How does a newly opened clinic get its first patients in India?

A new clinic opens with zero patients and zero reviews. The order below keeps you inside NMC and Google's rules while you fix that, so the first bookings come from people finding you honestly, not from something you'll have to walk back later.

How fast should a new clinic set up its Google Business Profile?

As soon as you have an address, before the signboard is even up. Claiming a Business Profile is free, and it is what shows up when someone searches your clinic's name or searches for a clinic nearby.

Google decides how you verify it, not you: usually a postcard to your address (5 to 14 days), or sometimes phone, email or video verification, which are faster (Google Business Profile Help (opens in a new tab), checked 17 Sep 2026). Start it on day one and keep working through the rest of this list while you wait; don't let verification hold up everything else.

Our full guide to Google Business Profile for clinics covers claiming, categories, photos and reviews in more depth. This section is only about getting started.

Which listing sites matter for a new clinic in India?

After Google, add Practo and Justdial in your first two weeks. Both listings are free, and patients in India still search them directly, especially by phone.

Practo's listing is free and separate from its paid products; you register, add your clinic, submit identity and registration documents, and it usually verifies within 48 hours (Practo Help (opens in a new tab), checked 17 Sep 2026). Justdial's free listing asks for your business details and an OTP, and usually verifies within 24 to 48 hours (Justdial (opens in a new tab), checked 17 Sep 2026).

Keep the same address, phone number and timings on all three. A patient who sees a different phone number on Justdial than on Google has no way of knowing which one is current.

Are referrals from other doctors and pharmacies allowed?

Yes, as a professional courtesy. What isn't allowed is paying for one, in cash, a gift or a cut of the bill.

For a new clinic, that leaves one route: be worth referring. Introduce yourself to nearby doctors, physiotherapists and pharmacies, send a proper referral letter back when you treat someone they sent, and say thank you with a phone call, not a percentage.

How fast should a new clinic answer enquiries?

Same day at the very least, and within the hour on WhatsApp wherever you can, because a new clinic has no reviews yet to fall back on if a reply goes quiet. Our post on how fast a clinic should reply works through the reasoning and what to do if you have no extra staff for it.

A missed call costs a new clinic more than an established one too: the caller has no history with you to fall back on, so if the desk doesn't pick up, they call the next name on the list instead.

Should a new clinic publish its fees and timings?

Yes. It's explicitly allowed, and it answers the first question most new enquiries actually ask before they book anything.

Reg. 3.7.1 requires a physician to display fees and charges at the chamber, and reg. 6.1.1 separately lists public declaration of charges as one of the few things an institution may announce. Put the same fees and timings on the entrance board, your Google profile, your Practo and Justdial listings, and in whatever answers your WhatsApp, so a patient never has to ask twice.

What are the rules for a community health camp?

There is no NMC clause written specifically for health camps, so the rules that already apply to everything else carry over.

A camp run to fill your own appointment book, rather than to serve the area, reads as soliciting under reg. 6.1.1. Any photograph from the camp needs each person's permission before it's published (reg. 7.17), and who attended is not information to share (reg. 7.14). Separately, the Indian Medical Association has asked for defined protocols for medical and surgical camps (IMA (opens in a new tab), checked 17 Sep 2026), which is worth reading before you run one.

Practically: partner with a school, a residents' association or a pharmacy for something genuinely free and useful, such as a blood pressure or eye check, keep the messaging about the community's health rather than your opening, and get written consent from anyone whose photo or details you plan to use afterwards.

What should a new clinic track in the first 90 days?

Five numbers, counted every week: enquiries received, same-day replies, bookings, attendance and new Google reviews.

There is no published benchmark for what a new clinic's first 90 days should look like. Specialty, city and even the street matter too much for one number to mean anything across clinics. What tells you something is your own trend from week 1 to week 12, not a target borrowed from somewhere else.