TL;DR
Ask the agency to define the promised event, the work it controls and the evidence behind any billable result. For PT, distinguish an inquiry from a confirmed evaluation, an attended evaluation and an existing patient's follow-up. Put evaluation capacity, administrative prerequisites, duplicate rules and dispute evidence into the proposal before comparing fees or guarantees.
Translate the promise into an auditable event
“More new patients” may sound like a complete offer, but the contract might charge for calls or forms. Ask the agency to replace the sales phrase with the exact event it records and the condition that triggers payment. If the agreement uses a different term from the presentation, resolve that difference in writing.
A PT clinic should also define “new.” Does the offer count returning people with a new episode, existing patients requesting follow-ups, duplicate calls or rebooked evaluations? These activities can be legitimate, but they should not silently share a newly acquired relationship label.
GetPatients has a commercial interest in healthcare visibility services. Apply this proposal standard to its work as well as other agencies. This is a comparison framework, not a ranking of named vendors or evidence of any agency's performance.
Give candidates the same accountability brief
Describe the promoted PT service, actual location or mobile territory, payment arrangement and available evaluation pathway. Use practice-approved operational facts without patient details. Then ask each candidate to complete the following brief using the actual proposed terms.
| Contract field | Answer to require | Evidence needed to accept it |
|---|---|---|
| Work purchased | Named pages, campaign work, routing repairs, reporting or other deliverables | Deliverable list, responsible party and completion evidence |
| Billable event | Exact action, confirmation state and source system | Field dictionary and a demonstration using synthetic information |
| Relationship eligibility | Treatment of existing patients, returning episodes and unclear history | Written inclusion and exclusion rule |
| Administrative fit | Service, territory, payment and prerequisites used by intake | Practice-approved classifications with unknowns preserved |
| Deduplication | Handling of repeated calls, forms, reschedules and mixed channels | Documented rule and a traceable reconciliation method |
| Capacity dependency | What happens when the clinic cannot offer the advertised evaluation | Approved pause, message-change and billing treatment |
| Disputed event | Who examines the issue, what evidence is permitted and how resolution works | Actual contract provision and accountable roles |
| Exit | Access, retained deliverables, reporting export and active-campaign handoff | Written terms and an agreed continuity process |
Leave money fields blank until quotes are provided. Compare fees, media and additional software separately, but do not assume the cheapest event is the most useful. A low-cost request that cannot reach the advertised service may fail the clinic's buying objective.
Separate relevant inquiry handling from clinical assessment
Have intake apply the clinic's approved administrative definitions. Marketing can identify a request outside the advertised territory or for a service the clinic does not offer when the evidence supports that classification. It should not decide clinical suitability from a call recording or invent medical exclusions to dispute a bill.
For unresolved cases, specify the responsible practice role and permitted evidence. Do not grant an agency unrestricted access to clinical records merely because the fee depends on an outcome. Have the practice's privacy, technical and contract owners determine the actual information-sharing arrangement.
If the clinic requires an administrative step before scheduling, make that step part of the offer explanation and measurement boundary. Avoid a guarantee that counts the request while pretending the clinic could already confirm an evaluation. Likewise, an empty general calendar is not proof of appropriate evaluation availability with the required clinician.
Examine the guarantee's remedy
Read what happens when the stated result does not occur. Is there a fee credit, more work, an extended term or another written remedy? Which clinic actions are prerequisites? Which costs continue? Do not infer a refund or an easy exit from the word “guarantee.”
For U.S. advertising, the FTC says a money-back guarantee does not replace claim substantiation. Ask for support for the underlying outcome claim as well as the remedy's terms. FTC advertising guidance.
For SEO claims, Google advises buyers to ask about measurement and proposed changes and warns against guaranteed ranking promises. Google's SEO hiring guidance. Those platform limits do not adjudicate an agency contract. They help an owner distinguish accountable work from unsupported placement language.
Rehearse the bill before signing
Use a clearly labeled synthetic record in an approved demonstration. Ask the agency to show how an inquiry reaches the reported event, how a duplicate is handled and which clinic-confirmed state would make the event billable. Prevent the rehearsal from reserving real appointments or starting outreach.
Ask the billing person to explain the same record from the written definition alone. If the answer depends on a salesperson's unwritten interpretation, the brief is incomplete. Clarify the rule, evidence and dispute route before accepting the fee structure.
Use the agency selection scorecard to evaluate the provider's reasoning and the availability guide to verify the public promise. This brief adds the PT-specific commercial boundary: what qualifies as a newly acquired evaluation when episodes, follow-ups and prerequisites exist.
The final comparison should identify demonstrated work, unresolved terms, total quoted cost categories and the evidence each provider will supply. Do not make a hidden risk disappear by adding favorable scores elsewhere. Choose the proposal whose obligations the clinic can understand, support and verify.
Frequently asked questions
Is pay-per-lead automatically safer than a retainer?
No billing format removes definition or contract risk. Inspect which event is charged, duplicate handling, exclusions and what the clinic must do. Compare the complete obligations using actual quotes.
Can an agency count a cancellation as a new patient?
It can report the event its contract actually defines, but the label should describe that state truthfully. A cancelled evaluation should not be presented as attended care. Resolve billing treatment separately from the reporting label.
Should we reject agencies that cannot measure attendance?
Assess whether their narrower measurement and deliverables meet the actual task. They should clearly label requests or bookings and state the attendance gap. Do not accept a stronger claim than their evidence supports.