Digital Marketing · Service
Clinic marketing economics
Patient acquisition cost, show rate and utilisation — the three that decide it.
At a glance
What it is
“A clinic at full utilisation does not need cheaper leads.”
A principal, Kaelo Digital Marketing
What’s included
Four areas of scopePatient acquisition cost by speciality
Blended PAC hides everything that matters. Aesthetic, dental and primary care have different acquisition costs and very different lifetime values, and they should not share a budget line.
Appointment-to-show and no-show cost
A booked appointment is not revenue. No-show rate is usually the largest recoverable loss in a clinic's funnel and is almost never a marketing line item, though marketing can move it.
Utilisation as the real constraint
Chair and room utilisation determine whether more demand is worth anything. This is the number that should gate spend.
Payer mix and self-pay share
Insurance and self-pay patients have different margins and different acquisition routes. A campaign that grows the wrong side of the mix can raise revenue and lower profit.
How the work runs
Baseline
PAC by speciality, show rate, utilisation and payer mix as they stand.
Constraint identification
Which of the four is actually binding.
Targeted programme
Marketing aimed at the binding constraint, not at lead volume.
Written monthly review
Reported against the constraint, with what we would stop doing.
When to come to us
- 01 You have more than one speciality and one blended marketing budget.
- 02 You suspect you are buying enquiries you cannot serve.
- 03 Your no-show rate is known to be a problem but is nobody's responsibility.
What we do not do
- Optimising cost per lead when utilisation is the constraint.
- Reporting clinical outcomes — we report on marketing and operations metrics only.
Related reading
Patient acquisition inside the rules that actually bind. →
High treatment value, restricted channels, and a compliance surface most agencies never see. →
Chair utilisation is the constraint. Almost nothing else is. →
Common questions
