Medical Practice Marketing: Build a ‘Continuity of Care’ Online Journey

Medical practice marketing: design a ‘continuity of care’ online journey

When most people talk about medical practice marketing, they focus on one moment: getting the patient to book.

But in real life, good medicine isn’t just about the first consultation – it’s about continuity of care. Seeing the same doctor. A joined‑up plan. Clear follow‑up.

Your marketing should feel the same.

Think of your online presence as a joined‑up treatment pathway, not a collection of random tactics. From the first Google search to the follow‑up email, every step should feel like the same calm, competent clinician is looking after the patient.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to build that kind of joined‑up journey – so your marketing doesn’t just attract more patients, it helps you keep them.

Why continuity of care is the perfect model for marketing

In healthcare, continuity of care:

• Reduces anxiety
• Improves outcomes
• Builds long‑term trust

Your marketing can do exactly the same.

Imagine two experiences:

• Disjointed journey – A patient finds an old directory listing, clicks through to a dated website, then gets a different tone in the booking confirmation, then hears nothing until the day of the appointment.
• Continuity of care journey – A patient finds a clear, current profile, lands on a calm website that answers their questions, gets a reassuring booking email, then receives simple pre‑appointment guidance and follow‑up check‑ins.

Same clinician. Very different feeling.

The second practice hasn’t just “done marketing” – they’ve designed a consistent patient journey that quietly says: “You’re in safe hands from start to finish.”

That’s the angle we’re taking here.

Step 1: Map your digital ‘treatment pathway’

Before you tweak a website or write a blog, you need a plan.

Think like a consultant mapping a patient pathway:

1. Referral / discovery – How do people first hear about you?
2. Initial assessment – What do they see when they look you up?
3. Decision to proceed – What helps them decide to book?
4. Pre‑appointment – What happens between booking and visit?
5. Post‑appointment – How do you follow up and support them?
6. Long‑term relationship – How do you stay on their radar?

Now translate that into digital touchpoints.

Common touchpoints for private specialists

For most UK private practices, the digital pathway looks something like this:

• Google search (your name or symptom + location)
• Private hospital / directory profile
• Your own website
• Online reviews (Google, Doctify, Top Doctors, hospital sites)
• Online booking form or phone call
• Confirmation email / SMS
• Pre‑appointment information (often a PDF or web page)
• Post‑appointment email / portal message
• Occasional follow‑up emails or letters

Medical practice marketing is about making sure each of these steps:

• Looks and feels consistent
• Answers the patient’s next question
• Reduces anxiety instead of adding to it

Think of it like handing over between clinicians: everyone sings from the same hymn sheet.

Step 2: Make your first digital impression feel like a calm triage nurse

In A&E, the triage nurse sets the tone. Calm, organised, reassuring.

Online, that role is played by the first thing a patient sees when they search for you.

Check your “digital triage” points

Search your own name and your main procedure or condition in Google:

• What comes up first? (Your site, hospital profile, random directory?)
• Is the information up to date and consistent?
• Does your photo look like you in 2025, not 2015?
• Do you clearly state your specialist areas, not just job titles?

Aim for:

• The same headshot on all major profiles
• The same one‑sentence description of what you do
• Clear, non‑technical language: “Consultant knee surgeon specialising in sports injuries” beats “Orthopaedic surgeon with subspecialty interest in…”

This is your first chance to show continuity. Whether they click your hospital page or your website, they should feel: “Yes, this is the right person for my problem.”

Step 3: Turn your website into the central clinic, not a side room

In NHS terms, think of your website as the main clinic, and everything else (hospital profiles, directories, social media) as satellite clinics.

Everything should point back to the main clinic for:

• Clear explanations of conditions and treatments
• Practical information (fees, locations, what to expect)
• Booking options and contact details

Key elements of a continuity‑focused website

You’ve probably heard plenty about design and best practice elsewhere, so let’s focus on continuity:

1. Consistent tone
   Write like you speak to patients in clinic: calm, plain English, no scare‑mongering.

2. Predictable structure
   For each condition / treatment page, follow the same pattern, for example:

   • What this condition is
   • Common symptoms
   • When to seek help
   • How I investigate it
   • Treatment options
   • What recovery usually looks like

   That consistency builds trust fast.

3. Joined‑up calls to action
   Every page should answer: “What’s the sensible next step?”
   Examples:

   • “Not sure if this fits your symptoms? Here’s what to do…”
   • “Ready to book an assessment? You can call or request an appointment here.”

4. Location and fees clarity
   Nothing breaks continuity like surprise costs or mystery locations. Be upfront.

If your website feels like the same clinician talking to the same kind of patient in the same style, you’ve nailed the continuity angle.

Step 4: Treat content like a long‑term management plan, not a one‑off prescription

One clinic letter doesn’t manage a chronic condition. You need a plan.

