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GAE Marketing

Build a GAE program before your local market is crowded

More than 15 million Americans live with chronic knee pain. Most have tried meds, injections, and PT — and most aren't ready for knee replacement. They're stuck in a treatment gap, looking online for an answer. Genicular Artery Embolization is that answer, and the practices marketing it now will own their local market for the next decade. We help you get there first.

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The GAE patient acquisition opportunity

Why early movers win the GAE market

Knee OA is one of the largest unmet-need patient populations in the country, and GAE is the newest credible answer. Right now most patients have never heard of it — and most local markets have no one offering it.

15M+

Americans with chronic knee pain

More than 1 in 3 people over 60 have knee OA on imaging, and ~40% of those have bothersome symptoms. The candidate pool grows with every retiring boomer.

Source: Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology

700K

Total knee replacements performed annually in the U.S.

TKA volume grew 156% from 2000–2019 and is projected to grow another 143% by 2050. A meaningful share of those patients have intermediate-stage OA where GAE could have intervened earlier.

Source: American Joint Replacement Registry, 2024

92%

Of patients meet WOMAC pain improvement at 12 months

Strong outcomes data is finally maturing — and only 5.2% of patients required knee replacement within two years post-GAE. The clinical case for adoption is now defensible, not theoretical.

Source: Endovascular Today, 2025

Early

GAE availability — still mostly academic centers

Outside of major university hospitals, most U.S. patients can't find a GAE provider locally. The OBL or IR practice that owns the search results in their metro now will own them for years.

Source: EVToday — Building Evidence and Practice

Our methodology

The PatientFlow System

A closed-loop system designed to find knee-pain patients online — and educate orthopedists at the same time.

GAE marketing has two jobs: bring patients who don't yet know GAE exists, and educate the orthopedists and rheumatologists sitting on a population of 'nothing else to offer' patients. The PatientFlow System runs both channels at once, tuned to the realities of an emerging procedure.

Pillar 1

The Demand Loop

How patients find you

GAE has the steepest awareness curve of any procedure we market. Patients aren't searching 'genicular artery embolization' — they're searching 'alternative to knee replacement,' 'how to avoid knee surgery,' and 'knee pain when injections stopped working.' We work two channels simultaneously: patient-facing search and ads built around those queries, plus referrer-facing content that orthopedists and rheumatologists actually open and share with their refractory OA patients. Both channels feed the same calendar.

Pillar 2

The Fit Filter

Sorting the right patients before they reach you

GAE has narrower clinical fit than most procedures — patients with end-stage OA need replacement, patients with mild OA need conservative care, and the GAE sweet spot is in between. Your front desk shouldn't be the one figuring that out. Our intake walks patients through the questions an interventional radiologist would ask (BMI, prior treatments, imaging on file, replacement candidacy) and stratifies before they reach scheduling. Strong candidates land directly on your calendar. Edge cases get clear next steps without taking your team's time.

Pillar 3

The Conversion Engine

Following up so patients don't slip away

GAE patients usually need to coordinate with their orthopedist, sort out coverage that's still inconsistent across plans, and absorb a procedure most have never heard of. That takes time. We follow up across the whole arc — content that helps them have the conversation with their ortho, insurance navigation when needed, automated check-ins that catch the moment a flare-up makes them ready. Tracking ties everything back: which post drove which patient who scheduled which procedure how many months later.

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Your first 90 days

From signed contract to your first qualified GAE consultations

We move fast on what's already proven and slow only on what needs your specific input. Here's the typical sequence for a new GAE engagement.

1

Week 1

Audit knee-pain funnel + ortho relationships

We sit down with your team and walk through how knee-pain patients reach you (or don't), how they get screened, and how they get on the schedule. We map your local orthopedic and rheumatology landscape so we know who could refer. You leave with a 90-day plan.

2

Weeks 2–4

Launch knee-alternative ads

We launch your knee-pain landing pages — for 'alternative to knee replacement,' 'chronic knee pain treatment,' and 'pain after knee replacement' — along with Google Ads, paid social, SEO support content, and reporting. By the end of week 4 your campaigns are running.

3

Days 30–60

Stand up GAE intake + referrer outreach

Your patient intake flow goes live: short, symptom-based questions that educate and stratify before patients reach your team. In parallel, we kick off referrer outreach — concise, evidence-led emails and content for local orthopedic and rheumatology groups so they know what to do with their 'nothing else' patients.

4

Days 60–90

Scale GAE volume

Your team starts seeing GAE consults from the system. We watch what's actually converting — which symptoms, which channels, which creative — and double down. Weekly reports tie every dollar to scheduled procedures.

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Why we're different

How PatientFlow compares to traditional medical marketing agencies

Most agencies bring you a generic playbook and stop at the lead. PatientFlow is built for the specific realities of GAE patient acquisition — a new procedure, a wide candidate pool, and a referrer base that needs education.

Strategy

Most agencies

Marketing 'GAE' to patients who've never heard of the procedure. Most never click.

PatientFlow approach

Symptom-based marketing for knee pain, knee surgery alternatives, and post-replacement pain — supported by search, paid media, educational pages, and parallel referrer education for local orthopedists.

Lead quality

Most agencies

Volume-focused: every form fill counts. Your front desk filters non-candidates and patients who actually need replacement.

PatientFlow approach

We screen patients by stage of OA before they reach your team. Strong candidates get fast-tracked. Earlier-stage patients enter education sequences until they're ready.

Referrer development

Most agencies

Ignored. Direct-to-patient only.

PatientFlow approach

We run a referrer track in parallel — evidence-led outreach to local orthopedic and rheumatology practices so they know what to do with their refractory OA patients.

Patient journey

Most agencies

Hands off after the lead is delivered. Patients deciding between watchful waiting, injections, and intervention quietly drop out.

PatientFlow approach

We stay with GAE-considering patients through long decision cycles — weeks or months — with automated follow-up until they schedule or opt out.

Measurement

Most agencies

Reports on clicks, impressions, and form fills. ROI is left for you to calculate.

PatientFlow approach

Reports tied to scheduled procedures: qualified consults, consult-to-procedure conversion, cost per scheduled GAE, revenue attributed.

Insurance navigation

Most agencies

Patients hit your front desk confused about coverage. Your team explains preauth from scratch on every call.

PatientFlow approach

Coverage clarification built into the intake itself. Patients learn what's covered for their plan, what self-pay looks like, and what to ask about — before they ever speak to your team.

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Practice owner FAQs

Ready to scale your GAE program?

If you're an IR practice, OBL, or pain management group launching or scaling GAE, let's talk through what the next 90 days could look like for your practice — and how to lock in your local market while it's still wide open.

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