3 Tips to Grow Your Medical Business in 2023

The start of 2023 means another opportunity for this to be the year that your medical business finally reaches its full potential—or so you hope.

Medical businesses of all sizes were forced to adapt and change rapidly during the pandemic. Now it’s time to apply learnings to optimize processes and exceed business goals.

Here are our top 3 tips on how to grow your medical business in 2023:

1. Make your brand known.

Branding is incredibly important for any lab or imaging center. If you are looking to increase the number of new patients scheduling with your test center, you need to expand your digital presence and make yourself known.

There are many affordable ways to increase your reach online and boost your brand recognition to grow your medical business.

a. SEO: Ensure your website is search engine optimized so patients can find you when searching online for lab or imaging appointments. Your site should be optimized for local search queries, or “near me” searches, for patients looking for a test center nearby. When a patient in your area searches for a diagnostic center, your site will pop up. This helps to increase brand awareness and attract new patients searching for care options nearby.

b. Social media: Your patients are on social media, so meet them where they scroll. “Nearly 90% of older users accessed social media to share and find health information in 2015. Those aged 18-24 are twice as likely as those 45-54 years old to use social media for discussing health issues.” Sharing content and engaging with users on social media keeps your brand front of mind. Even if a patient does not book with your center through social posts or advertisements, they are kept aware of the services you provide and will be more likely to turn to your medical business when they need a lab test or scan.

c. Email: Like social, email helps to keep your brand in mind, build loyalty and retention, and re-engage patients throughout the care journey. 60% of people prefer email for promotional messaging, so email is a reliable and affordable way to stay in front of patients.

d. Digital advertising: Display and social advertising can be an effective channel to reach patients across the internet to improve brand recognition and increase traffic to your website. Increasing brand awareness means when a patient needs to book an appointment, your brand comes to mind, increasing appointment volume and promoting brand loyalty.

e. Retargeting: Retargeting digital ads, also known as remarketing, can be an incredibly effective way to keep your brand front of mind and get patients rebooking with your test center. Target patients who have booked with your test center or visited your site in the past, so they’ll keep your brand in mind and are more likely to come back for regular visits.

Let LabFinder do the heavy lifting with LabFinder Reach™. Attract new patients with dedicated marketing campaigns on paid search, social media, email, and more. Grow your business by attracting patients online and keep them coming back with advanced tech solutions to optimize the patient experience and drive repeat visits.

2. Create new patient access points.

Reach patients through new channels to increase patient volume and grow your medical business. Make it easier for new patients to find you and for returning patients to book again with your test center to promote brand loyalty and grow new patient volume.

a. Online marketplaces: Listing your test center on an online marketplace can provide a huge boost to your brand’s visibility. LabFinder’s online marketplace gives you access to over 1 million patients booking with LabFinder. List your center for free to get started.

b. 24/7 online scheduling: If you don’t offer online scheduling, you might not realize how many appointments you are missing by not accepting new appointments 24/7. Especially when trying to grow your medical business among younger generations, online booking is a must, as millennials and Gen Z expect convenient online scheduling that is available whenever and wherever they want to schedule. LabFinder offers online booking tools and white-label scheduling solutions to optimize time slot utilization and the patient experience.

c. Telemedicine: Partnering with a telehealth provider to support your patient intake can help clean up your workflow and prevent patients from showing up to appointments without a doctor’s order. Get more patients in for tests with the peace of mind that the test is medically necessary and covered by insurance with LabFinder. LabFinder’s MinuteMed telehealth solution helps patients find the appropriate care and get a doctor’s referral 100% online.

3. Embrace the power of online reviews.

“More than 94% of healthcare patients use online reviews as the first step in researching physicians and hospitals.” This means new patients are researching you online before they decide to book. Share a patient’s point of view of your business and build patient trust with online reviews.

a. Google: Consumers in all industries turn to Google reviews when looking for an honest opinion on a company. Medical businesses are no different.
“Google was found to be the most popular internet source [for healthcare consumers], with more popularity than provider and physician websites, healthcare-specific websites, or social media.”

b. Facebook: Social media is a popular place to reach patients online, and where patients can share their experiences with your test center.
Interacting with consumers online and responding to reviews shows that you are engaged and committed to providing a superior patient experience, particularly when addressing a poor review and showing a genuine commitment to righting wrongs.

c. Online marketplaces: Just as an online marketplace can help you reach new patients, it can also be a place for patients to leave reviews of their experiences with your test center. LabFinder’s online marketplace provides a one-stop-shop for patients booking lab and imaging appointments. Reach new patients and streamline the patient journey from booking the appointment to reviewing the results with a board-certified physician, 100% online.

LabFinder offers customizable tools to help you grow your medical business. Learn more about our test center solutions to find out how LabFinder can help your diagnostic center achieve your business goals, or schedule a demo with our Chief Strategy Officer to learn more.