New patient welcome letter template for a cash-pay practice

This is written for solo NPs and physicians running cash-pay hormone, weight-loss and functional medicine practices. Most welcome letter templates online are written for insurance-based primary care and talk about copays and insurance cards. A cash-pay practice has different things to explain: why labs come first, when each fee is due and what the patient gets for it.

What should a new patient welcome letter include?

• The next steps, numbered. Patients stall when they don't know what comes after the form.
• How payment works. When each fee is due and how to pay it. The amounts belong on your fee schedule and the good faith estimate, where they stay current.
• How to reach you, and how soon you reply. Give a real reply time and keep to it.
• What is not for messages. Urgent problems, with what to do instead.
• A pointer to the cancellation policy. Give the notice period in the letter and keep the full policy in the forms.
• Telehealth notes, if you see patients by video.

Leave out the patient's reason for coming. A welcome email can be opened on a shared computer, so "your first visit" is enough. The same rule is in our follow-up templates guide.

New patient welcome letter template

Copy this into your EHR or email tool. The fields in curly brackets are yours to fill in. It works as an email or as a printed letter.

Delete the sections that don't apply. If you don't require labs before the first consult, swap steps 2 and 3. Check the state line against where you are licensed.

A short text version

If the patient agreed to texts, send a short one alongside the email. It does one job: get them to the form.

Keep it this generic. No service, program or lab details in a text. See HIPAA-safe texting for a solo practice.

What goes in a new patient welcome packet?

The letter is the cover page. The packet is everything the patient needs to read, fill in or sign before the first visit. Send it as one link to your portal or forms, not as a stack of attachments.

Combine what you can. One intake form with the consents and policies as sections is easier to finish than ten separate forms, and fewer patients give up halfway.

The exact consents and notices you need depend on your state and your services. Have an attorney or your malpractice carrier look over the packet once.

When should you send the welcome letter?

Within minutes of booking or of a completed inquiry form, and automatically. The patient is thinking about it now. Tomorrow they are back at work. Our guide to how fast to reply to a new patient inquiry has the research on why the first hour matters.

• Right away: the welcome email and the short text, with the intake link.
• Next day, if forms aren't started: one reminder with the same link.
• When forms are reviewed: the lab fee link and what happens after payment. See how to collect lab fees before the consult.
• Before the consult: reminders, from our appointment reminder text templates.

The welcome letter is the one message every new patient reads, so keep it current. When your fees, hours or reply time change, change the letter the same day.

How do you make one template fit different services?

Keep one letter and change two parts: the steps and the packet. A patient starting hormone care may need labs before the first consult. A patient starting a weight-loss program may have a different set of forms and a different visit schedule. A functional medicine patient may have a longer intake and a longer first visit.

Let the booking type or the intake form pick the version, so nobody chooses by hand. Don't name the service in the email subject line or in the text.

If you'd like to see where new patients stall between booking and the first consult in your own practice, request a free patient journey map. Don't include any patient information in the form.

This is general information, not legal advice. Consent, privacy notice and good faith estimate rules have details this guide doesn't cover.