Tools & Checklists · Free checklist
OPD growth checklist
The digital, brand, referral, CRM and contact-centre levers that grow outpatient demand, in order.
Free download
Get the checklist
Enter your email and confirm it. The download link arrives in your inbox straight after.
- Confirm your email from the message I send.
- Your welcome email carries the download link, plus links to every other tool here.
You’re joining an occasional newsletter on hospital growth, digital and AI. Unsubscribe from any email in one click. See the privacy policy.
Why it exists
The problem it solves
When OPD numbers stall, the first instinct is to raise the media budget. It is usually the wrong first move. More often the demand already exists and is being lost — in a map listing with the wrong timings, a doctor page with no fees, a call that nobody returned, a referring GP who stopped hearing from you.
This checklist walks through the commercial levers in the order I would check them: capacity and visibility first, then enquiry handling, then referrals and retention, and only then paid media. It stays on the marketing, digital and contact-centre side. It does not tell anyone how to run a clinic.
Inside
What you get
- Nine sections from capacity and visibility through to measurement
- Checks for doctor pages, listings, local search and reviews
- Contact-centre and CRM checks covering response time, language, TPA and cashless questions
- Referral and repeat-visit levers that do not depend on media spend
- A short list of paid-media checks to run last, not first
- A weekly measurement routine by unit and service line
Audience
Who it’s for
For marketing heads, unit heads and growth teams in Indian hospitals who need more outpatient demand without simply buying more clicks.
Method
How to use it
- Work through the sections in order; each assumes the ones before it are in reasonable shape.
- Mark each item done, partly done or not done, with an owner’s name against the gaps.
- Pick the three largest gaps and fix those before adding spend.
- Rerun the checklist every quarter, and per unit if you run more than one hospital.
Related reading
Read alongside it
Calculator · Excel
Hospital marketing budget calculator
Split an annual budget by service line and channel, phase it monthly and test it against OPD capacity.
Get the calculator →Calculator · Excel
Enquiry-to-appointment funnel calculator
Track each channel from enquiry to arrival, see where patients leak and what fixing one step is worth.
Get the calculator →Checklist · PDF
Hospital launch checklist
A demand-generation checklist from twelve months before opening to the first ninety days after.
Get the checklist →Checklist · PDF
Hospital CRM readiness checklist
Check data, enquiry capture, consent, HIS integration and ownership before you buy or build a hospital CRM.
Get the checklist →FAQ
Questions about this checklist
Enter your email in the form on this page and confirm it from the email I send you. Your welcome email then includes the download link for this checklist and for every other tool on the Tools & Checklists page. It is free.
Stop losing the ones who already enquire. Check how many enquiries go uncontacted, how long first contact takes, and whether callers can get a slot within a reasonable time. Fixing response time and slot availability usually adds booked appointments faster than new campaigns, because you are converting demand you have already paid for.
No. It covers the digital, brand, referral, CRM and contact-centre levers that shape outpatient demand. Where capacity matters — for example, whether a service line has slots to offer — the checklist asks you to confirm it before spending, but it does not advise on scheduling, clinical pathways or how clinics are run.
Very. Patients choose a doctor as much as a hospital, and they check qualifications, languages spoken, OPD timings and fees before calling. A thin or outdated doctor page sends them to an aggregator or a competitor. Each consulting doctor should have a complete, current, reviewed page that answers those questions and offers a clear way to book.
Last in the sequence, not first. Paid media amplifies whatever is underneath it. If listings are wrong, enquiries go unanswered or slots are weeks out, more spend buys more leakage. Once visibility, enquiry handling and capacity are sound, paid search and social can be scaled by service line with a clear cost per honoured appointment.