Offer nearby factories, shops and offices a simple monthly retainer: a fixed number of on-site OPD sessions, pre-employment checks at agreed rates, first-aid training for their staff and priority slots at your clinic. Price it from what your doctor hour earns, put it in a written contract checked by a lawyer, and keep employee health information confidential. Employees' families often become your patients.
There is a garment unit, a hardware wholesaler or a small IT office near almost every family clinic in India. Look at your records and you will probably find their staff already. A loader with a cut hand on Monday. A machine operator who needs a fitness note. The owner bringing in a new hire for a check before joining.
You are already their doctor. Informally, one visit at a time, with nobody planning anything. A retainer turns that into a proper arrangement, with steady monthly income for you and real value for the business owner.
What can a family doctor offer a small business?
Keep the menu short and useful. Business owners do not want a brochure. They want fewer sick days, fewer emergencies and less paperwork.
- On-site OPD sessions. You or a nurse visit at a fixed time, say two hours twice a month, to see staff with minor problems, follow up chronic conditions and refer anything that needs the clinic.
- Pre-employment and periodic checks. Whatever checks the employer needs, at agreed per-person rates, with labs through your partner at published rates.
- First-aid training for supervisors, once or twice a year, with a stocked first-aid box checklist.
- Priority slots at the clinic for employees who need a proper examination.
- One health talk a quarter on something that fits the workplace: lifting and back care for a warehouse, heat and hydration for a kitchen, screen hours and posture for an office.
How should you price a monthly retainer?
Start from what your time is worth, not from what you think the owner will pay.
Say your OPD earns ₹3,000 for every hour you are there. An on-site session of two hours, plus thirty minutes of travel each way, takes three hours of your day. That is ₹9,000 of OPD time. If a nurse comes with you, add her cost.
Here is how a set of example retainers might look. Every number is an illustration.
| Small unit | Mid-size unit | Larger unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employees | Up to 30 | 30 to 100 | 100 to 200 |
| On-site sessions a month | 1 nurse visit | 2 doctor visits | 4 doctor visits |
| First-aid training | Once a year | Twice a year | Twice a year |
| Health talks | Once a year | Quarterly | Quarterly |
| Example monthly fee | ₹6,000 | ₹18,000 | ₹35,000 |
| Pre-employment checks | Per person, agreed rate | Per person, agreed rate | Per person, agreed rate |
Bill pre-employment checks and labs separately, at rates written into the contract. That keeps the retainer simple and stops it quietly expanding to cover everything.
What goes in the contract?
A handshake with a factory owner feels friendly until the first disagreement. Put it in writing, and have a lawyer check it before you sign. These are the points to cover:
- Scope. Exactly what is included: number of sessions, hours, who attends, what is billed separately.
- Fees and payment terms. Monthly or quarterly, in advance, and what happens if payment is late.
- Duration and exit. A minimum term, a notice period, and how either side can end it.
- Confidentiality. This is the big one. The employer gets fitness status where they need it, never diagnoses or details, unless the employee consents in writing.
- Records. Who owns them. They stay with your clinic, as medical records.
- Liability and emergencies. What you are and are not responsible for, and that emergencies go to a hospital.
- Medicines. Whether any are supplied on-site, and how they are billed, under the rules that apply to you.
How do you run on-site OPD days well?
Treat it as your clinic in a different room.
Ask for a private space with a door, a table, two chairs and a couch if possible. Bring a standard kit. Keep a sign-up sheet the supervisor fills in the day before, so you know who is coming. Record every consultation in your clinic software, with consent, exactly like a clinic visit.
The rule I would set from day one: anything that needs an examination you cannot do properly on-site, or a test, comes to the clinic. Give the employee a priority slot and a direct WhatsApp number. That is better care, and it also brings people through your door.
How do employees' families become patients?
Naturally, if you do the job well. You do not need any discount or special offer for this, and you should not use one.
A worker whose back pain you sorted out goes home and tells his wife. A supervisor whose blood pressure you have been reviewing brings his father in. A young office employee who liked how quickly you replied on WhatsApp registers her parents.
Make it easy. Give every employee a clinic card with your timings, address and WhatsApp number. Tell them their families are welcome at the clinic on the normal fee sheet. Then let good care do the rest. Over a year, this is often worth more than the retainer itself.
How do you find your first three businesses?
Make a list of fifty workplaces within a few kilometres: factories, warehouses, schools, offices, hotels, large shops. Start with the ones whose staff are already in your records.
Approach the owner or manager in person, and pitch the value to them, not your clinic: fewer sick days, quicker certificates, someone to call when a worker gets hurt. Offer one health talk first, so they meet you. Then propose a simple three-month trial retainer.
This is the corporate and community channel from Known Doctors Get Booked, adapted for a family practice. If you want help structuring the offer and the follow-up, our patient acquisition and growth consulting teams work with family doctors on exactly this.
The short version
- Local businesses already send you patients. A retainer makes it planned and paid.
- Offer a short menu: on-site OPD sessions, pre-employment checks, first-aid training, priority slots and talks.
- Price it from your doctor hour, and bill checks and labs separately at agreed rates.
- Use a written contract checked by a lawyer, with strict confidentiality for employee health information.
- Employees' families become patients when the care is good. No offers needed.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a doctor charge a small company for a monthly retainer?
Work it out from your time. Add up the hours an on-site session takes, including travel, multiply by what an hour of your OPD earns, and add any nurse or supply costs. Bill pre-employment checks and labs separately at agreed rates, so the retainer stays clear and predictable.
Can an employer see an employee's medical details under a retainer?
The employer should get only what they genuinely need, such as fitness status, and never diagnoses or details without the employee's written consent. Write this into the contract, explain it to employees at the first session, and keep all records with your clinic.
Do I need a written contract for a clinic retainer with a local business?
Yes. Cover scope, fees, payment terms, duration, exit, confidentiality, records, liability and emergencies, and have a lawyer review it before signing. A written contract protects the relationship as much as it protects you, because both sides know exactly what was agreed.
Should a nurse or the doctor run on-site sessions?
It depends on the need. A trained nurse can handle routine checks, readings and first-aid support for small units, with the doctor on call. Larger units, or ones with many chronic conditions, usually need the doctor present. Price each version differently, and say clearly which one the business is getting.
On a free growth call, my team traces your last month from enquiry to treatment and shows you your biggest leak in rupees.
