As a physical therapist, you’re tasked with helping people at what is often one of the worst points in their lives. Whether they’ve suffered a sports injury or are recovering from an accident, it requires patience, understanding, and a great deal of skill.
That’s a tough job as it is! And when you add running your own physiotherapy clinic to the long list of your regular daily tasks, the job gets even tougher.
Simply treating your patients isn’t enough. There are over 300,000 physical therapists in the United States alone – those in need of PT have a lot of options! To ensure continued growth and success, you have to take steps to create a practice head and shoulders above your competition.
How do you do it? Well, it’s not as difficult as you might think. To learn how to create a physiotherapy clinic plan that keeps your patients coming back again and again, just keep reading.
1. Allow Online Scheduling
You know how busy day-to-day life can get. From the moment your office opens to the moment the doors close for the evening, you’re on the go. Probably with barely enough time to eat lunch!
Well, keep in mind that your patients are just as busy. Many of them can’t call during business hours, making it difficult for them to request an appointment.
By offering online scheduling, you’ll not only provide your patients with a valuable service but give yourself a leg up on your competition. You might even see an uptick in new patients thanks to the ease of appointment scheduling!
For more details on streamlining your practice, check out Iinsight’s state-of-the-art physiotherapy tools.
2. Use Appointment Reminders
Is there anything worse than a no-show patient? Your time is wasted waiting for a patient who isn’t coming. Not to mention, that appointment slot could have been given to someone who would have shown up, and that patient has now probably found another clinic.
To save yourself time and your clinic money, set up an appointment reminder system. If you can, give your patients a few options to choose from, as some will prefer personal phone calls while others will find texts more convenient.
Give each patient two reminders leading up to their appointment, once a few days beforehand and another the day of.
Even the most responsible people forget an appointment now and then. When you send gentle reminders, you’re doing both your clinic and your patients a favor!
3. Ask for Feedback
When your goal is to increase patient retention, the best place to look for information is your patients. After all, who knows the experience your clinic provides better than someone who’s been treated there?
Now, there’s nothing wrong with asking how everything went in person. However, it’s important to keep in mind that people are less likely to give you an honest answer when they’re looking you in the face.
For the best results, allow patients a bit of anonymity. Send a satisfaction survey via text message or email after each appointment and take the feedback you receive seriously.
Some patients will have critiques, and that’s okay! Use their suggestions to improve upon your patient experience and your physical therapy clinic as a whole.
4. Provide Unique Services
Ensuring that you provide your patients with innovative therapy methods is an investment, but one that you must make in order to expand a physiotherapy business.
Stay up to date on the newest treatments and technologies and do your best to incorporate them into your practice. Offering new and interesting techniques will keep your patients interested and engaged in their therapy, increasing the likelihood that they’ll keep coming back.
Always remember, however, that the best service you can offer is your genuine attention. Making each patient feel heard and cared for will take you much further than installing a high-tech underwater treadmill.
5. Give Detailed Instructions
As you know, your patients’ in-clinic care is just the tip of the iceberg of the recovery and healing process. To offer the best sport clinic physical therapy possible, you have to give your patients the tools they need to continue their treatment on their own.
To do so, create detailed instructions for your patients to follow at home. Descriptions of movements can be helpful, but why not take it a step further? You can use pictures or even create a YouTube channel with video demonstrations for your clients to use.
The better your patients understand their exercises, the more effective their treatment plans will be. And more effective treatment means happier, healthier patients!
6. Offer a Patient Referral Program
Your patients work hard to complete their programs, patient referral programs are an excellent way to reward them while expanding your practice at the same time. Consider offering a free service or diagnostic test to satisfied clients who bring in new patients.
The incentives should be fun but remain valuable to their therapy program. In addition, a greater number of referrals should come with bigger prizes.
For example, a patient who’s referred a single new patient could receive a free therapy session, while someone who’s referred five would get a goodie basket of fitness items.
Take Your Physiotherapy Clinic to New Heights With This Guide
As with any type of medical practice, the better experience you give your patients, the more successful you’ll be.
By using these tips, you’ll not only retain your existing patients but gain new clients as well. As a result, your physiotherapy clinic will be bigger and better than ever!
Interested in learning more about taking your business to the next level? Take a look at our blog!
