Patients in pain choose on speed and clarity
A person with a stiff neck or a knee that gave out on a run wants two answers: can you see me soon, and will my insurance cover it? They search “chiropractor near me,” “physical therapy near me” or the problem plus a town (“sciatica chiropractor,” “ACL rehab”), look at two or three practices, and book with the one that answers those questions without a phone call.
For physical therapy, many patients also arrive with a referral from a surgeon or primary care doctor, and they may go wherever the referral letter points unless the practice gives them a reason to choose. This article is the chiropractic and PT chapter of our guide on how to get more clients. It covers what patients check, the referral relationships that keep a schedule full, privacy rules, and a 30-day plan.
What patients look for before booking
- Insurance and cash price. The plans you accept, whether you are in network, any visit limits patients should check with their plan, and the self-pay price for a first visit.
- Availability. “Accepting new patients” and the earliest first-visit slot, via a booking link with real times.
- The first visit, step by step. Intake forms, exam, whether imaging is part of it, how long it takes, what to wear. A patient who knows what will happen has one less reason to cancel.
- Who treats them. A short bio for each chiropractor or therapist, with training and the patients they often see, such as runners, desk workers or post-surgical patients.
- Reviews that mention the staff. Patients read for how the front desk treated people and whether the provider explained things clearly.
Give the main reasons people come in their own pages: neck pain, low back pain, headaches, sports injuries, post-surgery rehab. Each page says who you see, what the first visit includes and when a patient should see a medical doctor instead. Our chiropractor website design and physical therapy website design pages show how we set these up.
Referrals: the relationships that fill a schedule
Referrals in health care are slow to start and steady once they work. The difference between a referral partner and a name on a list is useful contact.
- Primary care and urgent care. Introduce yourself with a one-page summary: conditions you see, how fast you can see a new patient, how you will report back. Then do report back in a short, readable note, following your privacy policies.
- Orthopedists and surgeons (mostly for PT). Post-surgical patients need a clinic that follows the protocol and sends updates. Ask each surgeon’s office how they want progress notes.
- Chiropractors and physical therapists for each other. Many patients benefit from both. Agree on which cases you send each way.
- Personal trainers, gyms and running clubs. They see injuries before a doctor does. A short talk on injury prevention at a gym does more than a flyer.
A referral letter that gets read. Busy offices skim. Keep it to one page:
- Who you are, where you are, and your hours, including early or evening slots.
- The conditions you see most and the ones you send elsewhere.
- How fast a referred patient can be seen, and the direct line or fax for referrals.
- Insurance you accept.
- What the referring office will get back from you, and when: for example, a one-paragraph summary after the first visit and at discharge.
Follow up with a phone call to the office manager a week later. Ask how they prefer to send referrals and receive updates, and do it their way.
Paying a doctor or another provider per referred patient can run into federal and state anti-kickback and fee-splitting rules. Ask a health care lawyer before any arrangement that involves money. This is not legal advice.
Seasons and the plan year
Plans with deductibles often reset at the start of the plan year, frequently January, so some patients book more late in the year once the deductible is met and others wait until it resets. Spring and summer bring sports and yard-work injuries. School sports seasons fill youth and athlete slots. Check your own new-patient counts by month for the last year, and open extra first-visit slots ahead of your busiest weeks.
Privacy: what texts, forms and review replies can say
A health care provider that sends health information electronically for standard transactions, such as claims to health plans, is a HIPAA covered entity under 45 CFR 160.103. Under HIPAA, even a patient’s name tied to an appointment request is protected health information. That shapes your marketing tools:
- Online booking, intake forms and texting run on tools whose vendor signs a business associate agreement. Without one, a website chat gives general answers (hours, services, insurance accepted) and points patients to your booking system or front desk.
- Reminders and review requests mention no condition or treatment. “We look forward to seeing you Tuesday at 3” is enough.
- Review replies never confirm that someone was a patient or what they came in for.
This is not legal advice. Ask your attorney or compliance adviser about your setup.
What not to promise
“Fix your back in three visits” and “guaranteed relief” invite complaints and board trouble. Describe the care, what the first visit covers, and how you decide on a plan of care with the patient. Check your state board’s advertising rules before you publish claims about a condition.
Google profiles for practices with several providers
Google’s guidelines treat doctors as individual practitioners. A public-facing chiropractor or therapist may have one profile of their own; support staff should not create profiles; and a practitioner should not have one profile per specialty. Keep the practice profile as the main listing with the booking link, and keep the name, address and phone identical on every directory patients use.
Your 30-day plan
| Week | Focus | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First visit | Publish the insurance list, cash price and first-visit steps. Test the booking link on a phone. |
| 2 | Condition pages | Publish pages for your three most common reasons for a visit, with no outcome claims. |
| 3 | Referral partners | Send your one-page summary to five primary care offices, orthopedists or gyms. Offer a 15-minute call. |
| 4 | Follow-up and sources | Set up one reminder and one “time to rebook” message under the privacy rules above. Ask every new patient how they found you and count by source. |
What it costs with us
- A website: from $3,500 for 5-8 pages, or from $1,200 for one landing page
- Booking setup: from $600
- Reminder and rebooking texts: setup from $500, then from $99/month
Domain and hosting, new photography, third-party software subscriptions (billed at cost), SMS carrier registration and message fees are not included. Prices and the rest of the list are on our pricing page. To see how patients find your practice today, request a free demo.
Published . Updated .