Guides
Physical therapy client acquisition: the eight-stage path from inquiry to plan
How to win more physical therapy clients: the eight-stage sequence from inquiry to completed plan, the measure at each stage, and the fault behind each drop.
What to take away
- New patients are not won at the moment of inquiry. They are won at each of eight stages between the first call and the completed plan of care, and lost at any one of them.
- Measure the count at every stage weekly. The stage with the biggest drop is the fault to fix, and it is usually inside the practice rather than in the market.
- The phone, the fee quote and the evaluation slot decide more inquiries than any listing or advertisement.
- A completed plan of care produces the next patienta review, a family member, a referrer who saw the report-back.
The eight stages
- Inquiry. A call, a form, a referral, a walk-in. Logged with source and date the day it arrives.
- Answered. The call taken or returned within the practice's stated time, by someone who asks what brought the person in and does not ask for a diagnosis.
- Cost stated. Eligibility checked and the patient share stated, or the cash fee quoted from the schedule, on that call. The person who has to call back for a price often does not.
- Evaluation booked. In an evaluation-length slot, within the practice's target, with the three checks done: license and payer date, authorization where needed, patient share.
- Evaluation attended. The intake forms sent ahead, a reminder, the cancellation policy explained in the words on the script.
- Plan booked. The whole plan of care put on the calendar before the patient leaves the evaluation, inside the authorization, with the list in the patient's hand.
- Plan completed. Visits delivered as booked, cancellations filled from the waitlist, a call from the therapist after a second cancellation, extensions requested before the authorization ends.
- Discharged well. Told what happens next, offered whatever follow-on is within the board's rules, asked for a review in the standard way, and the referrer sent the discharge note.
Where the drop usually is
| Stage | Measure per week | Usual fault | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inquiry to answered | Inquiries with no return call | Nobody owns the phone during treatment hours | A front desk, or a return-call standard with an owner |
| Answered to cost stated | Calls ending with a promise to call back with a price | Fee schedule not at the desk; eligibility not checked live | The schedule sheet at the desk; eligibility checked on the call |
| Cost stated to booked | Callers who decline after the price | The price is a surprise, or no evaluation slot within the target | State the fee earlier; reserve evaluation slots |
| Booked to attended | Evaluation no-shows | No reminder; policy not explained; too long a wait | Reminder, script, shorter wait |
| Attended to plan booked | Evaluations with only one follow-up booked | Plan not finished that day; front desk books one visit | Documentation block; whole-plan rule |
| Plan booked to completed | Visits in plans never delivered | Cancellations unfilled; authorization lapsed | Waitlist; extension requested ahead |
| Completed to discharged well | Discharges with no next step recorded | Therapist has no script; front desk does not ask for the review | Discharge script; standard review request |
The operations and workflow guide carries the template and the three checks behind stages four to seven. The hiring and training guide puts the phone script, the fee quote and the cancellation policy into the front desk's first week, because stages two and three are decided by whoever answers.
The listing is stage zero
For a self-referred patient, the listing starts the sequence. Google's guidance on how local results are ranked says ranking depends mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and asks for a complete, accurate profile.
Listing and review checklist
- Name, category, hours correct
- Services and phone correct
- Booking path correct
- Photograph premises without patients
- Ask every patient for review same way
- Never offer anything for review
- Never suppress any review
Keep the name, category, hours, services and phone correct, and keep the booking path correct. Photograph the premises without patients; a correct listing with an unanswered phone is still a drop at stage two.
Reviews are part of prominence. The FTC guide on soliciting online reviews says to ask for reviews the same way for every patient after a defined point in care.
Never select by satisfaction, offer nothing for a favorable review, and suppress nothing. The response to any review says nothing about whether the person was a patient or what their care involved.
Pricing inside the sequence
The fee quoted at stage three and the patient share collected at every visit are pricing decisions that decide conversion. The pricing and profit guide explains the three prices a practice lives with.
Pricing rules for conversion
- State fee on first call from sheet
- State patient share before first visit
- Collect patient share at check-in
- Never let price arrive as invoice
What the sequence may not do
Nothing in stages one to eight may promise an outcome, name a specialty the treating clinician does not hold, or offer anything for a review or a referral.
The state physical therapy board's advertising rules and the FTC bound what is said on the call and on the page; the licensing and compliance guide covers where those rules live. And the sequence runs inside the channels in the marketing and growth guide; this page is what happens after a channel produces an inquiry.
Common questions
We get plenty of calls but few new patients. Where do we look first?
Stages two and three. Count the calls that were not returned within the target and the calls that ended without a price. Those two counts usually explain most of the gap.
Should we offer a free first visit to win patients?
Whether a free or discounted evaluation may be offered depends on the payer contracts, on federal and state rules about inducements where federal program beneficiaries are involved, and on the board's advertising rules. Ask a compliance adviser before offering one, and if the answer is yes, run it through the same eight stages.
How long should a new patient wait for an evaluation?
Short enough that they do not call the next practice. Measure the days from inquiry to evaluation per week, set a target the template can meet, and treat every week over it as a capacity finding.
