More patients seem to be taking a Trip Advisor approach to choosing their doctors and dentists. Traffic is heavy at online physician review sites that offer patient-reported reviews of local healthcare professionals. A study reported by USA Today found that 1 in 4 consumers check online physician reviews, although only 1 in 20 take the time to post comments.
Online Review Impact on Your Practice
Online rankings and reviews can provide great free advertising when they’re positive, as noted in our previous post. But a poor review may scare off prospective patients and could damage your practice. Unfortunately, negative reviews are not uncommon. A medical society survey found that nearly 1 in 5 physicians had received a negative online review, although few had a plan for addressing negative comments.
Be Proactive in Monitoring Your Online Reviews
Physicians and dentists need to be proactive about establishing and managing their online image, Gus Geraci, chief medical officer of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Geraci says the best way to battle a negative review is with a positive one. Use these suggestions to create a positive online image:
Survey your patients periodically and post the results to review sites if possible and to your website and social media accounts.
Showcase patient-friendly procedures on your office website and Facebook page.
Use Twitter to share healthcare tips.
Ensure that patient calls are answered promptly and courteously by using a professional medical call center with live operators. Your patients will appreciate the human touch.
Review your current call answering service. All MedConnectUSA operators are HIPAA trained, speak English as their primary language and answer calls from our well-supervised, state-of-the-art facilities located here in the U.S.
Find out more about how MedConnectUSA can help you build your brand.