In the past, a healthcare provider’s reputation was based on word of mouth. Friends, family, or a coworker who got excellent services through a healthcare provider were preferred over others. Today, these consumers have taken over the internet to aid the healthcare industry.
Online reviews now play a significant part in your hospital or clinic’s reputation. Therefore, this aspect is something you cannot afford to overlook. Even one article against your institution can prove to be harmful. After all, the nature of the health workers’ job is grave, and no mistakes are allowed.
Moreover, then there are online searches. More than 90% of customers and potential patients search for a place, its services, and healthcare providers online. They form an opinion about you before they even set foot in your physical location. It is essential to look good on the internet to impress your potential customers.
It is the best way forward on Google
Firstly, you should register your business on Google My Business. It is like an online business directory like the yellow pages. Listing your business through Google’s scrutinizing glare means that you will make no mistakes but also succeed to inform Google that you are credible.
Moreover, it also helps in marking your location on Google Maps. Anyone walking into your business can leave a review right on Google Maps and give you stars out of 5. These reviews show up when others’ are searching for local healthcare providers nearby. When people read good things about a healthcare service around, they will walk in without a doubt.
Also Read: Healthcare Hurdles: How to Overcome Roadblocks to Adopting AI
Healthcare Reputation Management can save more lives
If you are a good service provider who understands their responsibility to society, you should work harder to get good reviews. It will be a service to all those who need treatment from the best place. Some agencies advise their clients in healthcare to buy fake reviews, which can put the lives of people at stake.
So your excellent service can save more lives, and help more people find their way back to health. Moreover, your online reputation is settled by seeing the average of a large number of reviews. So, if you are not continually monitoring the reviews, one bad review can take your business down.
You must have an upbeat healthcare reputation management. It is not just about reputation; it is also about educating your potential customers. Giving them valuable insights into the dynamics of your services will establish you as a thought leader in the industry.
You can do damage control effectively
Good online reviews lead to a good reputation, which can get you more business. Bad reviews lead to a bad reputation, for which you need damage control. It all drops down to how long the patient was made to wait, how the front desk treated him/her, how the doctors treated, etc.
Damage control tips should be up your sleeves and trust us; you will need them. If there are bad reviews, you need to counter them before anything else.
An article published in Harvard Business Review sums it perfectly: when people are happy, they won’t use beautiful words to sing your praise. When people are unhappy, they will exaggerate as much as they can in reviews and use the most destructive tone about your service.
It takes a few unhappy people to bring your persona down. Worry not, this gives you ideal opportunity to control the damage and save the day. When responding, make sure your replies are HIPAA compliant. For example, if a patient expresses their uncomfortable experience regarding surgery, you can’t disclose any more information for them. You must not disclose patient history at any cost.
The best way to tackle such cases is by offering your phone number and email, and dealing with it offline. The more you try to wrap it up on the review site, the worse it will get for your reputation.
You can cater to your new clientele: the young customers
This age is like a melting pot of various generations. You deal with Millenials, Baby Boomers, and Gen X daily. All of them have been dealing with things online, but your young customers are your future. They either adopted or were born into the internet era, and they know all the places to leave a scathing/great review.
Apart from this, young people expect online response to be quicker. Our attention spans of a goldfish cannot afford to wait more than a few minutes. As a credible business, you must invest in a reputation officer or agency to deal with this project effectively.
Communication will be smoother between patients and doctors
Online reviews help build better relationships between patients and their healthcare service providers. Many hospitals now have an app or landing page that asks for a review as a person is heading out the door. This is an effective strategy to secure good reviews when the patient is still in your physical location.
By looking at negative reviews, doctors can learn and see where they go wrong. If there was a problem with the staff, the equipment, or customer service, it could be fixed in the future. Communication like this gives you so much information about customer thoughts. Maybe you were doing something different, and customers could lead it in the right direction.
Also Read: Why Business Professionals Need to Respond to Customer Reviews
Research also suggests that a boost in customer satisfaction levels can lead the business in a positive direction. The more satisfied your customers are, the fewer chances of malpractice prevail. All of this can happen from both positive and negative reviews. Hence, the importance of sites like Yelp and Google in building your healthcare brand cannot be overlooked.
Last word
We wholeheartedly want the internet to post responsible and honest reviews. However, we can’t always depend on the other side to behave better. Therefore, you should be prepared to take the matter into your own hands if and when the time comes.
Warren Buffet was right when he said, “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.’ If you consider this truth more often, you will manage things differently and make a mark online.
