Definition
A pipeline is made up of stages that show where each patient is in the process. Typical medical tourism stages are: new enquiry, first reply sent, photos/information received, consultation, treatment plan sent, deposit, travel booked, procedure and follow-up.
Each patient sits in the pipeline as a card and moves from stage to stage. The card shows the responsible agent, treatment type, estimated value and date of last contact.
Why it matters for clinics
Without a pipeline, follow-up depends on each agent's memory. In a team juggling dozens of conversations, patients in the "price sent, no reply" state quietly disappear. A pipeline shows managers at a glance how many patients are waiting at each stage and where things are getting stuck.
Example
On Monday morning the manager opens the pipeline and sees 14 cards that have sat in "Treatment plan sent" for more than five days. The responsible agents are reminded to follow up, and two of those patients pay a deposit the same week.