Healthcare providers frequently forget some of their patients immediately after their consultation ends. As your practice grows, it can be difficult to keep track of every individual patient that consults with you or visits your office, and you run the risk of losing them as a patient if you don’t use retention tactics. Losing patients is a natural outcome of running a successful practice, but reactivating patients is a vital component for overcoming it.
Patient attrition is costly, but it represents a great area of opportunity because former patients have experienced your services and understand the way your practice operates. It’s not wise to focus all your initiatives on acquiring new patients. Instead, what you can do is find another strategy to boost your bottom line: patient reactivation.
Reaching out to your former or inactive patients requires less work than targeting new patients because former patients already know your good work. Implement a patient reactivation strategy for inactive and former patients (lost) and encourage them to visit your practice again.
A successful patient reactivation strategy increases your practice’s revenue.
Creating a marketing strategy to bring inactive patients back is an essential part of medical practice. The following steps are key tactics in a successful patient reactivation plan.
Use two-way text messaging
The majority of people today send dozens of text messages every day in their personal lives. It is more convenient for patients to communicate over text rather than by calling. Medical practices that integrate two-way text messaging into their reactivation efforts expand their reach and give patients a much-preferred, convenient outlet for communication.
Many patients want to receive texts from their providers. Appointment reminders are an effective way to notify inactive patients about the need for them to see you, whether virtually or for an in-office visit for a checkup.
You can customise text messages to inactive patients and automate at the same time; given that you integrate the right software tools. Automated text messages can save your administrative staff from having to go through your entire patient list when performing patient reactivation strategies. Customizing text messages with easy-to-use templates personalizes your SMS, helping you to reconnect with inactive patients.
Use an automated scheduling software
You can optimise texting by using automation to program and identify your reactivation efforts. The reason why patients go inactive is that healthcare providers fail to realise that their patients are due for visits. Software solutions can cover this common mistake by prioritising and organising the data your practice has in its records.
Once your practice has scheduling software in place, it can automate the outreach efforts that were before completed manually. Automated text messages can not only be personalised but can also be set to go out any time of the day or week. These types of programs can sort out your patients by their particular needs, differentiating those who should be scheduled for routine visits from those awaiting more serious procedures.
Additionally, using an appointment reminder system to send reminders and confirmations helps ensure that inactive patients show up for the appointments your office has already set. Smart responses via automation within a 2-way text messaging software can recognize the answers that patients give to confirmation texts, interpreting colloquial language to determine if patients are attending their appointment. These messages keep patients engaged and allow your team to focus on other tasks.
Optimise email marketing
Using email lets you approach your patients in a less direct way than texting or calling, which is key for patients that aren’t as interested in more interactive forms of communication. It’s not uncommon that consumers want to hear from organizations or businesses by email, especially regarding discounts, promotions, and other news.
If you want to enhance your email marketing, your practice needs to adopt an effective email marketing tool. Email marketing tools allow small medical practices without expert email marketers on staff to develop professional emails without any expertise.
To reactivate patients, make sure your email outreach includes promotions, if applicable. Notifying your patients about new benefits, sending them holiday greetings, and distributing newsletters also have the potential to attract them back. Offering perks such as a discount or special treatment also increases trust.
You must be prepared to implement innovative solutions if you want a successful patient reactivation strategy for your practice. You don’t want to overinvest your resources in patient retention with an ineffective strategy. Plan content and delivery mechanisms carefully and use the best tools to implement your patient reactivation strategy.
Plan your patient reactivation strategy with Curogram
Curogram is an easy-to-use HIPAA-compliant messaging software that aims to give clients both the knowledge and tools that are essential for reactivating patients. Curogram’s features include powerful and secure two-way text messaging, access to patient information, and a seamless online appointment reminder tool. It also provides practices with scheduling tools and advanced analytics to further optimise reactivation efforts.
Book a demo today to discover how Curogram can bring inactive patients back into your office.
Robert Haynes did his degree in psychology at the University of Edinburgh. He is interested in mental health and well-being.
