The Seven Stages of the Modern Patient Journey (And Where Clinics Are Invisible)

The Indian patient does not arrive at your clinic because they walked past it. They arrive - or do not - because of seven distinct decisions made before they ever pick up the phone. Most clinics are optimised for decision seven: the consultation experience. They are invisible at decisions one through four, where the patient is still selecting which doctor to trust.

This article maps those seven stages through a framework called the JOURNEY Model. At each stage, we identify what the patient is actually doing, which platforms they are using, and where a typical Indian clinic is absent. The analysis draws on peer-reviewed research from India, industry data, and field observations from working with healthcare organisations across the country.

The core finding: clinics consistently lose patients before the first phone call. Not because competitors are better clinicians, but because competitors are more findable, more credible in search, and more responsive at first contact. This is not primarily a marketing problem. It is a systems problem - and it has a systematic solution.

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Dr. Anand Krishnamurthy has run an orthopaedic clinic in Koramangala, Bengaluru for eleven years. He sees forty patients a day. His Google Reviews average 4.6 stars from thirty-one reviews, most of which are two years old. His Practo profile was set up by a staff member in 2019 and has not been updated since. He has no website. He has a WhatsApp number for patient queries, which he checks between consultations when he can.

Three weeks ago, a 44-year-old software engineer named Rahul noticed persistent knee pain during his morning run. He opened Google on his phone that evening and typed "knee pain while running." Over the next nine days - before he called any clinic - Rahul watched four YouTube videos, read two articles on health portals, compared five doctors on Practo, checked three Google Maps profiles, read fourteen reviews, and asked his company's internal Slack channel whether anyone had seen a good knee specialist in Bengaluru. He booked with the third doctor he evaluated. That doctor was not Dr. Krishnamurthy. Dr. Krishnamurthy was never in Rahul's consideration set.

This is not an unusual story. It is the default story. The modern patient journey in India begins on a smartphone, moves through a sequence of research platforms, passes through social validation, and only then produces a booking attempt. By the time a patient tries to call a clinic, three to four alternatives have already been shortlisted and one has usually been mentally selected. Clinics that assume they compete on consultation quality alone are competing in only the final stage of a seven-stage process.

The problem is structural. Indian medical education and clinical culture prepare doctors for the consultation - the stage where clinical expertise matters most. Nothing in the system prepares a clinic for stages one through four, which are search and discovery stages where the patient is making decisions based on information signals, not care quality. A brilliant orthopaedic surgeon with an outdated Practo profile and no symptom-level content is, from Rahul's perspective on day one of his nine-day search, indistinguishable from a retired doctor or a closed clinic.

What has changed is the depth of the pre-visit research cycle. In 2015, a patient might search a doctor's name and call within a day. In 2026, that same patient conducts what researchers describe as an extended information-seeking phase - reading about their condition, watching explainer videos, checking credentials, comparing fees, reading reviews, and seeking peer validation - all before initiating contact. The clinic that is not present during this phase has no opportunity to influence the decision.

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India crossed 800 million smartphone users in 2024, with a median national age of twenty-nine. This is not a story about urban elites accessing healthcare digitally. It is a story about the modal Indian patient - young, smartphone-native, and accustomed to researching purchases, restaurants, and services online - bringing those same research behaviours to healthcare decisions. The private outpatient healthcare sector is where this shift is most consequential.

Research by Sharma et al. (2025), published in Global Health Action (PMC11998304), analysed healthcare utilisation among 5,061 PM-JAY eligible individuals across seven Indian states. Even in this economically constrained population, 48% sought private outpatient care compared to 18.3% accessing public facilities; 23.1% reported no regular outpatient care at all. For India's middle-income urban and semi-urban populations - the core market for most private clinics - private provider choice is the norm, not the exception. This means the choice is being made, and it is being made somewhere. The question is where.

The platforms involved in that choice are specific and well-established. Google is the dominant entry point for health searches in India, with Practo, JustDial, and Sulekha serving as specialist discovery layers. YouTube functions as an educational and credibility-building platform - Indian healthcare YouTube content in Hindi and regional languages has grown substantially since 2020. WhatsApp is not just messaging; it is where informal health referrals travel between family members, where patients forward clinic details to relatives, and where word-of-mouth now has a digital trail. A clinic absent from these platforms is absent from the patient's journey before that patient has formed any opinion about care quality.

