The ‘Go-To’ Clinic Patient Journey: 6-Stages To Consistent Results, Reviews And Referrals 

Understanding the ‘Go-To’ Clinic Patient Journey is crucial for clinic owners and therapists who want consistent reviews and referrals. The ability for private practice healthcare providers to quickly identify where their patient experience breaks down is critical in order to be able to fix the issues quickly in order to continue to ethically grow.

Through years of mentoring therapists, analysing patient feedback and mapping patient touchpoints, I’ve developed a systematic framework called ‘The ‘Go-To’ Clinic Patient Journey that allows our ‘Go-To’ Clinic Mastermind members to map the patient journey across six critical stages that lead to predictable reviews, referrals, and clinic growth.

Why Map The Physiotherapy Patient Journey Into 6 Stages?

As clinic owners, we often struggle to identify exactly where our patient journey breaks down and why our key performance indicators (KPIs) aren’t meeting targets. This 6-stage patient journey framework serves as a diagnostic tool with our ‘Go-To’ Clinic Head Physio Dashboard to quickly identify where your therapists need support and what specific actions will improve their performance.

The ‘Go-To’ Clinic patient journey map tracks four key metrics that measure patient satisfaction and engagement to tell us exactly how well we’re progressing patients through these stages:

• Initial Assessment Rebook Rate (Target: 90%)
• Package Conversion Rate (Target: 50%)
• Drop-off Rate (Target: <8%)
• Patient Visit Average (Target: 6+ sessions)

These numbers aren’t just statistics – they’re lagging indicators that reveal where breakdowns occur in the patient journey. When we see suboptimal numbers, we can trace back to specific stages and identify exactly which inputs need adjustment.

How Understanding The Patient Journey Map Really Matters For Clinical Excellence

By understanding the key ‘inputs’ that need to happen at each stages, you’ll be able to use patient data to consistently achieve the ‘outputs’ below which are critical for ethical clinical and personal growth:

• 90% Initial Assessment rebook rates
• 50% package conversion rates
• Less than 8% drop-off percentage
• 6+ patient visit average
• Greater than 70%+ therapist utilisation

Examples Of How The Six Stages Can Do To Improve Your Patient Experience

A low Initial Assessment Rebook Rate typically indicates issues in stages 1-3, while a low Patient Visit Average often points to breakdowns in stages 4-6.

By understanding this relationship, we can make precise adjustments to improve patient outcomes rather than simply reacting to symptoms like cancellations or no-shows.

So without further do, lets look at the key ‘inputs’ of the six stages of the patient journey.

 

Stage 1: Patient Engagement And ‘Buy-In’ To The Treatment Plan

The foundation of every successful patient journey begins with the patient actively engaging and ‘buying-in’ to the treatment plan.

The patient engagement journey begins when a patient actively engages in and ‘buys-in’ to the treatment plan. This isn’t just about explaining what’s wrong – it’s about creating crystal clear understanding and alignment with the patient’s ‘needs’, ‘wants’ and goals. Without this foundation, even the best clinical skills won’t lead to optimal outcomes.

In practice, this means confidently answering the four ‘ProSport’ questions every patient has:

1. What’s the problem?
2. Why did it happen?
3. What’s the plan?
4. How many sessions will it take?

When patients truly understand the answers to those four questions, they’re far more likely to trust the therapist and commit to the full recovery journey versus a therapist just ‘whinging’ it session by session.

Louis Gifford said it best, ‘Reassurance is a painkiller’.

The key here isn’t just presenting a plan – it’s ensuring the plan aligns with how the patient defines value in their world. This means understanding their daily needs, their definition of success, and what meaningful progress looks like to them.

 

Stage 2: First Session Progress Specific To Patient Needs

Creating immediate ‘meaningful’ changes in the first session is crucial for building momentum. This doesn’t always mean complex pain relief – it means helping patients experience tangible progress toward their goals and helping them be successful for the week ahead in the real world. Whether through hands on treatment, pain modification strategies or helpful education, patients need to leave their first session feeling confident they’re on the right path.

This stage is where clinical skills become critical. Using the right techniques at the right time, combined with clear communication about what’s happening and why, builds both trust and momentum. Remember, the treatment actually begins during stage one with the explanation process – physical intervention is just one part of the progress equation.

 

Stage 3: Patient Rebooks And Turns Up To The Second Session

The bridge between initial improvement and sustained progress happens by being intentional in the rehab exercises prescribed in the first session. This crucial stage is about maintaining momentum through effective exercise prescription and clear strategies that fit seamlessly into patients’ daily lives.

Too often, therapists prescribe exercises without considering how they align with patient-defined value outcomes. If a patient needs to manage stairs pain-free, but their exercises are all floor-based, we’re missing an opportunity to create meaningful progress. Success at this stage means patients can clearly see how their treatment translates to real-world improvements and ‘feels’ the difference in the first week in everyday activities.

This ensures the patient continues to ‘trust’ the therapist and ‘trust themselves’ that they will get value for the time, money and effort throughout this process.

 

Stage 4: The Patient Achieves The First Three Milestones Within The First Three Sessions

For sustained progress, patients need to hit their first three milestones/outcomes within the first three sessions. These milestones aren’t arbitrary – they’re based on the patient-defined outcomes established in the initial assessment during stage one. This creates objective proof of progress and builds confidence in the treatment process.

This stage acts as an early warning system. If patients aren’t achieving these initial milestones, it’s often a sign they’re at risk of dropping off. Rather than waiting for cancellations or no-shows, we can proactively adjust our approach to improve the patient experience and show clear signs of progression.

 

Stage 5: Maintaining Progress When The Pain Eases

This critical touchpoint in the patient journey typically occurs around sessions four to six, and is essential for patient retention. Without proper patient expectations been set in stage one, patients often think they’re “fixed” once pain reduces. However, this is where the real work of creating lasting change begins.

Think about professional sports – when an athlete has a grade two hamstring injury, they might be pain-free by day 10, but they won’t return to full training until day 28. The same principle applies to our patients. Getting them to understand and commit to this phase is crucial for giving us enough time to achieve all of the patient-defined value outcomes from the initial assessment.

 

Stage 6: Definition of Success Achievement

The final stage focuses on achieving thoughtless, fearless movement – what the renowned physiotherapist Louis Gifford described as the ultimate goal of rehabilitation. This means exposing patients to challenging scenarios while maintaining their confidence and control.

This is where reviews and referrals are truly earned for increased patient acquisition. When patients overcome their fears and achieve things they didn’t think possible, they become natural advocates for your service. It’s not just about meeting expectations – it’s about exceeding them.

 

Implementing the Six Stages

Success with this patient journey mapping framework requires healthcare providers to use the numbers to remove the emotion from the decision making to systematically improve the patient experience. In the ‘Go-To’ Clinic Hub, we’ve developed tools and resources to help therapists track patient progress through each stage and take appropriate action when needed.

By understanding these stages and the key actions required at each point, you can create predictable patient outcomes and build a thriving practice based on results rather than constant marketing for new patients.

 

Ready to transform your healthcare organization with patient journey mapping?

Visit thegotophysio.com/hub to access implementation resources and support.