3 Reasons Why Physicians Should Manage Their Online Reviews
Sticks and stones may break bones, but an online review left by a disgruntled patient can hurt forever.
As a physician, your patients are constantly talking about their experiences with you and your practice online. Most of the time this happens in the form of a review left on one of the many platforms that current and potential patients have access to online. These consist of major platforms like Facebook, Google and Yelp, and more targeted, medically centered sites like Health Grades or Vitals.
It is possible to have profiles on all of those sites and not know it. On some review platforms, patients can create a profile for a doctor or practice before they leave them a review. On others, platforms will crawl the internet for doctors and automatically create profiles for them.
These reviews are frequently checked by potential patients, too. 77% of patients looking for a physician check their online reviews first.
77% of patients looking for a physician check their online reviews first. tweet this.
Have you taken ownership of and managed your online profiles? Here are three reasons why you should:
1. Know what people are saying about you and your practice
It’s hard to read less than polite comments online, especially when you’re passionate about your job, but reading your online reviews can improve your practice’s patient satisfaction. Maybe you didn’t know that Jan, the receptionist, was snappy with people on Monday mornings. Maybe you hadn’t had a chance to see that the cleaning company was slacking on your guest bathrooms.
Even the good reviews can provide helpful information about your staff. Did you know your hygienist, Linda, was everyone’s favorite? Or that Carol always greets people with a smile that just makes their day?
You’re extremely busy running your practice, and these reviews can help. Start thinking of these reviews as an extra set of eyes around your office.
2. So you can respond to the reviewers
Acknowledgement of a review can help build trust, surprise and even delight your patient. When addressing their review, make sure that you do not become argumentative, and try to keep it short and polite. By reaching out to a disgruntled reviewer, sometimes you can convince them to take down or change a negative review.
Acknowledgement of a review can help build trust, surprise and even delight your patient. tweet this
Also keep in mind that people looking at your reviews can see your reply, too. This is your opportunity to show them that you care about what your patients think.
As a medical professional, your first thought here is probably “What about HIPAA?” Fear not! HIPAA isn’t stopping you from acknowledging reviews. At Proclaim, we specialize in HIPAA compliant marketing, and we would be more than happy to talk with you about acknowledging these reviews in a HIPAA compliant way. Give us a call.
3. To ensure the listed information is accurate
When profiles are being created for you, there is a good chance that the information on the profile is incorrect. Not knowing any better, potential patients still look at and trust the information on these sites, and may become frustrated after they’ve dialed the wrong number when trying to schedule an appointment.
Google also takes this mis-information into account, and may penalize your website’s visibility because of it.
By claiming your profile, you can control the provided information on these sites. Make sure the phone number, address, and your qualifications are all accurate.
And we make it easy
You have enough on your plate without worrying about sitting online and waiting for a review to come-in. Let us do it for you. We will keep an eye on all of your online reviews and let you know when something comes in that needs your attention.
We can also help with asking your patients for reviews. An increased number of reviews can help with online visibility, and more importantly it can help with gain trust with a potential patient.
We have the experience with HIPAA compliant marketing to make sure your online presence complies with all guidelines and regulations.
Here are a few other articles you may find helpful:
Do Your Patients Post Private Health Information on Your Site? Here are Five Solutions
Kim Kardashian’s FDA Warning: What It Means For Your Social Media Policy
Social Media and Patient Privacy: Four Things You Need to Know
Established in 2000, Proclaim Interactive is an award-winning, think-out-of-the-box digital marketing agency located in Wilmington, NC. Proclaim Interactive provides website design, social media management, SEO and general marketing services designed to amplify clients’ messages. For more information call 910.795.4143.
