Patient journey pipeline
Recommended pipeline stages for medical tourism clinics, with a definition and exit criteria for every stage.
3 min read
A pipeline is the board that shows where every patient is in your sales process. With a well-built pipeline, a clinic owner can see at a glance how many treatment plans went out, how many patients paid a deposit and how many are arriving this month. With a poorly built one, cards drift randomly between stages and reports stop meaning anything.
This guide recommends a 9-stage structure that works well for medical tourism clinics. For the technical setup, see Creating a pipeline.
Recommended stages
| # | Stage | Definition | Exit criterion (to move to the next stage) | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Lead | A new enquiry from a form, ad or message. | First reply sent to the patient. | Coordinator |
| 2 | Contacted | First message sent; waiting for a reply, or the conversation has started. | Patient replied and confirmed interest in treatment. | Coordinator |
| 3 | Photos Received | Photos, X-rays or a panoramic scan received. | Images passed to the doctor. | Coordinator |
| 4 | Consultation | Doctor review or online consultation in progress. | Doctor has written a treatment recommendation. | Doctor |
| 5 | Plan Sent | Treatment plan and price sent to the patient. | Patient responded positively on dates and deposit. | Sales consultant |
| 6 | Deposit Paid | Deposit received; date confirmed. | Flight and hotel details received. | Finance / sales |
| 7 | Travel Confirmed | Flight, hotel and transfer are all set. | Patient arrived at the clinic and treatment started. | Coordinator |
| 8 | Treatment Done | Treatment completed; patient has flown home. | Balance received; opportunity marked Won. | Finance |
| 9 | Aftercare | Check-ups, remote follow-up and review request. | All planned check-ups completed. | Coordinator |
Important
Lost is a status, not a stage. A patient can be lost at any stage. When you mark an opportunity "Lost", always choose a lost reason (price, another clinic, timing, no response, medically unsuitable). See Stages and status.
Setup
- Create the pipeline and add the 9 stages above in the same order: Creating a pipeline. For settings, see also Pipeline settings.
- Define your lost reasons and explain to the team which reason applies when.
- Choose which fields show on the opportunity card (treatment, country, quote): Customising cards.
- Fill in the Opportunity Value with the quoted amount at the Plan Sent stage. The pipeline total then shows real potential.
Rules
- A card only moves when its exit criterion is met. Don't move a card to Plan Sent because the patient "seems interested"; move it when the plan has actually gone out.
- Moving back is fine. If a plan was sent but the patient sends new photos, the card can return to Consultation.
- One treatment = one opportunity. If the same patient comes for two separate treatments (implants first, veneers six months later), open two opportunities.
- Don't add more stages. More than 12 stages leads teams to stop updating cards. Keep details in custom fields rather than extra stages.
Tip
If you have several departments (dental, hair transplant, aesthetics), create a separate pipeline with the same stages for each. You can then compare departments in reports.
Example
Sarah Mitchell from the UK applies for veneers through a Facebook form (New Lead). A coordinator writes to her on WhatsApp within 3 minutes (Contacted). Sarah sends smile photos the same day (Photos Received). The doctor reviews them and recommends 20 veneers (Consultation). The plan and a €5,800 price go out the next day (Plan Sent). Sarah pays a €500 deposit (Deposit Paid), shares her flight details (Travel Confirmed), has her treatment (Treatment Done), and her 1-, 3- and 6-month check-ups are tracked in Aftercare.
Related articles
Didn't solve your problem?
Ask the assistant or message our support team.