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PatientPop review: Q&A with ankle and foot surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey McAlister

Dr. Jeffrey McAlister describes how adding digital conveniences for his patients has helped him grow his healthcare practice.

Portrait of Dr. Jeffrey McAlister, PatientPop customer

With private practice offices in Scottsdale and Phoenix, AZ, Dr. Jeffrey McAlister discusses how he uses PatientPop to make care more accessible and drive practice success.

Leading the market within the fifth-largest city in the U.S. is no simple task — especially for a solo practitioner. Dr. Jeffrey McAlister, DPM, FACFAS, a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon, opened the Phoenix Foot and Ankle Institute more than two years ago with an ongoing goal to expand his specialization in advanced foot and ankle reconstruction. 

How does he use PatientPop to reach that goal? We talked with Dr. McAlister to find out. He tells us how PatientPop has supported his growth, built up his online reputation, and improved his daily workflow. Watch the video interview and see the expanded transcript below.

How are you using PatientPop each day? And what does your workflow look like?

For me, it starts at the front desk. It’s the face of the practice. [PatientPop] allows a patient to make an appointment on Sunday night when they’re injured from a weekend hike. And the workflow starts on Monday morning, checking PatientPop to make sure that we collectively get all of the emails that were sent in, all the text messages and alerts that allow a patient to touch us. 

I routinely check for new patients, new patient appointments, and established patient appointments to make sure that people are getting in on time. And then a big thing for me is that PatientPop allows me to capture a lot of data and testimonials without even trying. 

Why did you start using PatientPop?

I was in a practice prior to starting my own, in a large orthopedic group. I call it “big box orthopedics,” and it really didn’t allow me to control my own personal website or any of the additional features like patient scheduling. PatientPop really allowed me to be myself and that’s really what I liked about it. 

You’ve been using PatientPop payments to invoice and collect payments from patients. Can you share what that process looks like?

This allows patients to make payments online directly on [my] website. And that’s what’s key. It’s all about making yourself available and making it easy for patients. Typically, most practices are utilizing third-party implements and systems to collect payments, to follow up on collections and all that stuff. But now it’s kind of in one portal, in one website, in one functionality. So it’s just easy for patients. And it’s easy for my biller and my billing team to look in there and see exactly what’s going on and where patients are at.

How have your patients responded to the digital payments option?

Patients are happy with the availability to make payments online, and the ease and quickness of it. 

Modernize the patient experience: Patient payments made easy

How has digital technology given your practice a competitive advantage in your area?

It seems really simple, but if I have a website, a blog, an additional header, an additional service, all these things can put me above competitors, that can put me above people in other states, even in other regions, and in this region. PatientPop has the resources to do it very quickly.

What is really important right now is being able to capture a patient’s attention. I mean, you want to be able to say, “Hey, look at me over here. I have five stars, I’m on this website.”

And PatientPop sends an email out to my patients probably about three hours or so after their visit. It asks them for a review, nothing forced or anything, but it also offers them the ability to make the review on Healthgrades, on Google, on Yelp, on whatever. And so that helps build online reputation stuff.

Do you use the PatientPop mobile app? 

It’s helpful. It has the calendar and the insights. You can see how many patient reviews you have.

What do you like most about having PatientPop?

When I’m done with my day, I’m finally checking my email and I see a couple of emails come through — or I check the app and I check the testimonials and it says five stars, five stars, five stars, five stars, and maybe a four-and-a-half. And it says, “Hey, your staff was awesome today. Hey, everything’s looking good, really great staff, great office…” All these like positive things that kind of say, ah, okay, now I know why I’m doing this. That’s what feels good.

What should you do next?

1. Schedule a free PatientPop demo.
2. Measure your online performance using our free scanner.
3. Refine your marketing strategy by learning the best podiatry marketing ideas.
4. Check out this podiatry case study about a Chicago practice that streamlined its practice growth operations with PatientPop.

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PatientPop
PatientPop is the leader in practice growth with the only all-in-one solution that empowers healthcare providers to improve every digital touchpoint of the patient journey. As experts in the healthcare technology space, PatientPop makes it easy for providers to thrive in the consumerization of healthcare and promote their practice online, attract patients, and retain them for life.

The combined power of Kareo and PatientPop

As leaders in clinical, financial, and practice growth technology, Kareo and PatientPop have joined forces as Tebra to support the connected practice of the future and modernize every step of the patient journey.

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