Clinical practice- who generates more income? The new or the old patients?

A survey conducted in developed countries show that around 90% of your clinical practice clientele are old patients while only 10% or lesser is comprised of new patients.rnKeeping in mind that clinics or doctors end up spending out of their pocket to obtain ‘New patients’, statistics actually goes to show that retaining old patients, improving their satisfaction and encouraging them to come back to you is always smarter and more cost effective!rnLet us see compare the above two categoriesrnCriteria Existing Patients New patientsrnPercentage Up to 90% of clientele Upto 10% of total clientelernCosts incurred No financial investment Needs financial investment rnEmotional Quotient with the doctor/clinic High LowrnReliance on the Doctor Present Yet to be establishedrnKnowledge of the doctor’s abilities Present AbsentrnSatisfaction Easy to achieve Takes time, money and effortrnReferring new patients High chances Low chancesrnFrom the above, it can clearly be concluded that focusing on existing patient satisfaction is equally or infact, even more important that shifting all focus on new patients.rnPaying your software provider or any online or offline third party to bring patients is therefore not the best idea. The cost of obtaining a new patient is this case might far outweigh the revenue generated by these patients on the long run.rnImportance of referralsrnThe most effective way to get more clientele still remains to be by ‘Word of Mouth’. An existing patient who is satisfied by your services will definitely refer his or her friends and relatives to you.rnIn this process, there are no extra costs incurred. You also get to strengthen bonds with an existing patient while sowing the seed to a possible future referral from this patient.rnHow you can achieve the perfect blend of old and new patients:
• Strive to provide quality of services to increase satisfactionrn• Encourage referralsrn• Get feedbacksrn• Always trace the source of a referralrn• Constantly stay in touch with patients by regular messages, emails, appointment reminders, review calls, etc.
• Do not go for expensive third parties for new patient referralsrn• Focus on online and offline marketingrn• Digitalise your practicern• Choose the right IT partner for the practicern• Improvise as need changes. E.g: COVID-19 has stressed the need to switch to telemedicine to keep in touch with patients. Make sure your practice is online.rnSome of these above ideas are best executed by a professional IT partner like CURIE! You can trust us to provide you with the perfect set up, analytics and platform to enable optimum clientele building and retaining.rnContact : https://curie.health or +91-8778826667