Regulatory context matters here. The National Medical Commission's Professional Conduct Regulations govern advertising by registered medical practitioners in India. Clinics must navigate NMC guidelines carefully, particularly around claims, testimonials, and fee communication. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDPA) imposes data protection obligations on any clinic collecting patient contact or health information digitally - including WhatsApp conversations and online booking forms. ABDM's ABHA health ID framework is also expanding patient data portability expectations. None of these frameworks prevent a clinic from building digital presence; they simply define what responsible, compliant presence looks like. Ignoring the regulatory dimension of digital visibility is as risky as ignoring the patient acquisition dimension.

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Patient pre-visit digital research behaviour is well-established internationally, though the most rigorous studies are from the US and Europe. A consistent body of research indicates that a substantial proportion of patients conduct online research before selecting a healthcare provider, including reading online reviews, searching condition-specific information, and comparing provider credentials. These studies are directionally applicable to India given smartphone penetration patterns and documented health information-seeking behaviour among Indian internet users, but should not be cited as Indian data. The cultural, economic, and platform contexts differ substantially.

Sharma et al. (2025) in Global Health Action provides the most rigorously documented picture of Indian outpatient care-seeking behaviour currently available. The study surveyed 5,061 PM-JAY eligible individuals across Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand - states representing economically constrained populations. The 48% private outpatient utilisation finding is striking precisely because this is not an affluent sample. Among more economically secure urban populations, private utilisation rates are likely higher. The study's limitation is its rural and peri-urban scope; it does not directly address digital search behaviour or platform use in provider selection. It establishes demand for private care, not the mechanics of how that care is found.

The FICCI-EY Parthenon patient experience report (October 2025) surveyed 1,000+ patients and 100+ clinicians across India (industry report, not peer-reviewed). Its finding that patients rely on "informal proxies like brand reputation and word-of-mouth" when evaluating providers is consistent with the absence of reliable formal quality metrics in Indian outpatient healthcare. The report also finds that 83% of patients aspire to access reliable health information online - a reported aspiration rather than confirmed behaviour, and the gap between aspiration and actual search behaviour should be noted. The report's value is in characterising the general orientation of Indian patients toward digital health engagement, not in quantifying specific platform use.

Research on online review effects in provider selection is directionally applicable to India. Studies from US markets consistently show that review volume and recency are significant factors in provider shortlisting, particularly among first-time patients without personal referrals. A clinic with thirty reviews, the most recent from two years ago, signals to a patient researching in 2026 either that the clinic is quieter than it once was or that previous patients were not engaged enough to leave a review. Neither inference favours the clinic. These dynamics likely apply with similar force in Indian markets where Practo, Google Maps, and JustDial reviews have become the primary quality signal available to patients without personal connections.

Platform data on health search behaviour in India, while not from peer-reviewed sources, indicates consistent directional patterns. Industry observations (directional, not peer-reviewed) suggest that "near me" healthcare searches on Google have grown substantially year-on-year, that voice searches for healthcare in regional languages are increasing, and that YouTube health content in Hindi consistently outperforms English content on view metrics among Indian audiences. These observations are consistent with broader digital behaviour data published by Google India and with anecdotal evidence from clinics tracking their own Google Business Profile analytics. They are not substitutes for peer-reviewed research but represent the best available directional evidence on platform-level behaviour in the absence of more rigorous studies.

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The following section is Influx Health's interpretation and opinion, not research.

In our work with healthcare organisations across India - hospitals, specialist clinics, multi-location practices, and independent practitioners - we have encountered one finding with remarkable consistency: the gap between where a clinic thinks it loses patients and where it actually loses patients is stage-based. Most clinic owners believe they lose patients through word-of-mouth attrition or to better-known competitors with larger advertising budgets. In reality, the majority of invisible losses happen in Stages 2 and 3 - information search and provider discovery - where a clinic simply does not appear.

The specific failure mode we see most frequently is profile abandonment. A clinic created a Google Business Profile, a Practo listing, or a JustDial entry years ago - sometimes with the help of a vendor - and has not touched it since. The profile shows old photos, a disconnected secondary number, fee information that is three years out of date, and a response rate on reviews close to zero. To a patient searching in 2026, this profile is not a selling point. It is a negative signal. In our opinion, a neglected profile actively costs patients - it is often worse than no presence at all, because it signals a practice that does not pay attention to detail. The implication for existing profile management is the same as for new presence building: it requires active maintenance, not a one-time setup.

