If you have been working in the industry of healthcare, you will realize how important it is to have a healthy online reputation. Based on a recent survey, at least 81% of patients will read reviews before choosing their provider. Therefore, having a healthcare reputation management is necessary to ensure that you will be the top choice of your prospects. You need to monitor your reviews since it helps the patients understand the level of care and support you can provide.
A Complete Guide on Healthcare Reputation Management
Your patient is already experiencing a great deal of stress. There’s no way that they will choose a provider that will only add to the anxiety they are feeling. They want a facility that will provide them with unbridled attention and access to top-quality care. It helps to create an image that you are a dependable and trustworthy company. One way of doing this is by achieving a high level of online healthcare reputation by managing your customer reviews.
How Do Online Reviews Affect the Choice of the Patient?
We all know that most consumers will go online to check the reviews before spending their money; patients will also have to go through the same process. When making a decision, they definitely want a facility with complete equipment, experts, and unparalleled support for their patients. However, you may not know how these really affect your healthcare reputation. Based on the report of Deloitte, at least 53% of the patients claimed that they are highly considering the rating of the company or the healthcare professionals before choosing them. The number is also expected to increase in the coming years. Through positive, authentic reviews, you can showcase the capacity of your business or experts to provide the patients with what they are looking for.
How Can Healthcare Facilities or Professionals Improve Their Online Reputation?
Managing your online review is the first step in your healthcare reputation repair. Identify your goals and enumerate the procedure you need to do to reach your target. Here are some of the best practices that you can include in your list that have proven effective in boosting your digital reputation.
Reach Out to Your Satisfied Customers
Your satisfied customer is always your first source of positive reviews. However, most of them will not take the time to leave you a testimonial. One reason behind this is that they are not aware of it. After providing them with top-notch service, tell them how they can help you by leaving a positive review. Give them the link where they can write their experience with you. You have to make things easier for your patients to leave a review. Also, the timing is crucial. Make sure not to ask them for a review while they are still in the initial stage of the treatment. It must be right after their treatment end since their satisfaction will often be at the highest point. This can significantly improve your online healthcare reputation.
Ask a Team to Manage Your Reviews
If you are starting to accumulate reviews, you may think that it is not taking too much of your time. However, the time will come when you can no longer handle this. With so many platforms, social media sites, and channels that you have to monitor, you need to have a team to ensure that your healthcare reputation management is being done correctly. Make sure that you will divide the task. There should be people assigned to reach out to your previous customers to ask for a review and others to listen to social mentions and sentiment analysis. There must also be customer support professionals proficient in responding to all types of reviews.
Create a Plan
There must be a solid plan for reading and responding to every review. You should establish a voice and a tone that will make the patient more familiar with your customer support. You should not sound like a robot since this will only make matters worse. Create a script on how they will respond. Remind the people assigned here that the script only serves as their guide, but they need to adjust depending on the patient’s response. We’ve highlighted before how to respond to different reviews, be sure to check that out. The proper way of responding to all kinds of reviews is a perfect way to manage your healthcare reputation. Be kind and consistent. Try to move the conversation to private if the patient has some complaints.
Gathering Insights
Your patient review should provide information to your prospects. It should give them a hint about the quality of service and support you can provide. Customer reviews are a rich source of information. You will be able to find out what you lack and implement changes in your facility and practice. Overcoming things with the help of data analytics and customer insights is necessary to boost the patient satisfaction rate and advance your online healthcare reputation.
How to Gather Patient Reviews
As we mentioned above, your patients will not just leave you a review after receiving treatment. That is the last thing in their mind right now. Some may have spent months in the hospital, and they are thrilled to be with their families. Others could still be dealing with their anxieties. Therefore, you need people who will ask them to leave a review at best possible time. This ensures that you will maintain a healthy online healthcare reputation. Here are some ways to do this.
Add a Link to Your Online Listing on Your Website
It will be easier for your patients to leave you a review if they know where to do it. By adding a link to your Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp, and Healthgrades to your website, you can easily direct these people to the right platform and improve your healthcare reputation management strategy. Add a call to action before the link to increase the number of collected reviews. If possible, you should also showcase your stellar reviews on your website to show the audience that you value their opinions and insights.
Give Instructions
When patients visit your facility, you will often hand out pamphlets and marketing materials. Reserve a small portion on your pamphlets discussing how customer reviews are beneficial to you. Be clear and direct with the instruction. Be sure that it will guide them through the process. It is also a subtle way of asking them to leave a review, which is sometimes more effective.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another effective method to increase your patient review and boost your online healthcare reputation. However, it requires some consideration and effort on your part. For starters, you want to make sure that your target will open your email. If not, then you are investing in the wrong approach. How do you ensure this? Create a compelling subject; be sure that it will pique their interest. However, do not make it sound like a clickbait; otherwise, they will send your email to the spam folder. After opening the email message, ensure that they will read the content. Avoid sounding robotic, which is why we discourage you from using automated email tools. Also, be sure that you are tailoring your message. Call them by their name instead of just Mr. or Mrs. Add the CTA that asks for review along the middle.
Postcards
Postcards are also an excellent way to collect reviews from your patients and improve your healthcare reputation management. People love receiving cards, especially nowadays when everything is digital. Sending them a postcard will make them feel that you value them. At the end of your thank you note, add a small reminder that you will appreciate it if they will leave you with a review. Tell them why it is essential for you to receive their feedback. Be transparent; customers will appreciate it if you tell them that it is vital for your healthcare reputation repair.
Ask them Personally
This method will produce the best result since it involves personal interaction. However, timing is crucial. This will also require some probing. You want to make sure that they are delighted with your service before asking them for a review. You should also avoid asking for a review during the treatment; best to do this after. Some will wait for two days before contacting the patient again to remind them about this. However, we believe that the best time is right after the treatment. This will make sure that the information is still fresh.
Incentivizing
This is not necessarily a paid review, which is against the principle of most review and listing sites. You are still talking to an authentic customer; you only encourage them to leave you feedback. Provide them with a 5% discount on their next consultation if they leave you a review. You can also give them a voucher or a gift card. Sometimes, this does not necessarily mean that you have to spend. For instance, you can develop several guides on treating a specific condition naturally. Once they leave you a review, provide them access to this file. This should be an essential part of your healthcare reputation management.
If you need reviews from your patient, keep it simple, transparent, and direct. If you are talking to them online, be sure that it is personalized. Authentic conversations between you and your patient foster a sense of loyalty. By collecting positive and genuine reviews, you can improve your healthcare reputation management and ensure that you will be the top choice of the patients.
Tags: reputation management