Orrin I. Franko, MD – East Bay Hand Medical Center in San Leandro, CA
Presented at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) 2019 Conference in Las Vegas, NV
Background
- Online reviews are important for attracting new patients to a hand surgery practice
- The monetary value of different referral sources is unknown
- This study determines the value of Internet-referred patients compared to other traditional referral sources for building and growing a hand surgery practice
Methods
- Two years of billing data were analyzed
- Data was cross-referenced with referral sources
- Calculations were made for
- average percent collection
- dollars per visit
- dollars per patient
- Internet-referred patients are those who made appointments after reading online reviews
Results
- 5,071 patients’ data were analyzed
- Average collections/visit was $202
- Average collections/hour was $626
- Average total collections/patient was $692
- The most valuable referral sources were:
- Surgeons > Workers Compensation > Former Patients
- value of internet-referred patients was below average at $541/hour and $442/patient
- Internet-referred patients were mostly PPO insurance (75%) despite the overall practice mix at 29% PPO insurance
Summary Points
- Different referral sources have varying amounts of revenue per patient or per time
- Internet-referred patients represent a higher % of PPO payors, but below average $/visit, $/minute, and total $ collected
- Enthusiasm for pursuing online marketing referrals may depend on a surgeon’s practice mix and availability
