# Patient acquisition cost Short answer: Patient acquisition cost is the total a clinic spends on marketing and sales in a period, divided by the number of new patients who had a first visit in that period. It answers one plain question: what does a new patient cost us? ## Why does patient acquisition cost matter? Ad platforms report cost per click and cost per lead, and both can look healthy while the clinic books very few new patients. Acquisition cost follows the money to the end of the road: a patient who actually came in. Cost per click is a lovely number for anyone who gets paid per click. For a med spa running social ads, a cheap lead that never books is the most expensive kind. Knowing the true cost per new patient shows which channels deserve more budget and which mostly produce clicks. ## What is the patient acquisition cost formula? Add up everything spent to win new patients in a period, then divide by the new patients who had a first visit in that period. > Example > > Ad spend in the quarter: $9,000 > > Agency and software fees: $3,000 > > Staff time spent on new enquiries (estimated): $1,500 > > New patients with a first visit: 90 > > Patient acquisition cost = $13,500 รท 90 = $150 The usual mistake is counting ad spend only. Staff time, agency fees and the software that handles enquiries belong in the total too. Gyms watch this number closely, which is why the January joining fee so often disappears. They know what a new member costs to win and how long that member has to stay for the sums to work. ## How is acquisition cost different from cost per lead? Cost per lead divides spend by enquiries; acquisition cost divides it by patients who actually came in. The gap between them is the share of leads that never book, which is often where the biggest savings hide, in faster replies and steadier follow-up. Put acquisition cost next to [patient lifetime value](https://agentblue.io/glossary/patient-lifetime-value) to see whether the spend earns its keep. The honest catch: acquisition cost is only as accurate as your source tracking. If you cannot tell which channel a new patient came from, the per-channel numbers are guesses, which is the gap [call tracking](https://agentblue.io/glossary/call-tracking) and attribution exist to close. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the average patient acquisition cost in healthcare? Published averages exist, though most come from marketing vendors and swing widely by specialty and city, so we do not quote one. Your own number, split by channel, is far more useful. ### Should referred patients count as new patients? Yes, and any referral rewards or program costs belong in the spend. Otherwise referrals look as if they cost nothing, which is rarely true. [See call tracking and attribution](https://agentblue.io/solutions/call-tracking-and-attribution) ## Related terms - [Patient lifetime value](https://agentblue.io/glossary/patient-lifetime-value): Patient lifetime value, often shortened to LTV, is the total revenue a typical patient brings a clinic over the whole time they stay a patient. It helps a clinic judge what a new patient is worth and how much effort keeping one deserves. - [Closed-loop attribution](https://agentblue.io/glossary/closed-loop-attribution): Closed-loop attribution connects a booked and attended appointment back to the marketing source that started it, such as an ad, a search listing or a referral, and reports that outcome by source. The loop is closed when the real visit, and ideally its revenue, is matched to the first touch. - [Call tracking](https://agentblue.io/glossary/call-tracking): Call tracking is a way of finding out which marketing source led someone to phone your clinic, usually by showing a different phone number for each source, such as an ad, a listing or a mailer. Calls to each number are counted and logged with their source. - [Speed to lead](https://agentblue.io/glossary/speed-to-lead): Speed to lead measures how long a new enquiry waits before anyone gives it a helpful reply. The clock starts when a form, chat, call or ad lead reaches your clinic, and stops at the first reply that moves the person forward. Source page: