Marketing Strategy for
General Practice

The marketing challenge in general practice

That environment is changing. New practices are opening. Telehealth has eroded geographic loyalty. Patients are more mobile in their GP choices than they were a decade ago. And the bulk billing decisions that practices are now facing publicly (whether to participate in BBPIP, how to communicate fee changes, how to hold a mixed billing model) have made practice positioning more visible and more consequential than it has ever been.

The practices that handle this well are not the ones spending the most on advertising. They are the ones that are clear about who they serve, honest about how they operate, and consistent in how they communicate. That is a strategy problem before it is a marketing problem. That is exactly where a marketing consultant adds more value than a campaign-only agency.

The BBPIP decision and what it means for practice positioning

The Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program commenced 1 November 2025. Practices that register with MyMedicare and commit to bulk billing all Medicare-eligible patients for all eligible services receive an additional 12.5% quarterly incentive payment on MBS benefits earned, split evenly between the GP and the practice.

The government's goal is for nine in ten GP visits to be bulk billed by 2030. But the RACGP's own survey data shows only 12% of GPs can currently afford to bulk bill all patients. That gap is real, and the decision to participate or not is a significant one with commercial, operational, and reputational dimensions.

For practices participating in BBPIP, there are mandatory communication requirements: registration on the National Health Services Directory as a Medicare Bulk Billing Practice, and display of official signage. These are marketing touchpoints. How a practice communicates its bulk billing status, to existing patients, to new patients, and to its community, shapes how it is perceived.

For practices staying on a mixed billing model, the communication challenge is different but equally real: how to explain the decision in a way that is clear, honest, and does not alienate patients who are watching their out-of-pocket costs closely.

Neither decision requires a marketing agency to execute. Both require a clear strategy and consistent language across every touchpoint.

MyMedicare and the continuity of care opportunity

MyMedicare formalises the relationship between patients and their preferred GP practice. For practices that invest in helping patients register, it creates a tangible competitive signal: we are the practice you come back to.

From 1 November 2025, Better Access referrals for mental health services are also linked to a patient's MyMedicare registered practice or usual medical practitioner. This means practices offering mental health services have an added reason to ensure their patients are registered and that the practice's mental health capability is clearly communicated.

The chronic disease management framework also changed from 1 July 2025, replacing GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements with a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP). This affects how practices communicate chronic disease support to patients and referrers, and how allied health referral pathways are described in patient-facing materials. I see the same gap across healthcare marketing broadly, not just general practice.

What GPs and practice owners actually need from marketing

The most common marketing problems I see in general practice are not about channels or campaigns. They are about clarity. Practices that have grown organically often have no clear articulation of what they are known for, who their ideal patient is, or what makes them genuinely worth choosing over the practice down the road.

A new patient landing on a GP practice website typically sees the same things everywhere: a list of services, a photo of the building, and a book now button. None of that communicates anything that builds preference. It communicates availability, which is necessary but not sufficient.

The practices that hold their patient base through billing model changes, that attract the GPs they want to recruit, and that generate genuine word-of-mouth referrals, are the ones that have a clear identity and communicate it consistently. That is the work I help practices do before anything else.

The marketing challenges I hear most often

• We changed our billing model and patients are confused or unhappy. How do we communicate this clearly without losing them
• We are opening a new practice or a new location and need people to know we exist
• We want to attract more of a specific patient type, families, chronic disease patients, older patients, and our current marketing does not reflect that
• Our website is outdated and does not reflect what we actually do or who we actually are
• We rely entirely on walk-ins and word of mouth and have no strategy for growth
• We want to recruit GPs and need our employer brand to reflect the kind of practice we are

What I can support

• Practice positioning and messaging strategy: who you are, who you serve, and what makes you worth choosing
• Billing model communication: clear, honest patient messaging around BBPIP participation, mixed billing, or fee changes
• MyMedicare and patient registration communication strategies
• Website and content strategy for patient acquisition and retention
• GP recruitment brand and employer positioning
• Marketing direction during practice growth, new location opening, or model change