Your content marketing should work the same way.

Think in “care pathways”, not random blog posts

Instead of writing whatever comes to mind each month, build content pathways around specific patient journeys.

Example: A knee specialist could create a pathway for “runner with knee pain”:

1. Awareness stage – “Is my knee pain serious or can I ignore it?”
2. Consideration stage – “MRI, physio or surgery? How do I decide?”
3. Decision stage – “What to expect from a private knee assessment”
4. Post‑treatment – “Knee surgery recovery timeline: week by week”
5. Long‑term – “How to protect your knees if you love running”

Each piece links to the next, like follow‑up appointments.

Patients don’t just land on one article and disappear – they follow a thread that feels like a joined‑up conversation with you.

Keep the tone consistent across all channels

Whether it’s:

• A blog on your website
• A short LinkedIn post for referrers
• A video explaining a procedure

…use the same reassuring, clear tone. Imagine you’re explaining it to a worried family member over a cup of tea.

That consistency is marketing gold.

Step 5: Use email like a good follow‑up clinic

Most practices underuse email. That’s a missed opportunity.

Email, done well, is the digital version of a well‑run follow‑up clinic:

• Timely
• Relevant
• Reassuring

Simple email ideas that build continuity

You don’t need fancy funnels. Start with:

1. Pre‑appointment email sequence

   • Confirmation with clear directions, parking, what to bring
   • A brief “what to expect at your appointment” email
   • A reminder 24–48 hours before

2. Post‑appointment follow‑up

   • Summary of key points (in plain English)
   • Reminder of next steps and red‑flag symptoms
   • Link to trusted resources on your site

3. Longer‑term check‑ins (where appropriate and compliant)

   • For joint replacements: a “6 months on” check‑in email with tips
   • For dermatology: seasonal advice and skin check reminders

Each message should feel like part of the same care plan, not random marketing noise.

Always stay within GMC guidance and data protection rules, of course – but within that, there’s a lot you can do to support patients between visits.

Step 6: Make reviews and feedback part of the loop, not an afterthought

Reviews are often treated as a vanity metric – nice to have, but separate from care.

In reality, they’re more like patient‑reported outcome measures for your marketing.

Build a simple feedback loop

After appointments or procedures (where appropriate):

• Ask for feedback via a short survey
• Invite patients to leave a review on your chosen platform
• Look for patterns: is there a recurring concern about communication, waiting times, directions?

Then feed that back into your online journey:

• Confused about parking? Add a simple map and photo to your website.
• Worried about waiting times? Explain typical clinic flow and delays.
• Anxious about surgery? Add a “day of surgery, step by step” guide.

This is medical practice marketing at its best: listening, adjusting, improving – just like clinical practice.

Step 7: Align your team so every channel sounds like the same doctor

Even if you’re a solo consultant, you’re not really solo. You’ve got:

• Secretaries
• Hospital booking teams
• Website managers
• Maybe a social media person

Continuity falls apart when everyone improvises.

Create a simple “communication cheat sheet”

You don’t need a 40‑page brand book. One side of A4 is enough:

• How you describe what you do (one clear sentence)
• Your key conditions / procedures in patient‑friendly language
• How you want patients to feel after interacting with you (e.g. “reassured and informed, not rushed or overwhelmed”)
• Phrases you like using with patients
• Phrases you’d rather avoid (e.g. “failed treatment”, “degeneration” without explanation)

Share this with anyone who writes or speaks on your behalf. That way, your:

• Website copy
• Letters
• Emails
• Phone scripts

…all feel like they’re coming from the same calm, consistent clinician.

Measuring success: think beyond bookings

Yes, you want more of the right patients booking in. But with a continuity‑of‑care approach, there are other useful signs you’re on track:

• Fewer “just checking…” admin calls (because your emails and website are clearer)
• Shorter consultations spent clarifying basics (patients arrive better informed)
• More word‑of‑mouth referrals mentioning how “looked after” they felt
• Higher review scores mentioning communication and reassurance

These are all outcomes of good medical practice marketing, not just good medicine.

Where Los Webos fits into your continuity‑of‑care plan

You look after the clinical pathway. We help you sort the digital one.

At Los Webos, we build patient‑friendly, high‑converting websites for private medical specialists that feel like an extension of your clinic – calm, clear and joined‑up.

We can help you:

• Turn a disjointed online presence into a single, trusted “central clinic”
• Plan content around real patient pathways, not random blog ideas
• Streamline booking and pre‑appointment communication so patients arrive reassured, not rattled

If you’d like your medical practice marketing to feel less like a stack of leaflets and more like proper continuity of care, let’s talk.

Visit Los Webos to see how we help UK specialists build websites that work as hard as they do – and start turning online clicks into long‑term, well‑looked‑after patients.