How Much Does It Cost to Get a New Physio Patient?

Getting a new physio patient in Australia costs roughly $38 to $300 in marketing, depending on the channel and how many enquiries your front desk turns into seen patients. In the worked example below, built on labelled assumptions, GP referral work lands at $38 to $190 per patient, Google search ads at $57 to $275 and a local SEO retainer at $80 to $300. We found no credible public Australian benchmark for physiotherapy cost per new patient, so the useful test is whether a channel pays back by the second visit.

At a glance

• Published benchmark: none for Australian physiotherapy cost per new patient that we could find on 3 November 2026. Every channel input below is an assumption you replace with your own numbers.
• Nearest public ad data: LocaliQ’s 2026 search benchmarks, drawn from its own customers’ Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns, give a $67.36 average cost per lead for Health & Fitness and $40.04 for Physicians & Surgeons (LocaliQ, updated 1 June 2026). The page states no country or currency; LocaliQ is a USA TODAY Co business, so treat these as North American category averages, not Australian physio figures.
• Published visit values: Medicare item 10960 (physio under a GP chronic condition management plan) has a $74.55 fee and a $63.40 benefit (MBS Online); DVA pays $77.10 for both an initial (PH10) and a standard (PH20) consultation in rooms (DVA schedule, 1 July 2026).

Rules of thumb

• Set a strict ceiling at your retained share of the first two visits: ($110 + $95) x 50% = $102.50 per new patient (worked example).
• Divide cost per enquiry by your enquiry-to-seen rate: a $70 enquiry seen at 40% costs $175 per patient; at 70%, $100.
• Medicare-referred chronic condition patients get at most 5 rebated allied health services a calendar year, shared across the allied health items in that subgroup (MBS item 10960), so their episode value is capped.
• A free or discounted first assessment in an ad must state its terms and conditions, and the ad must not use testimonials (Ahpra advertising guidelines).

What does a new physio patient cost by marketing channel?

A new physio patient costs about $38 to $300 across GP referral, Google search ads and local SEO in this worked example, with the spread driven by volume and booking rate more than by the channel itself. Figures are AUD; cost and rate inputs are assumptions in three bands for you to replace.

Only the search row has a public anchor, and that is a LocaliQ customer category average, not an Australian figure. For published retainers, see the wellness marketing agency pricing breakdown. The US chiropractic version of this maths is on the chiropractic cost per new patient page.

FAQ: physio cost per new patient

How much does it cost to get a new physio patient?

In the worked example on this page, a new physio patient costs about $38 to $300 in marketing: $38 to $190 from GP referral work, $57 to $275 from Google search ads and $80 to $300 from a local SEO retainer. These rest on stated assumptions, because no credible public Australian benchmark exists.

What is a good cost per new patient for a physiotherapy clinic?

A good cost per new patient is at or below your retained share of the initial consult plus the first follow-up. At a $110 initial, a $95 follow-up and 50% retained, that is $102.50. Above it, the channel only pays if patients complete more of the episode.

How many physio sessions does Medicare cover with a GP referral?

Medicare covers up to 5 allied health services a calendar year for a patient with a chronic condition and complex care needs under a GP chronic condition management plan, shared across allied health providers. For physiotherapy under item 10960 the fee is $74.55 and the benefit $63.40 (MBS Online, item 10960).

Is there an Australian benchmark for physio Google Ads cost per lead?

We could not find one on 3 November 2026. The nearest public figures are category averages across LocaliQ customers’ campaigns in its 2026 benchmarks: $67.36 per lead for Health & Fitness and $40.04 for Physicians & Surgeons, with no country stated (LocaliQ). Use your own Google Ads conversion data instead.

Can a physio clinic advertise a free first assessment?

A physio clinic can advertise a gift, discount or other inducement only if the advertisement also states the terms and conditions of the offer, under section 133 of the National Law (Ahpra advertising guidelines). This is general information, not legal advice.

The Physio Two-Visit Payback Test

The Physio Two-Visit Payback Test says a channel is safe to scale when its cost per new patient is no more than the clinic’s retained share of the initial consult plus the first follow-up. Below that line the patient has paid for their own acquisition by the end of visit two, before you know whether they will finish the episode.

Worked inputs (all assumptions): a $110 private initial consult, a $95 follow-up, and a clinic that keeps 50% of fees after paying the treating physio. Retained value is $55 for visit one and $47.50 for each follow-up, so the running total is $55, $102.50, $150, $197.50, $245, $292.50 and $340 by visit seven. A six-visit episode is worth $585 in fees and $292.50 to the clinic.

