The Sign-Up Saga
Is your NHS Practice website looking a bit lonely? Are those registration numbers not quite hitting the mark? Well, buckle up, because we’re about to turn that around. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through five tried-and-tested strategies to increase patient registrations on your website. Let’s get started! ????
Drive up reviews
What do patients do when they want to find a new GP practice? They search the web. And in doing so they’ll stumble across reviews on search engines.
So don’t forget to keep an eye on your reviews online! It’s important to communicate with patients, even if their review isn’t positive. Patients are more likely to register with your practice if they trust you. And how do you build trust? Through transparency.
Put a registration button on the front of your website
These days, we’re used to being able to sign up to things in just a few taps or clicks. So why should registering with a GP practice be any different?
Your practice website is your digital front door. We know that having registrations front and centre on your website and across your social media helps promote prospective patients choosing your practice.
Be open about your practice’s values, team, and services
Seeking certifications such as Pride in Practice, Veteran Friendly, and Safe Surgeries adds credibility to the care you provide to minority patient groups and can help boost your registration numbers too!
Leverage the power of Healthtech-1
134 practices (and counting) have turned to Healthtech-1 to automate registrations. They get higher registration numbers and patients give rave reviews!
A mobile friendly registration form is split into core and medical sections. Clear language is used throughout the form and there are personalised patient communications informing patients about the progress of their registration. More people are able to complete the form, resulting in more registrations.
Patients are registered on the same day which means that they don’t have to face a delay before accessing care, and the practice has all the information they need to look after. On average patients rate Healthtech-1’s registration process 9.8 out of 10.
The impact has been seen by The Portchester Practice near Portsmouth who have been live with Healthtech-1 since March 2023.
First 4 Health Group is a federation of four practices in Newham, London. They started using Healthtech-1 at the start of 2021 and in just two years they increased list size by 6,500 patients. Partner, Kuljeet Sunder, said “With this much simpler registration process our list size has significantly increase and, as a result, we were able to give our staff a 10% pay rise this year!”.
Use signage outside your practice
As well as your registration link you can use a QR code allowing patients to scan and be taken straight to the registration form. Many practices put this outside their building to make it simple for people walking past to sign up.
Open up to out of area
In 2021/22 NHS England published that practices were paid nearly £164 on average per registered patient and, when you take into account potential performance-based income like QOF, there is a clear business-driver for boosting registrations.
But how exactly? Well, since 2015 GP practices have been able to voluntarily accept out of area registrations, allowing patients greater choice.
So practices can choose to offer out of area services and this presents another method of boosting registrations! But it’s important to have clear messaging for patients to ensure they understand what is available if they are out of area.
Healthtech-1 has seen a 6% increase in list size across it’s practices who open up their catchment to out of area patients.
Conclusion
Attracting more patients to your practice isn’t about tricks or gimmicks. It’s about creating a welcoming, accessible, and engaging online space that meets their needs.
And it starts right from the registration process itself.
By implementing these strategies, you can increase patient registrations and ensure your practice thrives!