As an industry, urgent care is experiencing strong annual growth. The number of urgent care centers in the United States now tops 9,000, and the expected growth rate from 2019 to 2026 is 4.66% per year.
Although demand for your urgent care clinic’s services is increasing, that demand isn’t spread consistently across the year. Many clinics are busiest from early fall to late spring and experience a significant slowdown in the summer. And as patient visits decrease, so does revenue.
Here are some ways you can help boost your urgent care clinic’s business in the slow summer months.
Step 1: Use Your Own Data to Get to Know Your Patients
During the slower summer months, use slower times to strategize and learn. You may have an idea of who your typical patient is, but now’s a good time to back up those theories with data.
By using surveys, analyzing your operational data, and having conversations with patients, you will be able to learn:
- How did your current patients find you
- What are their top issues or concerns in terms of their own health
- Their expectations for what a visit should be like, and how your clinic measures up
- What they wished clinics offered
Compare these answers to reviews that you’ve received online, and then check against reviews that your competitors receive, too.
Then, put together some demographic information on your current patients, and compare it against their behaviors, such as how often they visit, what method they use to book appointments, and what their common medical issues are.
This will give us a starting point to create a marketing plan by understanding your typical patient and their concerns and desires.
Step 2: Improve Patient Experience
For any business, retaining existing customers is easier and less expensive than acquiring new ones.
Now that you have a better insight into what your patients value about their care, use that data to improve the experience and make them want to come back frequently and refer others.
Improving the patient experience can also increase the efficiency of your staff, and decrease your own costs.
Some quick win ideas to try:
- Optimize your clinical workflow to reduce paperwork and redundancy
- Make it easier for your patients to schedule appointments by offering online booking
- Use software to automate your appointment reminders and follow-up messages
- Make it easy for returning patients to book their next appointment in two clicks
Step 3: Upgrade Your Clinic’s Digital Experience
Studies have found that 72% of patients search for healthcare providers online (and 98% of consumers read online reviews), but just having a website isn’t enough. The right technology can make your clinic easier to find across the internet, thereby increasing your clinic’s revenue.
Is your website kept up to date? Here’s what your patients most want to see on your website:
- An easy way to book an appointment online
- Real-time appointment availability
- Recent reviews from verified patients
- The services you offer
- What insurance you accept
- Hours, location, and contact details
- Prices and fees (be as transparent as possible)
Next, look at your online presence on other websites. For example, reviews on Yelp or Google. 45% of consumers say they’re more likely to visit a business that responds to negative reviews, so make sure you’re an active presence on other sites.
Not sure where else your clinic is listed? Use our free Online Presence Scanning Tool to see how you show up online.
Finally, upgrade your digital experience to communicate with patients via SMS. Texting your patients things like appointment reminders and requests for reviews is a great way to communicate with them in a way that’s easy and convenient.
Step 4: Create a Marketing Plan
Once you have a strong understanding of your patient demographics and their needs and have a number of positive reviews that you feature on sites like Google and Solv, it’s time to start more active marketing efforts.
Social media channels are a free and effective way to stay in touch with your existing patients and find new ones as well. Share things like seasonal health tips, fun behind-the-scenes insights into your clinic, staff profiles, and more.
Not sure if social media is right for your clinic? You’ll be in good company; a study by the University of Pennsylvania found that over 99% of hospitals are active on Facebook.
And the Mayo Clinic has long made strategic investments in social media, not just for marketing, but also to educate patients, improve care, and build overall brand awareness.
Next, make sure you have an email newsletter, and reach out to your list regularly with updates. Many clinics are nervous about emailing too frequently, but as long as your patients have a way of unsubscribing or asking to be emailed less, you shouldn’t hesitate to send out newsletters at least once a week.
Finally, remember that your clinic is a local business and is part of your community. Show up to local events, sponsor local sports teams, or run an ad in your community newspaper. The more you give to your community, the more positive feeling you can build and the more new patients you’ll attract.
Conclusion
The summer months are slow for many urgent care clinics. The decrease in revenue can be difficult to handle. However, it can be a great opportunity to create plans and begin marketing for your clinic, both to attract more clients during low periods and to improve your clinic’s processes once the fall busy season begins.
Learn how to brace your business for both the dips and the surges in patient volume with our Complete Guide to Managing Your Urgent Care Business.
In this eBook, we’ll give you a number of fresh strategies to brace your business for a variety of patient volume trends, including:
- A master plan for dealing with surges and dips in volume, including specific tips
- Strategies to manage your waiting room more effectively during a surge
- Tips for bringing in new revenue when patient volume is low