A channel that fails the two-visit test is a bet on retention: if most of your new patients stop after three visits, anything paid back after visit three loses money on them.

What is a GP-referred physio patient worth on the published fee schedules?

A GP-referred physio patient on a Medicare chronic condition plan is worth at most five rebated services a year at a $74.55 fee each, while a DVA treatment cycle runs to 12 sessions at $77.10. Both fees are published.

• Medicare item 10960: the service must run at least 20 minutes and be recommended in a GP chronic condition management plan, and is capped at 5 services a calendar year across the allied health items in that subgroup. Fee $74.55, benefit 85% = $63.40 (MBS Online). If you bulk bill, five services return 5 x $63.40 = $317.00 at most, and less if the patient also sees another allied health provider under the same cap.
• DVA: PH10 initial and PH20 standard consultations in rooms are both $77.10, GST-free. Each treatment cycle starts with one initial consultation, and the schedule says a total of 12 sessions should be provided before moving to a new cycle (DVA Physiotherapists Schedule of Fees, 1 July 2026). A full cycle is 12 x $77.10 = $925.20 in fees.

At 50% retained, a bulk-billed five-service Medicare patient is worth $158.50 to the clinic, and a full DVA cycle $462.60. The DVA cycle pays back even the $190 low-volume GP case by session five ($77.10 x 50% x 5 = $192.75).

Why does the enquiry-to-seen rate move physio cost per new patient more than ad prices?

The enquiry-to-seen rate moves physio cost per new patient more than ad prices because it divides every dollar of spend: at a $70 enquiry, a 40% seen rate gives $175 per patient and a 70% rate gives $100. That 30-point improvement takes the search channel from failing the Physio Two-Visit Payback Test to passing it, with no change in ad budget.

Where enquiries leak in a physio clinic:

• Missed calls and after-hours forms left until the next morning.
• Online booking drop-off when the first slot is a week away.
• No-shows to the initial assessment, which cost the slot and the acquisition spend. A reminder cadence matters here; the SMS reminder sequence to reduce no-shows page sets one out.

To measure it, divide new patients seen in a month by enquiries from every source. The step-by-step method for the booked-call equivalent is on how to calculate cost per booked call.

How do Ahpra advertising rules change physio acquisition cost?

Ahpra advertising rules raise physio acquisition cost because the cheapest conversion tools other industries use, testimonials and unconditioned free offers, are restricted for a regulated health service. Section 133 of the National Law bans testimonials about the service in advertising and requires any gift, discount or other inducement to state its terms and conditions (Ahpra advertising guidelines). Ahpra’s testimonial tool walks through when a review counts.

Physio ads therefore compete on availability, location and the condition treated, which puts more weight on following up the enquiries you already pay for. The lead generation guide for allied health clinics in Australia covers the Privacy Act side of recalling your own patient list.

What does running physio patient acquisition yourself cost in time?

Running physio patient acquisition yourself costs mainly front-desk and clinician time: in the worked example, four clinician hours a month on GP relationships alone is $380 of forgone follow-ups. Reception time spent calling enquiries back and chasing unconfirmed bookings is the other hidden cost.

Do it in-house when your seen rate is already above about 55% (the middle case) and the leak is volume, not follow-up: more search budget or better local SEO is then the lever. Consider handing enquiry follow-up to someone else when the rate sits near 40%, because the rules-of-thumb arithmetic shows that the same spend at 70% would cut search cost per patient from $175 to $100.

LeadsNow is one option for that second case: it calls, texts and messages each new enquiry within permitted calling hours and books it into the clinic’s calendar using AI calling, SMS and DM follow-up through its AI appointment setting service. Pricing is 5–25% of the revenue it generates for you (revenue share), or an equivalent pay-per-appointment fee, set by lead volume, what is being sold and its price, the type of business, and which part of the funnel it runs; no-shows aren’t charged. LeadsNow sees booked-call costs of $30–$400, depending on industry, offer, price and many other variables, and show rates vary by offer and reminder cadence, up to 93% on its best-performing accounts. Higher-value clinics face the same maths; see how to get patients for a longevity clinic.

Sources

1. MBS Online, item 10960 physiotherapy health service (fee updated 1 July 2026), read 3 November 2026.
2. DVA Physiotherapists Schedule of Fees, effective 1 July 2026.
3. LocaliQ, 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks (last updated 1 June 2026; LocaliQ customer campaign data, no country stated).
4. Ahpra, Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service.
5. Ahpra, testimonial tool.
6. Google Business Profile (free listing).