improving patient experiences · for success in the healthcare industry. according to the 2017...

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MedRevImproving Patient Experiences

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In the past, healthcare reputation management mainly focused on word of mouth rather than online presence, but times are changing.

Today, online reputation is one of the key elements for success in the healthcare industry.

According to the 2017 Local Consumer Review Survey by Bright Local, Out of 26 industries, healthcare was the third most popular industry for consumers to read reviews. It was only surpassed by restaurants and hotels.

The Internet is the first place consumers look for information on a business, and they’re not hard to find.

Patients don’t even need to be seeking them to see your ratings since reviews are now served up as a side dish to search results.Patients don’t even need to be review hunting to see your star rating across several platforms in a matter of seconds.Building a positive reputation is essential for the success of every medical business. Reputable rating sites, such as Google, Facebook, ZocDoc, HealthGrades, Vitals, Yelp, and many others have become major factors in patients’ impression of a doctor as well as their decision on where to go for care.

Doctors tend to have less than raving reviews.

It turns out they aren’t popular with most people.From the patient’s perspective, the healthcare system as a whole is often considered unreliable, confusing and expensive. For a lot of Americans, a doctor’s visit can conjure up feeling of fear and uncertainty.

According to the US Customer Satisfaction Index, hospitals as an industry ranked 27th out of 31 industries with a 67% overall patient satisfaction rating.

For some perspective, that means hospitals ranked below the tobacco industry and just above the IRS.

Helping patients feel better, not just physically, but about actually visiting your practice comes down to your reputation.

Out of 26 industries, healthcare was in 2017 the third most popular industry for consumers to read reviews. It was only surpassed by restaurants and hotels.

Measuring patient satisfaction can highlight

“Reputation is so powerful that patients are less affected by morbidity and mortality statistics than they are by personal stories of care.”From The Society of Hospital Medicine

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pain points to help reveal solutions, benchmark the effectiveness of procedures and internal operations, increase reimbursements, assess staff and patient interactions, and so much more.

How much do the opinions of others matter to patients?

A whole lot.

81% of people say researching patient reviews is a critical step to selecting a doctor.

Often, patients are not qualified enough to judge the technical aspects of their treatment, and their perception of quality depends on the emotional aspects of their experience. This means that physicians’ ability to meet patients’ needs in a respectful and empathetic way is a big factor in patient satisfaction. And it’s not just about the physicians either.

Patients form opinions based on their overall experience and that includes every staff member they interact with and even some that they may never see, like cleaning staff or food

preparation employees.

Building, testing, and refining your standard operating procedures for patient interactions leads to consistency and quality.

Patient satisfaction is the backbone of online reputation management for healthcare.

High patient satisfaction doesn’t just mean better online ratings. An NCBI study found it leads to better clinical outcomes.Reputation influences patients before they walk in the door.

In many cases, online reputation does more than influence patients in their

decision on who to go to for their healthcare needs. A physician’s, reputation sets up a patient’s initial perception of the quality of treatment they will receive.

A patient’s initial perception will play an important role in their level of trust, cooperation, respect for the staff, and effort they put into understanding their treatment.

“Your reputation is only as strong as its weakest link. Just one interaction with a staff member can sour a patient’s view of your entire organization.”The National Center for Biotechnology Information

What Opinions Reflect More ThanQuality of Care?

• Personalized service• Admission/discharge process• Empathy of the staff• Setting, cleanliness, and appearance• Responsiveness and communication of the

staff• Online reviews• Cost of treatment• Wait time• Online access to scheduling, billing, forms,

etc.

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Online reputation extends far beyond any individual patient.

According to a patient satisfaction study from The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care:

“A single satisfied patient will, on average, share their experience with four others, while a single unsatisfied patient will tell nine or more people about their frustrations.”

Public reviews, regardless of accuracy, are available for anyone to view online and hold weight with the majority of the population.

For better or for worse, the experience of each patient has a substantial effect on how the business is perceived by past patients, future patients, and the overall community. Whether you’re taking part in the conversation or not, your patients are talking.

Reputation and Social Media

It’s no secret, social media is hugely popular and not

a passing fad. And yes, people are using social media to assist in choosing healthcare providers. It’s clear that taking full advantage of social media is important to a practice’s reputation, but what happens if you forego this opportunity? Just like Google, some social media platforms, like Facebook will generate a listing for you if you don’t create and manage one yourself.

Online reputation often serves as a patient’s first impression of the business, which sets the stage for a positive or negative opinion before they have ever set foot in the building.

More than 2/3 of adults in America use Facebook as of 2018 and about 3/4 of those with an account use it at least once a day.

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Whether you manage it or not, there will be a listing available for patients to share stories and photos of their experiences and other patients will see it.By creating and managing an account, or claiming your auto-generated listing you’re able to take control of the conversation. You can choose what elements you’d like to put front and center and you have the opportunity to respond to reviews.

