What do med spas, dental offices, and plastic surgery practices have in common? Along with virtually every other kind of medical practice, they all run into an operational bottleneck. According to Sam R. Patel, medical business consultant, CEO of Astra Culture, and creator of the patient education app Looped, most healthcare practices are suffering from a breakdown in patient follow-through. That means patient care suffers, and so does clinic revenue.
“The clinics that we speak to are all very attracted to the concept of the patient lifecycle,” says Patel. “It’s experiential medicine. Practitioners are beyond focusing on having the best skills. Now, they want to deliver the best experience for their patients.”
What does that look like? “The experience could be something as simple as answering the phone properly or making the clinic space feel inviting and warm. But it’s also making your clinic stand out,” Patel explains.
“That’s going to lead to revenue, to retention, to people coming back and not going to your competitors,” he continues. “Because right now, everyone competes on price. So instead of focusing on price, we’re going to focus on performing better and delivering a better experience.”
Patel and his team created Looped to address the communication breakdown between patients and providers. Although the app was originally intended to be a tool for patient education, it’s quickly grown into much more than that.
Looped is a white-label app, so each clinic receives its own branded version. When patients download and sign into the app, they gain access to hundreds of curated videos from health experts.
Practices can also upload their own videos and educational content. For instance, if a patient at a med spa has an upcoming procedure, their doctor could provide access to a series of educational videos on what to expect and how to prepare.
Looped is designed to keep patients engaged between visits, too. Patients receive reward points for watching videos tailored to their interests, and they can use those points to pay for future treatments or redeem free services.
With a social media-style video feed, Looped is optimized for engagement. It’s a similar experience to scrolling through popular video-sharing apps, but patients (and their providers) don’t have to worry about potentially dangerous misinformation from unqualified influencers.
Crucially, Looped also makes it possible for patients to access treatments they might not be able to afford otherwise.
“The majority of clinics don’t have financing options,” Patel says. “But now, in the app, a patient can select financing, and the financing is through our partnership with a payment provider. The clinic gets the money the next day, so the headache is completely relieved. The patient can pay anywhere between six months all the way up to 36 months.”
Patel and his team are constantly adding new features to improve the app for patients and clinicians alike. “One of the things we’ve added to the app is text automation,” he says. “The app sends reminders to the patient prompting them to come back in for a maintenance treatment or to continue their preventative healthcare journey’ So that increases engagement, which in turn increases revenue.”
As clinic owners are discovering, patients are drawn to more than medical expertise and affordable pricing. Looped allows them to create a top-tier experience that lasts much longer than a scheduled appointment and keeps patients coming back.
