3 Marketing Strategies to Boost Patient Retention
There’s a simple relationship between patient retention and profitability. If you’re able to keep your patients satisfied, they’ll rely on you for their healthcare needs – and you’ll see your profits increase.
From my experience, it’s easier said than done.
Three Patient Retention Strategies That Pay Dividends
Actions speak louder than words. Here are three strategies healthcare companies can employ to boost patient retention.
Personalization
Personalization is not a foreign concept to the healthcare industry. Just like a clothing retailer trying to attract shoppers, healthcare companies have to provide their patients with personalized experiences if they want to improve satisfaction and loyalty.
So, how can you create and provide a personalized experience for each of your patients?
By consolidating communication efforts across channels and providing tailored support at critical touch points – like recommending additional treatment options, sharing educational materials and answering patients’ questions (maybe without them even asking).Patient satisfaction is invaluable, and a personalized experience across your systems will increase the chances of a happy, healthy patient.
Related: The Value of One-to-One Communications in Value-Based Care
Convenience
Again, it doesn’t matter if the “customer” is a potential car buyer, a shoe aficionado eyeing the latest pair of wedges, or a patient seeking excellent service. Everyone wants a convenient, efficient, and painless experience.
How can you do this? Your offline and online platforms need to be integrated so patients can seamlessly connect and interact with your company – that includes admins, customer service reps, physicians, etc.
To provide convenient service, you also need to deliver relevant messaging and content. For example, your website should have every detail a prospective patient needs – costs, expectations, specialties, procedures, and so forth.You also need a platform to deliver that message, that includes the necessary checks and balances. (That’s my shameless plug for Complichain.)
Related: Would You Rather Have High Quality or High Quantity Healthcare?
Feedback
Last, but not least, if you want to keep getting your patients’ business, you need their feedback. Their perspective helps identify bottlenecks and points of friction across your patient journey.Otherwise, you won’t know what you’re doing right and where you need to adjust.
To get patient feedback, you can connect with them via their preferred channel (e.g. email, phone, etc.). Gather answers and analyze for commonalities. With this information, you can tinker with processes and resolve glaring issues.
Adjusting your business model and marketing tactics is an ongoing, cyclical process. Patient preferences change, trends take shape, new technology revolutionizes the industry. So, you have to change with them.
Related: How Can Healthcare Companies Improve Their Consumer Strategy?
Connect with Healthcare Consumers with Ease
To be successful, organizations need to take a data-driven approach to marketing. Personalization is key, but getting there can be a challenge—especially for marketers.
You should be collecting data on your customers to understand how to best deploy communications that will make an impact. And you should learn how to use that data if you hope to bring your value-based care goals to life.
That’s where Sepire can help! With significant experience helping healthcare organizations connect with patients through direct mail, we know what it takes to help. Reach out to ask us how.