Psychiatry marketing works backwards from most specialties. A typical outpatient psychiatry practice, whether led by psychiatrists or psychiatric nurse practitioners (PMHNPs), has more people asking for appointments than prescriber hours to give them. The job is attracting the patients you can actually help, with the insurance you take, in the states where you're licensed, while staying inside prescription-advertising and telehealth rules. This page covers that job for medication management and telepsychiatry practices. For the wider picture, including testing practices and therapy, see our guide to psychology and psychiatry practice marketing.
Supply vs demand: marketing when you have a waitlist
Patient demand is enormous. "Psychiatrist near me" draws about 165,000 US searches a month, with an average cost per click of $18.16 and top-of-page bids from $6.65 to $26.86. On the other side, "psychiatry marketing" and "marketing for psychiatrists" each draw only about 40 searches a month, yet clicks on them average $39.91, because agencies compete hard for the few practice owners who search (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026).
When demand outruns capacity, more traffic just means more people you turn away. Good psychiatry marketing looks like this instead:
- The right patients self-select. Your site states conditions treated, age range, insurance accepted, telehealth states and realistic intake timing, so poor fits leave before they call.
- Referrers know your status. Partner offices hear when you open slots and when you close them.
- Every inquiry gets an answer. Even "we're full, here are three alternatives" protects your reputation and the patient.
- Spend follows capacity. Ads switch on when a new clinician joins or a schedule opens, and off when the waitlist passes your limit.
A useful test: if a new prescriber started next month, could you say which patient types you'd fill their schedule with first? If not, decide that before buying any marketing.
Referral sources: primary care, therapists and hospitals
Referrals bring patients who have already been screened by another clinician, which shortens intake and improves fit.
| Source | Typical referral | What wins it |
|---|---|---|
| Primary care | Depression or anxiety not responding to first-line treatment, ADHD questions | Clear insurance list, quick acknowledgment, a note back after intake |
| Therapists | Clients who may need medication | Shared-care expectations and a direct line between clinicians |
| Pediatrics | Children and teens | Stated age range and whether you do evaluations |
| Hospitals and EDs | Post-discharge follow-up | Your earliest realistic appointment, kept current |
| OB/GYN | Perinatal mood concerns | Whether you see pregnant and postpartum patients |
Give every partner the same referral kit:
- A one-page referral sheet: services, conditions, ages, insurance, telehealth states, current intake timing and what records to send.
- Fax or e-referral instructions: the exact number or electronic address, plus a cover-sheet template.
- A response-time commitment: for example, "we confirm every referral within two business days and tell you whether we can see the patient."
Then keep the loop closed. A short note to the referrer, sent with the patient's permission, is what earns the second referral. If the practice is large enough for dedicated outreach, our guide to physician liaison marketing explains how to structure the role.
Telepsychiatry: licensing by state and what to advertise
Telepsychiatry widens your reach, but only to states where your clinicians are licensed. Licensure follows the patient's location at the time of the visit. The Medical Board of California, for example, says physicians using telehealth to treat patients located in California must be licensed in California (opens in a new tab), even if they live elsewhere. Nurse practitioner rules vary by state, so check each board.
The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact speeds things up for physicians, but it issues separate state licenses, not a compact license (opens in a new tab). Each state still has to be added.
Prescribing controlled substances adds a federal rule. Under the Ryan Haight Act, a practitioner normally needs at least one in-person evaluation before prescribing controlled substances remotely. DEA and HHS have kept pandemic-era exceptions in place; the fourth temporary extension (opens in a new tab) is effective January 1 through December 31, 2026. DEA's January 2025 proposal for a special telemedicine registration had no final rule as of October 22, 2026. Watch for a new rule before you plan next year's telehealth campaigns.
What this means for marketing:
- Target ads only to licensed states. Set location targeting to match, and exclude everywhere else.
- Name your states. Put the list on your telehealth page and in your directory profiles.
- Screen location at intake. Ask for the state the patient will be in during visits.
- Don't promise a prescription format. Whether a patient can start a controlled medication by video depends on the rules in force on the day of the visit, and on clinical judgment.
Prescription and controlled-substance limits in ads
Psychiatry ads sit next to some of the strictest rules on both major ad platforms.
Google. The healthcare and medicines policy (opens in a new tab) restricts prescription drug terms in ads, landing pages and keywords, and treats online prescribing as a certified category. In the US, telemedicine providers in that category must be accredited by LegitScript and certified by Google. Google also doesn't allow ads for prescription opioid painkillers, with limited exceptions. Health is a sensitive interest category in personalized advertising (opens in a new tab), so remarketing lists and Customer Match aren't available. Our summary of Google's healthcare ad policy covers the details.
