to help address this problem. You can also further fortify your efforts by undertaking healthcare practice management software development for your facility. But make sure to find and engage the services of only a trusted vendor for such a project.