Urgent Care Marketing Math 101

Most people I know tell me math is one of their least favorite subjects, with accounting way below even that. In some realms that would be okay, but when you own and operate a business as complex as an urgent care center you must learn to embrace your inner “nerd” if you want your business to thrive.

Sure, you can rely on your bookkeeper and your accountant to some extent. But, if you really want to see almost magical levels of success, you absolutely must learn to understand what the numbers are telling you, and must learn to love the numbers and the pictures they paint.

When I first started my center, and for many years thereafter, I thought of marketing as a “black box.” I poured huge amounts of money into various campaigns and over time we grew, but I had no real understanding of which campaigns were profitable and which were not. I finally had this wondrous “aha” moment, when I discovered the well-hidden secrets of marketing math. Finally the black box was opened, and now I’m going to open it for you.

The first concept to study is the “Total Practice Value of a Patient”™ or TPV™. This one concept, if truly understood, will revolutionize your marketing and place you in the top tier. The TPV is the total gross revenues of a patient over the average time a patient stays with your center.

In order to know and calculate the TPV, your computer, tracking, and accounting systems must be set up properly. You should also know the patient attrition rate (kind of the inverse of average stay with your center), the average revenue per first visit, and the average number of visits a patient will incur while with your center.

Now let’s see why TPV is so critically important. Here are two extremes that will help showcase this concept. One center has a TPV of $250, and one center has a TPV of $2,500. Can you see how the second center can afford to spend substantially more on marketing to bring in new patients profitably? Can you see how now, finally, you can begin to scientifically set up your marketing budgets for maximal growth? This becomes even more powerful when you realize that bringing in little Johnny can also lead to the father, mother, sisters, and potentially extended family if properly marketed.

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