Healthcare
Measure completed visits, not booked appointments
In patient acquisition, a booked appointment is a promise. A completed visit is the result. Reporting should follow the result.
Ironstark1 min read
Patient acquisition reports often stop at the booked appointment. It is an easy number to count, and it moves fast. It also overstates results, because some share of booked patients never show up.
Follow the patient to the visit
Measuring completed visits requires one more data join: the appointment record from the scheduling or practice management system, matched back to the source of the original contact. Once that join exists, cost per completed visit can be reported by channel and campaign.
What changes when you measure it
Sources that look strong on bookings can look weaker on completed visits, and the reverse. Reminder sequences, confirmation calls, and scheduling speed all show their effect on show rate once completed visits are the target.
Keep privacy in view
The data join should happen inside the provider's own systems or under the provider's agreements. Health information should not flow to advertising platforms to make this reporting work.