Let’s face it; working in a medical practice is a busy gig. Staff and providers are busy seeing patients from the time they walk in the door. Marketing is often the last thing a team member is thinking about. Yet it must be part of their day-to-day patient interactions in order to monitor and track your medical marketing efforts.

Most medical offices spend thousands of dollars each year to successfully market and grow their practice. At the end of the day, however, many do not know what is working and what isn’t. The culprit: not tracking patients properly. By not knowing what is driving patients into your practice you run the risk of wasting money on marketing that is not generating results.

There are several ways to measure the efficacy of a marketing strategy. One of the most simple and unfortunately least used is asking callers and new patients what prompted them to call or schedule an appointment. As marketing consultants, we often hear how challenging this can be when your lead may have heard about you a variety of ways. What you want to know is what made them decide to call today? It is as simple as that. They may have heard your radio ad, saw your yellow page ad and passed your office on the way to work. The thing that actually made them select your practice were the reviews they read on the Internet. The Internet would then be your source.

Make it as easy as possible for staff to track this by having an updated list of source options available for them to choose from. Most offices keep track of this information via the computer. Make sure your drop down list of sources is comprehensive. If you ask this information on your intake forms, it is fine to keep the list basic. Just be sure that staff takes the time to ask the patient for a more specific reason when they speak with them. They should then add this to your tracking system.

Don’t be afraid to pry to find the true source. Your patients will be happy that you care and can appreciate your interest in knowing. By tracking your marketing efforts you will be able to cut out what isn’t working and focus on what is.