Healthcare marketing questions, answered

Getting more patients

How do I get more new patients for my practice?

Start with where the demand is, not with more advertising. Find out which services and neighborhoods have patients you are not reaching, make sure those patients can find you on Google, in AI answers and on the review sites they trust, and then fix what happens after they reach out. Many practices lose new patients to unanswered calls, slow replies and unresolved insurance questions, and fixing that second half often adds more patients than buying more clicks. We start with a Market Read for the first half and The Map for the second.

How much should a medical practice spend on marketing?

There is no single right number. Industry surveys usually put established practices at a few percent of revenue, with new practices, elective specialties and competitive metros spending more. A more useful way to set the budget is to work backwards: what one new patient is worth to a service line, how many you need, and what each one currently costs to win. Put the money where the gap between demand and your patients is largest, and review it against patients who actually came in, not clicks.

How do I calculate patient acquisition cost?

Divide what you spent to win new patients in a period, including advertising, agency and content costs, by the number of new patients who actually came in during that period. Calculate it by service line and by source where you can. Count patients who showed up, not leads or booked appointments, because a campaign can look cheap per lead and expensive per patient.

Why are our marketing leads not turning into patients?

Usually because something breaks between the inquiry and the visit: calls reach voicemail, web forms wait hours for a reply, insurance or cost questions go unanswered, or the patient writes in a language nobody at the front desk speaks. More advertising makes those leaks bigger. The fix is to trace every inquiry to its outcome, find the step where most patients drop out, and repair that step first. That is what The Map and The Fix are built to do.

How do we get more patient reviews?

Ask every patient at the right moment, usually right after the visit, with a short text that links straight to the review page. Do not offer incentives or ask only the patients you expect to be happy, because review platforms prohibit both. When you respond to a review, never confirm that the reviewer is a patient or mention their care, since that can breach HIPAA even when the reviewer shared the details first.

AI search and SEO

How do I get my practice to show up in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews?

AI assistants recommend practices they can verify across many sources. Keep your name, address, phone number and services identical everywhere they appear, complete your Google Business Profile and the directory profiles for your specialty, earn a steady flow of reviews, and publish clear pages that answer the questions patients actually ask, with structured data that tells machines who you are. Placement cannot be bought. An answer-engine audit shows what the models say about you today and what to fix first.

How long does SEO take to work?

Usually months rather than weeks. A new website can take several months to rank for competitive searches, while an established site that fixes technical and content problems can move sooner. Two things improve faster than rankings: accurate, citable pages that AI answers can pick up, and conversion on the pages you already have. We report all three separately, so you can see what is working while rankings build.

Can anyone guarantee a first-page ranking or a ChatGPT recommendation?

No. Search engines and AI models decide what to show, and anyone promising a guaranteed position is selling something. What can be done is improving what those systems read: accurate, well-structured pages, consistent listings and genuine reviews. That is what moves rankings and AI answers over time.

Marketing rules

Should doctors use social media, and what are the rules?

Yes. It is one of the most effective ways for patients to get to know a physician before they book. Physicians can share educational content and promote their practice, but they should not discuss identifiable patients without written authorization, promise outcomes, or give individual medical advice in the comments, and state medical board advertising rules apply. Short videos that answer one real patient question tend to work best; see our analysis of 10 popular fertility videos.

Can a practice text patients?

Appointment reminders and care-related texts are common and generally allowed. Marketing texts need the patient's prior written consent, every message should make opting out easy, and nothing clinical should appear in the message itself. Rules vary by state, so set your consent approach with counsel before sending. This is general information, not legal advice.

Reaching patients in other languages

Should we translate our marketing for Chinese- or Spanish-speaking patients?

Translation is rarely enough. Patients who speak another language at home often have different health concerns, insurance questions and ways of describing their symptoms, so campaigns work best when they are written for that community from the start. They also need to run where that community already spends its time: for Chinese-speaking patients, that usually means WeChat and RedNote (Xiaohongshu); for Spanish-speaking patients, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, along with Spanish-language search and local media. Just as important, the practice has to answer in that language when the patient calls or writes back; otherwise the campaign creates inquiries nobody can convert.

Choosing a marketing partner

What should we look for in a healthcare marketing agency?

Look for healthcare experience and a working grasp of HIPAA and advertising rules; reporting on patients and cost per patient, not only clicks and impressions; clarity about who will actually do the work; clearly scoped terms rather than long lock-ins; and a willingness to tell you when marketing is not the problem. Ask how they will measure success before you sign.

About Jupiter Practice

What is Jupiter Practice?

Jupiter Practice is a healthcare marketing studio. We read where patient demand is, make the websites, campaigns and physician content that reach those patients, and build the systems that turn inquiries into visits. The Jupiter Practice team combines experience leading brand and demand generation at Mayo Clinic and UCLA Health with expertise in healthcare administration. As winners of a Google global hackathon, we bring technical expertise and creative thinking to solving complex problems.

Who does Jupiter Practice work with?

Healthcare organizations of every size, from independent practices and specialty groups to health systems and their service lines. The work fits any organization that competes for patients who research before they call, and it is strongest where many patients speak Chinese or Spanish at home.

Where is Jupiter Practice based?

We are based in Orange County, California and New York City, and we work with clients across the United States. Most engagements run remotely, with on-site days where filming or workshops need them.

What services does Jupiter Practice offer?

The work is organized in three chapters. Insights reads the market: Market Read, Voice-of-Patient Synthesis and Answer-Engine Audits. Taste makes the work: websites, physician brands, content and campaigns, brand systems and multicultural campaigns. Systems works inside the practice: The Map, a one-month diagnosis of where inquiries fall out before they become visits, and The Fix, which repairs one step at a time on the tools you already own.

How does pricing work, and is there a long-term contract?

Defined pieces of work, such as a Market Read, a website, The Map or a single fix, are fixed-fee projects agreed before they start. Ongoing programs, such as physician brands and campaigns, bill monthly and can stop at the end of any month. Advertising budgets are paid to the platforms, never to the studio. The exact figure depends on scope, and a person gives it to you within one business day.

Can we get a free read first?

Yes. We offer a free written read of how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews answer the questions your patients ask in your city, sent within three business days. Send your practice name, city, one service line and website through Write to us.

How do we get started?

Book a 30-minute call or write to us. A person replies within one business day. The first call has no deck: we ask about your market and service lines, and tell you honestly whether a Market Read is worth your budget.