Referral Source Attribution
Percentage of new patient appointments attributed to each marketing channel (digital, GP referral, direct)
What is Referral Source Attribution?
Referral source attribution shows the share of new patients or customers that came from each referral channel. It answers where new business actually comes from.
In healthcare and other referral-driven services, knowing which sources produce patients guides where to build relationships and spend effort.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Marketing
- Sub-function
- Patient Acquisition
- Industry
- All Industries
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- Revenue
- Unit
- %
- Measurement frequency
- Monthly / Quarterly
- Formula
- (New patients from channel / Total new patients) × 100 per channel
How to calculate it
For each channel, divide the new patients from that channel by the total new patients, and multiply by 100.
For example, if 200 new patients arrived and 80 came from doctor referrals, 60 from search, 40 from word of mouth and 20 from advertising, the shares are 40%, 30%, 20% and 10%.
Ask every new patient how they heard of you, and record the answer consistently.
Where it is used
Guiding relationship building
Focus on referrers who send the most patients.
Allocating budget
Invest in sources that produce results.
Spotting change
Notice when a source is declining.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Self-reported sources are imperfect. Compare with tracking data.
- Follow professional rules on referral incentives.
- A source with few patients may still be very valuable per patient.
More Marketing kpi library
Build better plans, faster
Join the waitlist for early access to curated insights, flexible templates, and rapid iteration across strategy, planning, and project management.