Email marketing is one of the most underleveraged channels in medical practice marketing. When done correctly and with proper HIPAA compliance, it consistently produces high ROI from your existing patient base.
Post-appointment follow-up emails, educational newsletters covering topics relevant to your patient population, seasonal promotion announcements for elective treatments, and re-engagement campaigns for patients who have not returned in 12 or more months all produce measurable results.
Patient email lists are protected health information and require HIPAA-compliant email platforms with Business Associate Agreements. Standard Mailchimp is not HIPAA compliant. Compliant alternatives include Klara, Spruce Health, and Constant Contact with a BAA in place. Never use standard email platforms with patient lists from your EHR without verifying compliance.
Monthly is the baseline for most practices. More frequent than monthly risks unsubscribes and can feel intrusive. Less frequent than quarterly loses the relationship-maintenance value. Practices with strong educational content can email twice monthly with no increase in unsubscribes because the content earns the inbox.
Open rate, click rate, and unsubscribe rate are the primary health metrics. For patient acquisition, track conversions from email to appointments booked and revenue attributed to email campaigns. A healthy medical practice email open rate is 25 to 35 percent.