Facing higher out-of-pocket costs and higher deductibles, healthcare consumers aren’t as passive about selecting hospitals and doctors as they have been in the past. They are turning to social networks and online review websites for details about healthcare providers, and they’ve come to expect positive reviews, high star ratings and price transparency.
Avoiding the importance of reputation online is risky, as patients continually demand more transparency and information as they make critical healthcare decisions, and turn online for these details.
6 Strategies for Higher Ratings and Great Reviews
Just like businesses within other sectors, healthcare providers have to use star ratings and online reviews to their advantage, in order to capture increasingly discerning consumers who have higher expectations and myriad options.
Below are a few best practices for strengthening online reputations of your hospitals and doctors within today’s digital environment:
Respond to and request reviews
Patients ought to be asked for reviews instantly after visits, either by having a tablet at check-out/in or sending simplistic rating requests through SMS or email. Respond to and monitor every online review — negative or positive — within a timely manner.
Utilize customer surveys that augments CAHPS data
Surveys online assist you in collecting valuable details on the patient experience which isn’t captured in CAHPS data. Internet surveys may extend above and beyond the physician/patient encounter to gather details on engagement with staff members, accessibility to the clinic, as well as convenience factors. Surveys ought to be short, readily accessible and simple to complete through online forms, mobile apps, or tablets.
Be certain patients are able to find your physicians
Around 64% of internet searches are done on Google; therefore, make certain that you first claim your Google business listings, and make sure all of the details are accurate – contact information, address, hours of operation, etc. Other critical websites include Yahoo Local, HealthGrades, Yelp, and Vitals.com. By actively observing your business listings, all of your locations may increase in search rankings, and give prospective patients a better opportunity at finding them.
Join the online conversation
Active social media engagement will assist you in influencing and optimizing your company’s online reputation, building trust and awareness, driving traffic to your sites and, eventually, resulting in more admissions, appointments, and walk-ins.
Get operational insights
Utilize what reviewers are mentioning on the Internet to make operational improvements around your institution. You might identify a recurring problem — for instance, several complaints about a certain location or doctor or long wait times. Your social media staff ought to work with your institution’s patient experience staff to create a procedure for sharing operational insights, as well as making necessary changes.
Report key metrics
Reporting to important stakeholders inside your institution assists you in demonstrating the results of your reputation monitoring efforts. An online reputation monitoring company may offer insight with analytics, as well as a dashboard, and aid you in gaining valuable insights from a variety of metrics, like social media activity, sentiment, and review volume.
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