How do we know which healthcare facility is the best in town? The first thing that comes to our mind is “Patient reviews”. A 4.8 star facility with hundreds of reviews is always better than a two or three star facility. That’s how a patient thinks in 2024. That’s where online reputation management becomes necessary for your healthcare reputation management business’ credibility to grow.
Patient reviews are very important for your reputation and they generally leave them on specific platforms such as Google, Facebook and Yelp. Google often takes user reviews from third-party websites and uses them to determine your website’s ranking compared to your competitors.
A doctor’s online reputation has become very important in this digital age when more and more people tend to turn to online means in order to find the suitable doctor for them. Nobody wants a doctor with a bad reputation. So, it is necessary to do Healthcare or Doctor’s Reputation Management.
You may be interested in reading: What are Verified Reviews
There are a certain number of ways your online reputation can be managed. We are going to discuss some of them below.
How to Manage Healthcare Reputation Management
- Create your listings and make sure that all the information regarding your profile whether it is your medical background or your healthcare business’ background, your office hours and your speciality. While doing this, add some quality photos in your listings too.
Be as specific and clear as you can about the services you are offering. Transparency of your listing would attract more potential patients.
- Ask for the reviews. According to a recent survey conducted in 2024, 98% of people read online reviews for local businesses. Out of which, 37% of people only leave positive reviews while only 6% of them leave negative reviews. You should always encourage your consumers to give reviews as a high number of reviews would help you create an accurate picture of your healthcare facility.
So, you are more likely to get positive reviews instead of negative ones according to the previously mentioned survey.
- Grow your positive online reviews by replying to the positive and negative reviews in a clear, concise and professional manner. Keep in mind that you are replying to patients and should be aware of any potential HIPAA violation while doing so. It also includes growing online reviews through automation which helps you get more organic reviews.
You should pay more attention to the negative reviews as that could be an opportunity for you to turn that negative review into a positive one through being apologetic and professional in your answer.
- Creating Client Testimonials can be significantly beneficial for the growth of your Healthcare business. Apart from the reviews on the external sites like Facebook and Google, positive reviews should also be marketed on your personal marketing platforms by
- Adding a separate section on your website for the patient reviews.
- Posting the best reviews from the patients on social media.
- Filming detailed video testimonials.
The video testimonial from a patient is apparently the strongest form of evidence that you can provide to the visitors of your healthcare reputation management facility’s trustworthiness. Because it gives a detailed review and the outstanding experience of the patient in his own words while under-treatment in your facility.
These video testimonials can significantly help you in building customer’s trust in your brand.
Conclusion
Healthcare Reputation Management plays a vital role in the success and sustainability of healthcare organizations. With the increasing impact of social media and online reviews, managing and monitoring the reputation perception of a healthcare provider or organization is crucial.
Negative reputation can cause severe consequences including decreased patient satisfaction, financial losses and legal implications. But, a positive reputation enhances patient trust, loyalty and retention, while attracting new patients and improving overall organizational performance.