The second pattern we observe is what we call the Stage 5 dropout - patients who found the clinic, evaluated it positively, and then tried to make contact but encountered friction that caused them to switch. Common friction points: clinic phone lines are busy or unanswered during peak inquiry hours (typically 8–10 AM and 6–9 PM), WhatsApp messages go unanswered for more than four hours, online booking is unavailable, and front-desk staff cannot answer basic questions about fees or wait times. These patients do not call back. They book the next option on their shortlist within the same session. Clinics almost never know this happened, which means they never fix it.

The third observation, and in our view the most commercially significant, is that Stage 7 - the post-visit referral stage - is almost universally unmanaged. Indian healthcare still runs heavily on personal referrals. But those referrals are no longer happening over phone calls alone; they are happening on WhatsApp family groups, apartment complex community groups, and workplace chats. A patient who had a positive experience with your clinic will refer you - if they can quickly share a credible link. If the easiest shareable link is a neglected profile with eight reviews from 2021, even a satisfied patient will hesitate. We have seen clinics with genuinely excellent clinical reputations underperform on referral volume simply because there was nothing clean and current to share. The management of this stage is one of the highest-return, lowest-cost investments a clinic can make.

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A framework for mapping clinic visibility across the seven stages of the modern patient journey.

J - Just Noticed (Symptom Recognition Stage) The patient has noticed something wrong: pain, fatigue, an unusual lump, a persistent change. Their first act is almost always to search their symptom on Google, YouTube, or - increasingly - to ask a voice assistant in their regional language. At this stage, the patient is not looking for a doctor; they are looking for understanding. Clinics that publish symptom-level educational content - blog articles, YouTube videos, FAQ pages targeting common presenting complaints - are present in this stage. Most Indian clinics are entirely absent. The practical action: create at least five symptom-level content pieces targeting the conditions you treat most frequently, as these function as the earliest-stage introduction to your practice.

O - Open Search (Information Research Stage) Having identified a possible condition, the patient now searches for more information: what causes it, what treatments exist, how serious it is, whether they need a specialist. Health portals, YouTube, and condition-specific forums are the primary channels. Clinic websites are almost never found here unless they carry substantive educational content. Most clinic websites are digital brochures - a contact number, a services list, and a map embed - which have no value in this research stage. The practical action: develop at least one authoritative, detailed condition guide per specialty focus area and ensure it is indexed and findable through search.

U - Uncovering Providers (Discovery Stage) The patient now searches for providers: "best orthopaedic surgeon in Koramangala," "gynaecologist near HSR Layout Bengaluru," "cardiologist Practo Delhi." This is the stage where Google Maps, Practo, JustDial, and Sulekha are doing the filtering work. Clinics that do not appear in the first five results on any of these platforms for relevant queries are invisible to the vast majority of patients conducting that search. Geographic relevance, specialty category accuracy, review volume, profile completeness, and recency of activity all influence ranking. The practical action: audit your Google Business Profile, Practo, and JustDial listings today - completeness score, review recency, photo currency, and whether booking or appointment-request functionality is active.

R - Reviewing and Comparing (Evaluation Stage) The patient has a shortlist of three to five providers. They are now reading reviews, looking at clinic photos, checking the doctor's credentials and qualifications, comparing fee information, and assessing profile responsiveness. This is a high-stakes filtering stage - typically two to three names drop off the list here. Clinics with more recent reviews, better photo documentation, clearly stated credentials, and evidence of fee transparency survive this stage at higher rates. A 4.5-star average with reviews from the last three months is frequently prioritised over a 4.1-star average with reviews from two years ago - recency matters as much as rating. The practical action: implement a systematic, individually personalised review request process post-consultation and respond to every existing review, positive or negative.

N - Navigating First Contact (Booking Stage) The patient has mentally selected a clinic - or has two finalists - and now attempts to make contact or book an appointment. They are typically doing this outside clinic hours: after dinner, before work. Friction at this stage - unanswered calls, non-responsive WhatsApp, no online booking option - produces immediate dropout. The patient does not try again after an hour; they book the next option on their shortlist. This is the highest-value, lowest-cost stage to fix: a responsive booking system costs less than any advertising investment and converts patients who have already selected you. The practical action: test your own clinic's first-contact experience from a patient's perspective this week - call at 8 PM, send a WhatsApp message, attempt to book online - and document every friction point.

