Patient acquisition & retention glossary

The work of turning people who need what a practice offers into booked new patients: being found, being chosen and being booked.

It covers search, ads, referrals and directories, and everything between an inquiry and a first appointment. See patient acquisition strategies.

An agency that runs the path from a stranger's first search to their first visit, and is measured on booked appointments rather than clicks or leads.

A patient acquisition and retention agency also runs what happens after that visit: rebooking, reminders, reviews and reactivation. Fill The Lobby is one; here is what that involves.

What the person typing a search is trying to get done.

“Private pay therapist near me” and “what is CBT” share a subject and little else: one person is ready to book, the other is reading. Build each page and each ad group for one intent.

The block of local results Google shows alongside a map for searches like “psychiatrist near me”.

For most local healthcare searches it sits above the ordinary results, so it's worth winning on its own. Distance to the searcher is the part you can't change; the Google Business Profile, its categories and its reviews are the parts you can. See healthcare SEO.

Structuring pages so AI assistants and AI search features can read, quote and cite them.

Also called generative engine optimization (GEO). In practice: facts in plain text rather than images or PDFs, a direct answer near the top of each page, and the same information about the practice everywhere it appears online. See AI visibility.

What an ad platform charges each time someone clicks an ad.

CPC = ad spend ÷ clicks

It prices attention, not patients. A low cost per click on searches that never book is expensive.

Marketing spend divided by the inquiries it produced: calls, forms and messages.

CPL = marketing spend ÷ inquiries

Cheap leads that never book make this number look healthy while the schedule stays empty.

Marketing spend divided by the appointments actually booked from it.

Cost per booked appointment = marketing spend ÷ booked appointments

The first number in the chain that has touched the calendar, and the one Fill The Lobby reports on.

The full cost of winning one new patient who attends a first visit.

PAC = (ad spend + agency fees + software + staff time on acquisition) ÷ new patients seen

Also called cost per acquisition (CPA), or customer acquisition cost (CAC) when the term is borrowed from software. Work yours out with the patient acquisition cost calculator.

The time between an inquiry arriving and a person responding to it.

In a practice it's usually decided by who answers the phone during a session and what happens to a web form at 9pm. See our speed to lead guide and patient follow-up.

An automatic text sent to someone whose call went unanswered, offering a way to book or a callback.

It gives the caller a next step instead of voicemail. It isn't the same as answering the call. See our missed call text back guide and missed call recovery.

The share of people who take a named next step.

Conversion rate = people who took the step ÷ people who could have × 100

Only useful when the step is named: click to inquiry, inquiry to booking, booking to attended. An unnamed conversion rate can mean any of them.

The share of inquiries that become a booked appointment.

Lead-to-booking rate = booked appointments ÷ inquiries × 100

The clearest single measure of whether follow-up is working.

A page built to take an appointment, not just to describe the practice.

Fees, availability and a way to book on one screen, working on a phone at 9pm. See booking pages.

Everything between “yes, I'd like to book” and the first appointment: forms, consent, payment details and screening.

Long or repetitive intake is where warm patients cool. Ask only for what the first visit needs.

A written estimate of expected charges that US providers must give uninsured and self-pay patients.

Under the No Surprises Act rules at 45 CFR 149.610, it's due when an uninsured or self-pay patient schedules care or asks for one. For a cash-pay practice it belongs in intake. Our good faith estimate guide covers the rules with a template, and functional medicine pricing covers how it sits next to a price list.

An itemized receipt a practice gives a patient who paid out of pocket, with the codes an insurer needs to consider out-of-network reimbursement.

It is not a claim and guarantees nothing: the patient submits it under their own plan, and it shares a diagnosis with their insurer. See what a superbill includes, with a template.

Keeping patients coming back for the care they need, for as long as they need it.

In a private-pay practice most retention work is operational: the next visit booked at checkout, reminders that can be acted on, a phone that gets answered. See patient retention strategies.

