New patients are often a little anxious. They don’t know where to park, what to bring, how long it will take or what will happen when they arrive. Some of them don’t turn up for those reasons alone.
A simple first-visit page answers those questions before they are asked. It is one of the cheapest, quickest improvements a clinic can make.
What to include
- Where to go. Address, map, parking, public transport and which entrance to use.
- When to arrive. How early to come and what happens at reception.
- What to bring. Referral letters, Medicare card, health fund card, concession cards, a list of medications and previous scans or reports.
- How long it takes. A rough idea of the appointment length.
- What will happen. A short, plain description of the appointment, in order.
- Forms. How to complete them in advance, and where they are.
- Costs. What the first appointment costs, how to pay and what may be claimable.
- Who you will see. A photo and short description of the practitioner.
- Accessibility. Step-free access, interpreter options and anything else people need to know.
- If you need to cancel. How to reschedule, and any cancellation policy.
Tone matters
Write as if you were talking to a nervous friend. Short sentences, plain words, no jargon. If you can, add a photo of the entrance and reception, because people feel better when they can picture arriving.
Link it from everywhere it helps
- The booking confirmation and reminder messages.
- The booking page and the website menu.
- The Google Business Profile.
- The new-patient forms.
What to avoid
- Outcome claims or promises about treatment.
- Patient quotes about results.
- Pressure to decide or to book more appointments.
- Clinical detail that isn’t relevant to a first visit.
Measure the effect
Track no-shows and late cancellations for new patients before and after you publish the page. Even a small drop is worth the hour it takes to write.
Questions we hear
- Do we need one for each service? Often one general page is enough, with extra notes for services that need preparation.
- Should we put it in the confirmation message? Yes. A link to the page in every booking confirmation is one of the best places for it.
- How long should it be? As short as it can be while answering the questions above. Aim for a page a person can read in two minutes.
An example outline
A first-visit page can be as simple as a handful of headings, in this order:
- Getting here
- When to arrive
- What to bring
- What will happen
- How long it takes
- Costs and payment
- Who you will see
- If you need to reschedule
Make it work with reminders
A page nobody visits doesn’t help. Link to it in the booking confirmation, and again in a text message a day or two before the appointment. Add a short line such as ‘Here is what to expect at your first visit’ so people know why they should click.
Common mistakes
- Long blocks of text that nobody reads.
- Burying the page in a menu where new patients can’t find it.
- Stock photos instead of a real picture of the entrance.
- Clinical detail that belongs in the consultation, not on the website.
- Parking and access information that is out of date.
How to test it
Ask a few new patients whether the page helped, track no-shows before and after, and ask reception which questions patients still ask. Update the page whenever the same question keeps coming up.
Our website service includes first-visit pages, and patient email and recall can send them automatically.