As a business professional, you know first impressions really matter. While you may put in the work to ensure your medical aesthetics clinic is welcoming and your staff are attentive to new patients the moment they walk through the door, you may be forgetting the one step new patients always dread: Long intake forms.

A necessity to your clinic but a tedious pain to your patients, intake forms can undo the positive first impression you’ve had on new prospects to this point. While patients understand that intake forms are a requirement when they visit any new medical aesthetics clinic, making the process run a little smoother for them could make all the difference to your conversion rate.

Luckily, we have five ideas you can use to improve your patient intake form process that patients will appreciate for their ease and convenience.

Making intake forms available on your website so prospective patients can fill them out in advance at their convenience is one simple and cost-effective way to improve your patient intake form process. Create a form using the same branding and design considerations of your website and make it available to print off from your website. Add a link in your main menu or add a clearly labeled button that prospects can easily find to download the forms. Save the form itself in .pdf format to ensure your formatting isn’t altered regardless of the device the patient uses to view it. This will also allow many of your clients to type their information into the forms, provided they have the right software, making the process even easier for your staff.

In combination with your online intake forms, prompt your potential prospects to e-mail their completed forms to you prior to their appointment. By doing so, you eliminate the concern of forms being left at home. Further, it will allow your staff more time to review the information and follow up with the patient if needed prior to his or her first appointment.

While it requires a larger initial investment, consider replacing paper intake forms and clipboards in your reception area with tablets. Offering this digital option saves prospects’ time by allowing them to type in information and edit as needed without scratching out their errors or having to start all over again with fresh paper forms. It also saves your staff the hassle of digitizing the forms by having to manually type everything in. For a little fun and to cut down on potential patient boredom, you may also have your staff invite patients to use the tablet while they wait for browsing the Internet or checking social media after they’ve completed their forms.

With the digitization of forms, you may be tempted to lengthen your questionnaire to include additional demographic information. After all, you’re no longer printing off the forms, saving time and paper. Resist the urge to add more questions. Brevity is key to keeping patients happy. Keep your intake forms limited to necessary details and save the additional questions for an optional follow-up survey you can send after their initial consultation to fill in at their own convenience.

If you’ve opted to eliminate the waiting area in your medical aesthetics clinic , prepare intake forms and have them waiting in the proper treatment rooms when your prospective patient arrives. Having this seamless process in place will give patients the impression that you and your staff value discretion and respect the patient’s time.

By instituting one or more of the above tips, you can improve the intake process for new clients and boost conversion rates through these positive experiences. For more information and insider tips on how to turn prospects into paying patients, download our eBook, “Mastering the Art of the Aesthetic Consult,” today!

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