E - Experiencing Care (Clinical and In-Clinic Stage) The patient arrives at your clinic. This is the stage you have trained for. Clinical quality, wait times, staff courtesy, physical environment, and post-consultation instructions all shape this experience. What most clinics miss: this stage also has a digital dimension. Pre-visit information - how to find the clinic, what to bring, what to expect - reduces no-shows and builds confidence before arrival. Post-visit digital follow-up - a WhatsApp check-in at 48 hours, a link to aftercare instructions, a reminder for the follow-up appointment - dramatically increases review generation and second-visit rates. The practical action: design a pre-visit and post-visit digital touchpoint sequence; this takes under twenty minutes to create and has a measurable impact on review volume and patient retention.

Y - Yielding Advocates (Referral and Review Stage) A patient who had a good experience will tell others - but only if the referral is easy to make. In 2026, telling others means sharing a WhatsApp message with a link, posting in a community group, or mentioning a name in a workplace chat. If your shareable presence is a neglected Google Maps profile or a Practo listing with eight reviews from 2021, even your most satisfied patients will either not refer, or their referral will fail to convert when the referred patient sees the profile. Managed referral generation - asking satisfied patients to share your profile, making it easy to do so, and maintaining a credible and current profile worth sharing - is the multiplier on every other stage. The practical action: identify your last ten five-star reviewers, send each a personalised thank-you, and make it straightforward for them to refer one more person this month.

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• Audit all four discovery profiles this week: Google Business Profile, Practo, JustDial, and Sulekha. Confirm that contact details are current, photos are recent (within twelve months), business hours are accurate, and online booking or appointment-request functionality is active and working.

• Test your own Stage N experience: From your personal mobile phone, outside clinic hours, attempt to book an appointment with your own clinic by calling, sending a WhatsApp, and using any online booking interface. Document every friction point you encounter. Commit to fixing the top two within the month.

• Request reviews from your last twenty patients who expressed satisfaction: Do this personally via WhatsApp, not a mass message. A short, sincere request asking for a Google Review converts at a significantly higher rate than a generic blast (industry observation, directional). Forty reviews in thirty days is realistic for any practice seeing ten or more patients per day.

• Create one symptom-level content piece per month for three months: Choose the three symptoms or conditions that most frequently bring new patients to your clinic. Write a 500-word explainer on each - what causes it, when to see a specialist, what to expect from treatment. Publish on your website and share once as a WhatsApp forward.

• Respond to every existing review on every platform within this month: Responses to negative reviews are read by every future patient who encounters that review. A thoughtful, non-defensive response to a critical review does more for your credibility than the review itself harms. A clinic that never responds signals indifference, which is worse than a negative review.

• Design a post-visit WhatsApp touchpoint: At 48 hours post-consultation, send a brief check-in message (easily templated for your front-desk team). This has three effects: it generates patient goodwill, it catches follow-up questions before they become complaints, and it produces a natural and appropriate moment to request a review. It takes one staff member approximately two minutes per patient.

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Q: My clinic runs on referrals from other doctors, not online searches. Does any of this apply to me?

Yes - more than you might expect. Doctor-to-doctor referrals are still the dominant patient source for many specialist practices, and that is unlikely to change entirely. But patients referred to you will search your name online before their appointment. If what they find is an outdated profile, few reviews, or conflicting contact information, some will cancel before arriving - or ask to be referred elsewhere. The digital footprint no longer only acquires new patients; it validates referrals already in transit. Additionally, in our experience, even referral-heavy practices are typically leaving 20–35% of their potential patient volume on the table from direct search - patients who would book with them if they appeared in search results but who instead book with whoever does appear. This is opinion based on field observation, not a peer-reviewed finding.

Q: I do not have time for content creation or social media management. What is the minimum viable digital presence?

The minimum viable presence that actually performs in 2026 is three things: a complete, accurate, actively managed Google Business Profile with photos and reviews from the last ninety days; an accurate and complete Practo profile with a functioning booking or appointment-request mechanism; and a responsive WhatsApp contact that is answered within four hours during waking hours. This is not a full digital strategy - it does not generate new demand or build long-term authority through content. But it stops the most damaging losses: patients who are already looking for a provider like you and cannot find you, or find you and are unpersuaded by what they see. These three elements require approximately two to four hours to set up correctly and roughly thirty minutes per month to maintain.

Q: How do I handle negative reviews without violating NMC guidelines or patient confidentiality?

