Wednesday, March 15, 2017

How to Get Positive Online Physician Reviews

Originally published on February 28, 2017 at www.lmshealthpro.com.

By Kristen Brady

Because of the Internet, even an excellent doctor easily can get an occasional bad rap.  What can you possibly do in regards to unfair patient reviews? A lot of things, beginning with how you answer the phone at your clinic. Below are some basic principles concerning managing physician reviews online:
Claim identity on rate-your-doctor sites

Pretty much all business-review and rate-your-doctor sites permit individual doctors to register with the website. Many require a valid phone number and office address of the practice, in addition to verification of the physician’s date of birth and medical license number.
Respond to all complainers online

Make all responses public, if you can. An unsatisfied patient isn’t your only audience. The more important audience is potential patients who are reading the negative review. They have to see that you really take customer service seriously.
Increase the amount of positive reviews online

There are many ways to go about this. One includes contacting satisfied patients who send thank-you letters to the practice or doctor and ask if they’d publicly share their comments on specific sites.
One other includes having an aggressive patient feedback plan. Most practices provide satisfaction surveys online after every appointment for that purpose. It’ll help head off issues before they grab the public’s attention.
Make customer service your main priority

Perhaps as much as 3/4 of patient complaints may be addressed using preventive steps.
Too many practices concentrate almost exclusively on clinical skills and not enough on customer service. Those little things like good phone etiquette and looking a patient in the eye while speaking may make a huge difference.

For more details contact Leading Management Solutions at (407) 674-1916.

Leading Management Solutions helps medical practice leaders identify ways to improve operations to increase revenue, employee engagement, and patient satisfaction. Learn more about us at www.lmshealthpro.com.

About the Author:

Kristen Brady is the founder and owner of Kaboom Social Media, your social media marketing and content specialists! Follow her on Twitter: @kb54927