Patients are direct consumers who purchase healthcare services from hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare organizations and they expect to be provided with unsurpassed patient experience. Patients do a lot of research online to get the best services out of every money they spent on different treatments and diagnoses. Potential patients look at online reviews from your existing patients to know the quality of healthcare services practices are offering. If the current patients rate a practice well, this will attract new patients which means that the revenue stream will grow up.
How to gain positive patient reviews?
When medical practices will offer the best care to their patients against their peers then they will surely earn positive reviews and feedback from patients. Here are some of the ways practices can ensure to gain positive patient reviews,
- Improve patient satisfaction.
- Engage all care team members.
- Encourage patients to review your healthcare service.
- Staff should be driven to collect positive patient reviews.
- Publish positive reviews on a platform so they can be viewed.
Reputation management is critical for the success of a practice
Consumer trends revealed that 84% of patients in the United States read online patient reviews to determine their choice of healthcare provider and 80% of these patients trust patient reviews just like personal commendations. The bottom line, positive online presence makes a big impact on the success and growth of any practice. If a provider is getting more and more positive patient reviews then more patients will be attracted to use a particular healthcare service. A negative patient review could be alarming and can discourage patients from coming to practice. Therefore, attracting patients should be a major vision of healthcare organizations these days.
4 strategies to great online patient reviews
- Concentrate on the patient experience – The main aim should be to elevate the patient experience by offering seamless services at every point of the care journey. This can start with an easy online booking facility, an easy patient check-in process, and a clinical visit. Practices can deploy technology solutions to enhance the patient experience by streamlining the booking process through the Patient Scheduling EMR Software system. Patient Portal EMR Software solutions can also be used to facilitate seamless communication between the provider and the patient and make patients feel involved throughout their healthcare journey by easily viewing their personal information and viewing lab results in a few clicks. By elevating patient experience through the use of digital technology solutions practices can get the right patient reviews. It is important that the staff members share the same vision and greet the patients well in the waiting room and solve any queries they might have. During the clinical encounter, doctors should make their patients feel relaxed and give undivided attention to them. The patient should come out satisfied from the examination room.
- Engage all your team members – it’s a fact that every person in your healthcare organization can make an impact on the patient. Doctors, nurses, administrators, front desk staff members, and billing professionals all play an important role to provide value to patients with the right ethics, knowledge, and energy. Patients expect the best and this can be done by undivided attention and being there when the patient needs assistance. For example, medical billing members should be considerate and provide the right information about balances with patients.
- Encourage patients to write reviews – Patients use websites such as ZocDoc or Healthgrades to evaluate healthcare professionals and book their appointments. A clinic must register on these websites to help survive and have the right online presence. If there is a negative review it should be responded to immediately to improve on that facility, this will show that reviews are taken seriously and changes are made for the better.
- Encourage staff members to get positive patient reviews – You can motivate your staff members by providing them simple and rewarding incentives such as an office party or a care team member’s dinner if they get more positive reviews for the practice.
Final Thoughts
Improving patient experience can be a challenging task however it is possible if healthcare organization uses the right, robust technology solutions and involve team members to provide a satisfying experience at all points of care. It is vital to take staff members on board in the vision to enhance the patient experience to boost positive reviews. Offering excellent care and services can help keep getting a practice great reviews. We hope that the strategies and tips mentioned above get medical practices the reviews they desire this year.
