We live in a technology-dominated world where many people depend on the information online to make certain important decisions in life. Many people will head to Google when looking for products and services they need, or at least information that may help inspire their decisions.
And as far as health is concerned, patients search the internet for enlightenment even before seeking medical attention from the nearest healthcare facility. From the comfort of their homes, they Google the best health facilities around, based on what they suspect to be suffering from after some research.
This is why by now you most likely have a website for your business. You probably also have a social media profile for the same and you’re on Google My Business. To maximize your online presence and make it easier for patients to locate or contact you, you may be also on Yelp or the local directories in your area. But did you know that most of your patients today are tech-savvy enough to leave reviews online as soon as they receive medical attention from a healthcare facility? Well, this may, of course, include a few negative ones from your foul-playing competitors, but the reviews can be anywhere. They can be on GMB, your website, social media, directories, and so forth. And in case you didn’t know, patient reviews are actually important to the growth and success of your practice. So are online patient reviews vital to your medical business? The solid answer is Yes, but how exactly?
Your reputation matters as a practitioner
Nothing is dearer to a medical practitioner than their reputation. In most places, complaints or negative feedback against a doctor or clinician can put their job or practice on the line. Not only this, some things such as medical malpractice could send a medical practitioner to jail if not cost them thousands to millions of dollars in damages when proven guilty of such an offense in court. And in this age of technology where everyone seeks literally every service or product they want online, a simple two-sentence review could be enough to ruin your career as a doctor or bring your medical practice to its knees.
Reviews can impact your client base
The reviews your patients are leaving online can make or break your practice. This is because according to research, a majority of people rely on reviews to decide which medical practitioner to visit or hire. Most people trust doctors and clinicians with many positive reviews online from patients they’ve served or treated before. Devin McHatten from Telos Digital Marketing says that review strategies for practices are important, almost as important as your credentials when it comes to your medical business. You could ask for reviews from your most loyal patients or send them a link via email requesting their reviews. But it doesn’t end there.
It’s also important to keep tabs with reviews patients are leaving online for your practice as some of them may be negative. On the latter, how you handle the negative review from a patient can also have a lot of weight. In other words, a negative review can easily be turned into a positive one, by simply engaging with the patient and seeing to it that their needs or concerns are addressed to the best of your facility’s ability. As long as you manage your patient reviews well, they can be a means to boost your appointments and grow your practice.
A source of satisfaction
Medical practitioners or physicians are among the best-paid workers all around the globe. But opportunities are increasingly becoming scarce in the job market and most qualified doctors resort to setting up their practices. But either way, nothing is more satisfying to a physician than seeing a dozen reviews from their patients saying that they were actually helped, cured, or satisfied by the services rendered.
Reviews from happy and satisfied patients can be fulfilling to you as a practitioner. They imply that you didn’t spend years of your life studying medicine in vain and that the oath of practice you took was worth it, and also that your efforts are paying off. This only spikes up your morale as a physician to continue delivering quality healthcare services and solutions.
It is undeniable that the medical field has become quite competitive these days. Some negative comments about your health facility, services, personnel, or approach could easily send your practice as a physician parking. However, all this can be averted by embracing the same technology that can harm your medical business. In a nutshell, online reviews are more than vital to your medical practice, and having a strategy to manage them can make all the difference.