The NMC Professional Conduct Regulations restrict medical practitioners from making counter-claims about patient outcomes or disclosing clinical details about a patient in a public response. This means you cannot say "this patient's outcome was actually good" or reference any aspect of their treatment. What you can and should do is acknowledge the experience, express genuine regret that it fell short of your standard, and invite the patient to contact you privately to resolve the concern. This response format is professionally appropriate, NMC-compliant, and is read positively by other patients reviewing the exchange. Never ignore a negative review - non-response is consistently interpreted as indifference by prospective patients. Never respond defensively in a way that identifies or implies details about the patient's care, even to correct a factual inaccuracy.

Q: Does a Practo presence still matter when so many patients just use Google?

Yes, for three distinct reasons. First, Practo's search results for doctor-category queries frequently appear within Google's own search results, meaning your Practo profile is an additional indexed asset that extends your Google footprint. Second, Practo's review system is specifically designed for healthcare and is perceived by many Indian patients as more credible for medical evaluations than general-purpose Google reviews - the context matters to health-seeking patients. Third, Practo provides booking infrastructure that many clinics lack on their own: online appointment requests, calendar management, patient communication features, and insurance verification in some markets. The value of Practo is not in replacing Google; it is in providing a specialised discovery and booking layer that complements it, particularly for patients who specifically search healthcare directories.

Q: My clinic is in a Tier 2 city. Is digital patient search really relevant for my market?

Digital search behaviour is not confined to metro cities. Smartphone penetration is high across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities - over 70% in most urban and peri-urban markets by 2025 estimates (directional industry data). The relevant question is not whether patients in your city search online; the evidence suggests they do. The more strategically useful question is whether your local competition has noticed yet. In many Tier 2 markets, the digital presence bar remains relatively low - a clinic with a complete, active Google Business Profile and forty recent reviews may face no significant local competitor that matches this standard. The first clinic in any local market to establish consistent digital presence typically captures a disproportionate share of the direct-search patient pool. Early movers have an advantage that compresses as competitors catch up.

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Internal - Influx Health Institute - Why Patients Who Already Know You Are Still Choosing Someone Else - How Indian Patients Actually Search for Healthcare Providers in 2026 - The Digital Presence Audit: A Clinic Self-Assessment for Indian Practitioners

External - Authoritative Sources - Sharma et al. (2025), "Healthcare utilisation patterns among PM-JAY eligible populations across seven Indian states," Global Health Action. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11998304/ - National Medical Commission, Professional Conduct Regulations (updated 2023). Available at: https://www.nmc.org.in/rules-regulations/ - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) overview and ABHA health ID framework. Available at: https://abdm.gov.in/

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Read Next: How Indian Patients Actually Search for Healthcare Providers in 2026 - the data behind the JOURNEY Model's early stages.

Assess Your Practice: Run your Digital Presence Meter at /dpm - a free tool that scans your clinic's visibility across Google, Practo, and the web in under two minutes.

Chat with Influx Health: Contact us at /contact - if you would like to discuss what the JOURNEY Model reveals about your specific clinic's patient acquisition gaps.

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# Content Derivatives: Center 1, Article 2

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Subject line: Your clinic may be invisible at 4 of 7 patient decision stages

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Dear Dr. [Name],

Most clinic owners focus their energy on what happens inside the consultation room. Understandably - that is where clinical expertise matters and where professional reputation is built over years. But the modern Indian patient makes four significant decisions before they ever walk into a consultation room.

They decide what information to trust about their condition. They decide which platforms to search for providers. They shortlist three to five doctors based on profile quality and reviews. And then they attempt to book - often outside your office hours, often from their phone, in under five minutes. At each of these stages, there is a specific thing a patient is doing and a specific reason your clinic may be absent from their consideration.

In a new article from the Influx Health Institute, we map all seven stages through what we call the JOURNEY Model - from symptom recognition through to referral generation - and identify precisely where clinics are invisible and why. Three patterns we see consistently in our work with Indian healthcare organisations: First, most outdated profiles on Google Maps, Practo, and JustDial are silent negatives - patients see stale content and discount the clinic before it has any chance to demonstrate quality. Second, first-contact friction (unanswered calls, slow WhatsApp responses, no online booking) produces same-session dropout - patients who had already selected you book elsewhere within minutes. Third, the post-visit referral stage is almost entirely unmanaged by most practices, even though this is where the highest-return patient acquisition happens.

The article includes a specific six-point action checklist and walks through what to do at each of the seven stages. If your new patient numbers are flat despite strong clinical outcomes, this framework is worth the reading time.

