Patient Recruitment
Promote Your Practice
You are almost ready to make your infusion center a clinically effective and profitable part of your practice. You have acquired the equipment and medications, and hired the staff. You have all of the necessary licenses and accreditations. Your billing system is ready. But what about the most important part - your patients?
Many clinicians find that marketing does not come naturally to them, but patient recruitment is an essential component of any successful office-based infusion clinic. Here are some ideas to help you get started.
Patient Recruitment Tips
Start with your current patients. Send out postcards or e-mails, or hand out in-office flyers promoting your new in-office infusion services to your current patients. Many of them will naturally gravitate to the convenience of in-office infusions instead of going off-site.
Promote your services to referring primary care providers (PCPs), local emergency departments/ERs, and other potential referral sources. Patients often receive immunology referrals from their PCP or from an ER physician following an immunologic emergency (ie, anaphylaxis, infection, etc). These referral sources may be more likely to refer their patients to clinicians with in-house infusion services due to higher patient satisfaction scores and better overall outcomes related to medication adherence.
Inform payers of your available services, and find out the requirements to become a “preferred in-network provider” for high-volume insurers.
Buy advertising as your practice grows. Advertising your practice in local media, such as neighborhood papers, local almanacs, or at community centers is another way you might consider recruiting patients as your practice grows.
Practice Pearl: According to PracticeDock, “your marketing plan needs to be designed around your ideal patient – focus on targeting patients who are ready to book an appointment.”