{"id":212,"date":"2012-02-08T00:09:16","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T05:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.privatepracticemarketingroundtable.com\/ppmr-members\/?p=212"},"modified":"2012-02-08T00:09:16","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T05:09:16","slug":"ask-the-expert-relocating-a-practice-without-losing-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatepracticemarketingroundtable.com\/ppmr-members\/archives\/ask-the-expert-relocating-a-practice-without-losing-patients","title":{"rendered":"Ask Dianne: Relocating a Practice Without Losing Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ask<\/a>Q. My partner and I recently relocated our orthodontic practice offices. We’ve noticed a decided decrease in productivity due to a decrease in patient appointments. <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This has come as a surprise, we actually didn’t notice it at first (while we were settling into our new offices). We don’t know what happened. Previously, we were booked fairly solid. We expected to see an increase in patient appointments because this is a better location. <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What should we be doing to get the patient appointment levels back up to where they were or better? <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A. This question almost falls into the “horse is out of the barn” category, in that the best measures to take to protect against this should occur before<\/strong> the move. Let’s look at how to plan for informing clients or patients of a pending relocation, and then we’ll talk about steps you can take now to remedy the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

When planning to relocate a practice, it’s important to include a budget and specific plans<\/strong> for alerting your clients or patients that you are moving. While it’s true that relocating a practice can be expensive, and you may be looking for ways to trim costs, this is not the place to cut corners. It’s a lot more cost effective to pay for these measures now than it is to try to find new clients or patients to replace the ones you lost to someone else when you moved.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an orthodontics practice, most likely the patients who have fallen through the cracks are the ones who had not yet committed to treatment, or those who are at the very end of treatment and have only routine follow-up appointments. Hopefully those already actively involved in treatment have followed your practice because of their own commitment to complete the process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s an outline of steps to take to ensure that your patients (or clients) follow you to your new location:<\/span><\/p>\n