Read the full framework here: [link to article] Scan your clinic's visibility in under two minutes: [/dpm]

Best regards, The Influx Health Institute Research Team

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The 7-Stage Patient Journey - And Where Your Clinic Goes Missing (12-minute read)

Most patients search for 7–9 days before booking. Here is what they are doing at each stage - and where most clinics are absent:

1. Symptom search (Google/YouTube) - most clinics have zero content here
2. Condition research - same problem; clinic websites are brochures, not resources
3. Provider discovery ("best cardiologist near me") - if you are not in the top 5 results, you do not exist
4. Evaluation - patients compare reviews, credentials, and photos; outdated profiles lose here
5. First contact - patients try to book outside hours; friction means they move to the next option
6. Clinical experience - the stage most clinics focus on entirely
7. Referral - satisfied patients will refer you, if there is something credible to share

The JOURNEY Model maps each stage with a specific action for each.

Quick audit this week: Check your Google Business Profile, update your Practo listing, and test your own WhatsApp response time.

Full article: [link] Free presence scan: influx-health.com/dpm

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Most clinic owners believe they compete on clinical quality. They are right - but clinical quality only determines the outcome of stage six of a seven-stage patient journey.

Before a patient ever sits across from you, they have spent days - sometimes more than a week - searching their symptoms, researching their condition, comparing five providers, reading reviews, checking clinic photos, and attempting to contact clinics outside office hours. This is the patient journey as it actually works in 2026. Most of the decision stages happen on smartphones, in the evenings, away from your physical premises.

The finding from our work with healthcare organisations across India is this: clinics are invisible in the early stages not because they provide poor care, but because they have never built a presence for those stages. A clinic with no symptom-level content, an outdated Google Business Profile, and a phone line that goes unanswered at 9 PM will lose patients consistently to competitors who are, frankly, less clinically accomplished but more findable and more responsive.

We have mapped this as the JOURNEY Model - seven stages from symptom recognition to referral generation, with a specific analysis of what the patient is doing and where the clinic is absent at each. The framework is not about social media strategy or digital advertising. It is about being present, credible, and reachable at the four stages that precede the consultation - the stages that determine whether a patient considers you at all.

The full article is published at the Influx Health Institute. If you run a private clinic or healthcare organisation in India and your new patient numbers are flat despite good clinical outcomes and strong word-of-mouth, this framework is worth reading.

Link to the full article is in the comments. Free clinic visibility scan (2 minutes): influx-health.com/dpm

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1/ Your clinic is invisible at 4 of the 7 decisions a patient makes before booking. Here is the modern Indian patient journey - mapped stage by stage.

2/ Stage 1 - Symptom Search: A patient notices pain and opens Google. They are not looking for a doctor yet. They are looking for understanding. Most clinics have zero presence here. No articles, no videos, nothing.

3/ Stage 2 - Condition Research: Now they read about their condition on YouTube and health portals. Your clinic website is a brochure with a contact number. Not useful here. You are still not in the picture.

4/ Stage 3 - Provider Discovery: "Best orthopaedic surgeon near me." If your Google Maps profile is incomplete or your Practo listing is three years out of date, you do not appear in the shortlist. You lost the patient at this stage.

5/ Stage 4 - Evaluation: They compare 3–5 doctors. Reviews, photos, credentials, fees. A 4.5 average with reviews from last month typically beats a 4.1 average with reviews from 2022. Recency matters as much as rating.

6/ Stage 5 - First Contact: They try to book at 9 PM from their phone. Clinic line is off. WhatsApp takes 6 hours. No online booking. They open the next name on their list and book within 5 minutes. You never knew they tried.

7/ Stage 6 - The Consultation: The stage you have trained for. You finally compete here - but only if you survived stages 1 through 5.

8/ Stage 7 - Referral: A satisfied patient wants to recommend you on their apartment WhatsApp group. They search your name. They find a Google profile with 8 reviews from 2021. They hesitate. The referral does not happen.

9/ This is the JOURNEY Model - a framework for understanding where clinics are visible and where they are not across all 7 patient decision stages. Each stage has a specific action that addresses the visibility gap.

10/ Full framework and 6-point action checklist: [link to article] Free clinic visibility scan (2 minutes): influx-health.com/dpm

--- Article published by the Influx Health Institute. Influx Health is a patient acquisition agency for healthcare organisations in India.