Five Things Medical Practitioners Must Do to Get New Patients With AI 

We have helped grow several “small” businesses into multi-seven-figure companies. Recently, we have devised a list of must-haves to achieve growth to a 2.5-million-dollar medical practice.

We took a Plastic Surgeon (single doctor practice) from $1.3 Million in patient revenue to $2.8 Million in 18 months in a small Midwest town. The practice sustained revenue above $2.5 million for ten years before the doctor retired. Yet, after that transformation, the doctor had MORE time for his family & most of the increase was pure profit.

Here are five things doctors need to do to achieve similar results - for example a 1.2 Million Dollar Growth - for any practice with high-value procedures and a cash-based practice. The practice does not need to be a plastic surgeon. It can be a family practice, a dentist, a chiropractor, a podiatrist, or even an urgent care facility.

1. A doctor must have a high-value procedure addressing the prospects’ significant issues. For example – the Plastic Surgeons doctor fee (add the facilities fee) for breast augmentation is $3-$5,000. Clear retainers done at a dental office are in the same price range. Care plans at a chiropractor's office can be offered for $4,000 plus. A podiatrist can offer minimally invasive surgery (MIS) at an in-office suite for $5,000. Just ask Dr. TJ Ahn, a client of Joe Habscheid.
2. A doctor must measure his Key Performance Indexes (KPI). For example – let’s assume he wants to achieve a 1.2-million-dollar growth (100k per month) with a $5,000 procedure. That would be 240 paying patients annually, or 20 of these new patients a month. That would mean a single clear retainer start per day the office is open for a dentist. For a plastic surgeon, that would mean three breast augmentation bookings each consult day (if they have two consult days per week). They have to track the following:
   1. Total procedures paid & performed.
   2. Total consultations held, and the average consult to procedure ratio.
   3. The client’s average prospect-to-consult ratio will be assessed.
   4. The advertising cost per prospect.
3. A Doctor must optimize his Key Performance indexes in the right places. Let’s assume he has excellent marketing, and his marketing obtains prospects at $125 per prospect. He turns one out of three prospective patients into a consult and one out of three consults into a procedure. Let’s not be cocky. Some doctors tell us that their average closing rate from consult to the procedure is 80% and not 33%, as we assume here. Our probing usually reveals that this is not true or, if it is, that nearly all those consults are the result of a referral. If that is the case – readers are advised to follow our lead for calculation’s sake. If doctors want to gain 20 new $ 5,000 patients each month with the above assumptions, the following is true:
   1. They need 60 consults and 180 prospects each month at a total advertising cost of $22,500 a month for $100,000 in revenue. It also means the prospect list grows at 180 candidates a month, and they have 160 prospects that have chosen the other two options: Do nothing or go with the competition.
   2. Let’s assume staff is appropriately trained, and the next goal is to achieve that one out of two prospects come to a consult. They still need 60 consults, but now they only need 120 candidates at the cost of $15,000.
   3. Let’s assume the organization further trains their staff, and in addition, they now achieve that one out of two patients that come to a consultation book a procedure. It would then mean they need only 40 consults and 80 new prospects at the cost of $10,000 per month. This result is very achievable: they spend $10,000 per month to gain $100,000 per month in patient revenue.
   4. Most doctors’ offices start at a. but can improve from a. to c. in eight to ten weeks. So, one need not spend the entire $22,500 in a. to train staff. But one needs to act like a businessperson and be willing to test.
   5. Let’s assume the “cocky” case with an 80% consult-to-procedure ratio. The practice now only needs 25 consults, 50 new prospects at a total advertising cost of $6,250. It, or even a better result, is possible over time with the attitude that “what gets measured gets managed.”
   6. Organizations need to understand that this is NOT about advertising cost alone. It is about time. In a., they need to conduct 60 consultations for 20 procedures. I. e., they only have to hold 25 consults open, and if their consult is 90 minutes, they just saved 52.5 staff hours each month. This savings is for all of their staff members involved in consults and the owner. So, what are they going to do with that time? Maybe perform the additional 20 procedures?
   7. If they go from a. to e., they have saved 60% of the advertising cost and generated enough time to do the procedures. If they achieve this, their growth is nearly pure profit as the system covers the professional time needed to fulfill.
4. They NEED a referral system and follow-up system that solicits referrals from satisfied patients and turns the prospects that choose not to move forward into possible future consultation attendees. They must also understand how to generate a steady flow of opportunities ONLINE. People must note that the advertising cost per prospect above cannot be achieved using traditional “offline” media such as radio, TV, or billboards. They will need a lead generation and follow-up system that utilizes modern techniques and maybe uses offline methods for branding themselves.
5. A doctor needs either training for himself or his staff and a follow-up system for the technology aspect or a marketing firm handling everything instead of the above activity. More and more professional practices that Mr. Joe Habscheid knows are taking the knowledge in-house. Giving the patient or prospect list to an outside firm is problematic. Additionally, it is no longer rocket science to generate a steady flow of prospects on social media and search sites or with the use of AI. It just takes a basic understanding of the techniques. Often, outside marketing firms don’t understand the uniqueness of their practice. Also – as organizations may see from the calculations above – the money is NOT in the leads or number of prospective patients. The money is in the systems that turn prospects into patients – the know-how to close a procedure.

Transform your medical practice from stagnant to stellar with our proven 5-step guide.

1. Master high-value procedures that solve significant issues for patients.
2. Track your Key Performance Indexes to target growth effectively.
3. Optimize your KPIs with a focus on conversion and efficiency, not just cost.
4. Implement a solid referral and online lead generation system.
5. Train your staff in technology and procedures, or partner with a marketing firm that gets your unique needs.