Meta. The drugs and pharmaceuticals policy (opens in a new tab) requires telehealth providers to hold active LegitScript certification before promoting prescription drugs, and allows targeting only to people 18 or older. Promoting telehealth services in general doesn't need Meta's written authorization. The personal attributes policy (opens in a new tab) bans ads that imply knowledge of someone's mental health, so "Feeling anxious all the time?" is out.
House rule: never name a controlled substance in an ad. Stimulants, benzodiazepines and sleep medications attract people seeking a specific prescription and trigger platform review.
Illustrative example (fictional practice):
- Works: "Adult psychiatric evaluations and medication management. In-network with Aetna and Cigna. Video visits in Colorado."
- Avoid: "Get your Adderall prescription online, same day."
- Avoid: "Do you have ADHD? Book now."
Red flags when hiring help
- A vendor promising a fixed number of new patients a month.
- Ad copy or keywords that name medications.
- Anyone who wants an ad pixel on your intake form or patient portal.
- Retargeting people who visited a condition page.
- Any vendor who will see patient information but won't sign a business associate agreement (BAA).
Your website: services, insurance and the new-patient process
Your site answers the questions that decide fit before anyone calls. A psychiatry site needs:
- A page per service: medication management, psychiatric evaluation, ADHD evaluation, and TMS or other treatments if you offer them.
- Conditions and ages, stated plainly, plus what you don't treat.
- Insurance and self-pay fees: plans you're in-network with, and the price of a new-patient evaluation and follow-ups for self-pay patients.
- The new-patient process: how to request an appointment, what records help, current intake timing and what happens at the first visit.
- Telehealth states.
- A referral page for clinicians with your fax or e-referral details.
- Crisis information: a visible line saying you aren't an emergency service and pointing to 988 and 911.
Keep the request form short: name, contact details, the service, insurance and state. Leave diagnosis and medication fields off the public form. Our guide to psychiatry practice websites has the full page plan. If you offer TMS, its pages follow different rules; see marketing a TMS program.
Directories matter here too. Psychology Today runs a psychiatrist directory (opens in a new tab) with a medication management filter. Keep your listing consistent with your website.
Measuring referrals and consults
Measure the path from first contact to a kept first appointment, by source:
| Stage | What to count | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry | Calls, forms and referrals received | Sources sending patients you can't see |
| Response | Time to first reply | Anything over one business day |
| Fit | Inquiries that match your services, insurance and states | A low share means your site or ads aren't filtering |
| Booked | Evaluations scheduled | Drop-off between fit and booking |
| Kept | First appointments attended | No-shows by source |
Ask every new patient how they heard about you and record it in your practice systems. Report marketing results to vendors as counts, never with patient names. The cost driver that matters is cost per kept evaluation from the patient types you want, not cost per click.
Where Medfy fits
Medfy is AI marketing software for independent practices, built HIPAA-compliant by design. For $349/month it rebuilds and hosts your website with a page per service and HIPAA-compliant forms, publishes researched articles each week for your approval, tracks whether AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini name your practice, and counts calls, forms, booking clicks and directions in first-party analytics. A patient CRM and inbox keeps every inquiry in one access-controlled place, and the AI CMO dashboard shows leads by source with a weekly brief. Google Ads and Meta ads management are optional add-ons at $199/month each.
Medfy doesn't provide an EHR, e-prescribing or scheduling software. To see how your site, listings and ads look today, start with a free marketing audit.
Frequently asked questions
How do psychiatrists get more patients?
Most psychiatrists need better-matched patients more than more patients. Build two or three referral relationships with primary care and therapy practices, publish your insurance, conditions, ages and telehealth states, and answer every intake request within one business day. List in directories people use to find prescribers. Add search ads only after those basics work, and judge them by booked evaluations from the patient types you want.
Can a psychiatry practice advertise telehealth in other states?
Only in states where the treating clinician holds a license, because licensure follows the patient's location. The Medical Board of California, for example, requires a California license to treat patients located in California. Set ad location targeting to your licensed states, name those states on your website, and screen location at intake. Prescribing controlled substances by telehealth also falls under DEA rules that are temporary through December 31, 2026.
Can psychiatrists mention specific medications in ads?
Treat it as off-limits. Google restricts prescription drug terms in ads, landing pages and keywords and requires certification for online prescribing, and Meta requires LegitScript certification to promote prescription drugs. Naming controlled substances also invites people seeking a specific prescription. Advertise the service instead, such as medication management or a psychiatric evaluation, and discuss treatment options only after a clinician has seen the patient.