Responding to Reviews

No matter how you manage your reputation, online reviews are going to come along in some form and responses are meaningful to viewers. According to a survey from SoftareAdvice.com, 65% of patients feel it’s at least moderately important for a doctor to respond to bad reviews. Whether the review is

positive or negative, responding publicly shows the individual that their comments are heard and valued. It also lets everyone viewing the review know that you’re not only listening, but that you care enough about your individual patient experiences to reply thoughtfully. Responding to negative patient reviews might not be the highlight of your day, but it can make a big difference to your reputation and put you at a strategic advantage. When you respond to a bad online review in a sincere and professional manner it lessens the negative impact that review has on people’s’ opinions of your business.

It’s not just about generating new patients.A patient survey by SoftwareAdvice.com found that 28% of patients who use online reviews check ratings after selecting a

doctor or to evaluate a provider they are already seeing.

By paying attention to online reviews and feedback collected internally through patient surveys, you can determine areas of improvement that will lead, not only to gaining new patients but also to keeping long-lasting relationships with existing patients.

You can do it yourself or use a healthcare reputation management service.

No matter your method, the most effective way to get more online reviews and improve patient satisfaction is to monitor negative feedback privately and use the data to make meaningful changes to your processes.

Of people said social media would affect their choice of a specific doctor, hospital, or medical facility.According to a recent study by PWC42%

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Building internal processes and systems for your halthcare reputation management needs is costly and time-consuming unless you have qualified staff in place already. The time it takes to hire, plan, build, implement, test, and assess data from a system built from the ground up is more than most businesses are willing to invest.

Using a HIPAA compliant third-party software system created specifically for the healthcare industry with a designated US-based customer success manager is the most cost-effective and reliable way to ensure quality feedback collection and improved reputation without starting from scratch.

Improving Experiences and Retention Rates

Great experiences lead to satisfied patients and happy patients are not only more likely to choose you again the next time they or their family need medical care, they are more likely to become advocates for your organization.The importance of online reviews in healthcare goes hand-in-hand with collecting patient feedback.

By reaching out to patients after their appointment to request their feedback, you are showing them that their opinion is highly valued. The benefit is twofold,

not only does requesting patient feedback through an automated text or email system like MedRev help ensure that patients know that their experience is important to you, it helps you gather some of the most crucial data to improve your patient care, service, and business operations.

Let’s Take a Look at Retention.

A better patient experience is better for everyone and it leads to patients choosing you for their future health care, and the medical needs of their family. Sticking with a medical provider that a patient has been to in the past is not only better for the patient, it’s better for the provider.

How much does patient retention matter?

“Gaining a new patient is five times more costly than keeping an existing one.It’s clear that retention

$200,000“In the USA, the loss of a single patient due to dissatisfaction equates to the loss of approximately $200,000 over the lifetime of the practice.” The National Center for Biotechnology Information

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rates are important both for patients and their providers.” According to a study from The Hospitalist

Patient retention is increased through improved patient satisfaction which is only possible to achieve if you understand and address each patient’s view of their experience.

Patient Experience is About More Than Just Reviews

If you’re assessing online reviews without gathering feedback through a private survey system, you’re not getting the full picture. Reputation management is not just about improving or getting more reviews or a higher average online star rating. It’s about understanding and addressing the factors influencing each patient’s positive or negative experience. It’s vital to collect and analyze patient feedback using consistent internal methods.

Do you have the data to determine what areas to improve?

Collecting Feedback to Improve Patient Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction has become one of the main measurements for

healthcare performance. The first step toward understanding the intricacies of patient experiences is to gather data about how each patient felt about their visit.

For a healthcare provider, that means implementing an automated process for collecting and compiling data about patient experiences on a large scale.

So, how are doctors doing when it comes to patient satisfaction?

Not so good…Modern Healthcare reported that less than 10% of hospitals, received a 5-star patient satisfaction score. And it seems that outpatient care centers and private practices aren’t far behind.

Don’t Wait to Build Your Strategy

Building and protecting your reputation is an ongoing process but with the help of reliable software and tools, it doesn’t have to be daunting. These days reputation management isn’t an innovative perk, but a basic necessity for healthcare organizations. An automated tool such as MedRev can be an effective way to gather and resolve negative patient feedback privately while encouraging your most satisfied patients to leave public online reviews.

With the proper reputation management and feedback collection and response methods, negative patient feedback can become a positive for your organization.

Collecting patient feedback internally lets you:1. Give patients a way to share their opinions

offline.2. Be proactive in showing your patients that

you value their feedback.3. Take action to respond to individual

patients directly to resolve issues.4. Analyze patients’ perspectives on a large

scale to help determine how to best meet their expectations.

improving patient experiences · for success in the healthcare industry. according to the 2017...

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