Clinics change through the year: professionals join and leave, hours, services and conditions change. Communication rarely keeps up with everything, and it is common for the website, the Google profile and the booking to say different things. A review at the start of the year, with a list, avoids that building up.
1. Google Business Profile
- Name, address, phone and hours right, including holidays.
- Suitable main category and services described.
- Current photographs, with no images of patients.
- Reviews replied to, without confirming the person is a patient or mentioning treatments.
- Questions and answers reviewed.
2. Website
- One page per service, with a clear answer at the start. See what each service page should include.
- Team up to date, with authorised photographs.
- Frequently asked questions reviewed, with an update date. Read what FAQs it should have.
- Contact and booking visible on every page.
- Details identical to the Google profile and social media.
3. Booking
- Ask only what is needed: name, contact, service, type of appointment and time.
- No clinical data in the form.
- Clear confirmation, with day, time, address and how to cancel.
- Route for emergencies clearly indicated, saying online booking is not for them.
4. Privacy
- Privacy policy up to date and in plain language.
- Cookie consent working before any statistics.
- Written permissions for photographs and videos of people, with a way to withdraw them.
- Limited access for whoever needs to see the requests.
5. Reviews
- Request sent to all patients, offering nothing in return.
- Reply to all reviews, without exposing health data.
- Complaints taken to a private channel and used to improve.
6. Content
- No promises of results or superlatives.
- Plain language, no general clinical advice.
- Answers to patients' real questions.
- A simple calendar the clinic can keep to.
7. Measurement
- Source of each booking recorded, with the question "how did you hear about us?".
- Totals by source, without clinical data. See how to measure what brings patients.
- A monthly sheet with a decision at the end.
8. Sector rules
- Registrations and licences visible where required, and confirmed with the competent bodies.
- The professional body's rules on communication read and applied.
- Someone responsible for checking new communication before it goes out.
How to use it
Print the list or copy it to a sheet. Mark what is right, what is missing and what you do not know. The "do not know" items are the first to deal with. Review twice a year. This article is not a substitute for legal advice or for the rules of the professional body. In services for clinics, we use a similar list as a starting point.
The review afternoon
Set aside an afternoon and bring two people together: whoever handles reception and whoever handles the website or social media. They go through the eight blocks together, each person with their own sheet. At each point, they mark "right", "to correct" or "do not know". At the end, they order the corrections by impact on the patient: first those that cause confusion (wrong hours, different details), then those that improve clarity and, last, those that improve measurement. They assign a name and a date to each correction. They meet again after three months to see what got done. Keep the completed sheet: next year, the comparison shows what improved and what was left undone.
In short
- An afternoon is enough to review a clinic's communication at the start of the year.
- Eight blocks: profile, website, booking, privacy, reviews, content, measurement and sector rules.
- The "do not know" items are the first to deal with.
- Review twice a year, and name an owner for each correction.
Quick questions
Who should do the review?
Whoever handles reception and whoever handles the website and social media, together. An outside view, such as someone who does not work at the clinic, also helps.
What if I do not know the sector rules?
Check with the professional body and the competent bodies. This article does not cite them because they vary by profession.
How often should I repeat it?
Twice a year, and whenever a professional joins or leaves, or a service changes.
Want to use a list like this with your clinic?
The exploratory call is a 30-minute conversation, at no cost. We go through a similar list with your clinic. You keep the written summary.
Book an exploratory call