There can be a myriad of reasons why patients post negative reviews online. Sometimes, patients resort to negative comments to get services. On other occasions, patients with whom you’ve had a dreadful interaction think they were in the right and decide to shame you publicly.
You will also have unethical competitors post fake negative reviews to drive away your patients. You should understand that your medical practice’s positive reputation is one of your best assets.
A good reputation will differentiate your practice from the competition. Your reputation can rise or fall based on online reviews instantly accessible to a large audience in today’s digital world. We’ve prepared expert tips you need to focus on to improve your online reputation. This will also lead to improved success with your brand and an increased patient volume.
1. Leverage on any Negative Comments
Even if you command the best medical practice, sometimes you may draw a not-so-flattering review. In most cases, the majority of patient comments are positive.
But, the real opportunity lies in addressing your patients’ concerns, explains the team at https://www.inboundmedic.com/ about this matter. You need first to show concern to the patient. Next, you need to respond and embrace the new issues quickly. By acting as a caring leader, you should always be anxious to resolve the concern.
Additionally, being quick to discover and quick to respond is critical with negative problems. Please avoid using the silent approach as it implies that the problem or issue is being ignored. Remember, trust is at stake in such sensitive matters. If possible, solve the issue off-line and be proactive about a resolution.
2. Have a Systematic Approach
Online reviews can make or break your online reputation. If patients only see negative reviews about your practice, they’ll more likely choose your competitors over you. On the other hand, positive reviews indicate a brand that patients can trust. But, positive reviews don’t just happen overnight.
They happen when great patient experiences are delivered consistently. If you’re treating patients the way they deserve to be treated, they’ll end up spreading positive reviews about your practice to their family and friends.
3. Online Reviews Can Go Viral Very Quick
We are now living in what millennials like to call the “cancel culture.” This means that your reputation, unfortunately, is based on the public cloud-based opinion. Google, Yelp, and Facebook are among the top review platforms on the internet. Consumers use these avenues to blow-horn their positive and negative experiences about products and services from service providers. Ideally, this also includes medical practitioners.
You might have even heard of some service-specific “rate my service” websites. Sites like WebMD.com or RateMDs.com are popular sites that patients use to give ratings and reviews on doctors. These sites depend on the validity, quality, and quantity of reviews. This means that such reviews can generally affect your medical practice.
4. Of Trolls and Public Dissenters
Trolls have a bad reputation everywhere, from fairytales to the online space. They impose a big threat on your reputation via review sites. Social media and review platforms have created a stage for consumers to voice their concerns with less to no restraint in the digital age. Ideally, these platforms can make your medical practice more vulnerable to trolls and public distortion of your image.
In most cases, targeted negative reviews might stem from a negative experience in your organization. Sometimes it’s caused by differing opinions or a poor interaction with a staff member. The bottom line is, any medical practice can fall prey to negative and tainted reviews, which may ruin your reputation.
5. Helps you Understand What Patients Think about You
It helps to know what your patients like or dislike about your service. This is a major advantage that practices lacked in the past. By tracking what is being said about your practice, you gain significant insights into what patients think and feel about your medical practice. If you’ve recently implemented a new system for setting up appointments, feedback will help you evaluate how efficient it is in reality.
6. Winning against Competitors
A good online reputation can help medical practitioners identify competitors, track strengths and weaknesses. It can also help them understand their strategies and weigh relative advantages. Having a competitive benchmarking can help you understand what is working for your competitors. This means you can learn from their successes and mistakes. Hence, understanding your competition inside out can help you win over them and get new patients.
Having a solid online reputation currently is no reason to get complacent about the future. Your online reputation is dynamic and can change anytime. The change can be negative or positive. If you’re not keen, a few bad reviews can overturn the game for you. Patients are quick to judge you based on your past and current reviews. Work on creating a good reputation and evaluate your strategy to address the weak areas.