The share of patients active at the start of a period who are still active at the end of it.

Retention rate = (patients at end − new patients during the period) ÷ patients at start × 100

New patients are taken out so that growth can't hide losses. Work it out with the patient retention calculator.

The share of patients who stop coming during a period without finishing their care.

Churn rate = 100% − retention rate

Not every departure is churn. A patient who completes a course of care and is discharged is a success; count them separately, or the number punishes good care.

The share of booked appointments the patient neither attended nor cancelled in time.

No-show rate = missed appointments ÷ booked appointments × 100

Track it by clinician and appointment type. It's usually concentrated, and the concentration tells you where the fix belongs. Our guide to reducing patient no-shows covers the fixes.

A cancellation made inside the notice window a practice sets.

Usually counted with no-shows. A window only works if it was stated before the first visit and is applied the same way to everyone.

A charge for an appointment missed without adequate notice.

Disclose it in writing before the first visit and apply it consistently. Rules can differ for patients covered by insurance or public programs, so check before charging anyone who isn't paying privately. See a no-show policy that holds.

The share of visits where the patient leaves with the next appointment already booked.

Rebooking rate = visits with the next appointment booked ÷ visits × 100

The highest-yield retention habit in most practices, and one of the easiest to measure.

Contacting patients when a check-up, review or follow-up visit is due under their own care plan.

Recall is about the person's own care, which is treated differently from marketing. See reactivation, below.

Contacting lapsed patients or old inquiries with a genuine reason to return.

Using protected health information for marketing generally needs the patient's written authorization under 45 CFR 164.508; communications about the person's own treatment are treated differently under the definition of marketing. Agree the line with your compliance adviser. See patient reactivation.

In health systems, patients referred to providers outside the network.

In a private practice the more useful meaning is every point where someone who wanted to book, or rebook, was lost: the unanswered call, the slow reply, the reminder that never went. We count seven of them.

The contact that keeps a patient connected to their care between visits.

Reminders, instructions, answered messages. Software vendors use the same phrase for their platforms; the platform is the tool, and engagement is whether anyone uses it. See patient engagement strategies.

The steps from noticing a need to becoming a returning patient.

Roughly: search, compare, inquire, book, attend, return, recommend. Each step is a place to lose someone, which is why we map it before changing anything. See patient journey mapping.

The revenue a practice can expect from one patient over the whole relationship.

LTV = average revenue per visit × visits per year × years as a patient

Multiply by your margin for a profit version. Calculate it with the acquisition cost and lifetime value calculator.

Patient lifetime value divided by patient acquisition cost.

LTV:PAC = patient lifetime value ÷ patient acquisition cost

How many times over a new patient repays what it cost to win them. Below 1, each new patient costs more to win than they will bring in.

How many visits it takes for a new patient's revenue to cover what it cost to acquire them.

Visits to payback = patient acquisition cost ÷ average revenue per visit

A short payback matters most in specialties where many patients come only a few times.

A practice where patients pay directly rather than through insurance; also called private-pay or self-pay.

Common in therapy, psychiatry, concierge and direct primary care, functional medicine, ketamine care and weight-loss programs. Patients weigh price and fit before booking, so pages that state fees plainly carry more of the decision.

A contract a practice signs with a vendor that will handle protected health information on its behalf.

A business associate is defined at 45 CFR 160.103. Sign the agreement before any patient data moves. Most marketing work shouldn't need patient data at all.

Health information that identifies a person and is held by a practice or its business associates.

Also defined at 45 CFR 160.103. It never belongs in an ad platform, and patient lists shouldn't be used for ad targeting.

A patient's own words used in a practice's advertising.

Professional codes limit them: the APA Ethics Code, for one, says psychologists don't solicit testimonials from current therapy clients. A review a patient chooses to leave on Google is a different thing; our guide to Google reviews for doctors covers asking for one.