How Online Reviews Can Impact Your New Patients Negatively

1
How Online Reviews Can Impact Your New Patients
Negatively
Even as technology advances, many people use
old-fashioned ways to find health care
providers. A personal recommendation is one of
these ways. Sure, prospective patients can look
at your website and ask for your professional
credentials, but the words of other patients
matter. So, if reviewers say negative things
about your practice, or if your reviews look
suspicious in other ways, it may hurt. Some
things that may harm you and your practice
include No reviews or several bad
reviews People are going online to check out
reviews of your practice and how it operates. If
they dont find any, they might be suspicious.
They might believe your practice has something to
hide. Or, if they find several negative reviews
and few positive ones, theyll probably be more
reluctant to contact you and visit. Even in a
digital age, word of mouth matters. Several
five-star reviews No-star reviews could hurt a
practice, but too many perfect ones could as well.
2
Although we strive for perfection, its
impossible to achieve and expect it all the time.
Patients know this, so they might be a little
suspicious if they see nothing but excellent
reviews on your site. They might wonder if the
large number of excellent reviews are real, if
youre forcing people to post positive reviews,
or if youre suppressing negative ones. Old
reviews Age matters on the internet. Old reviews
and old content might not be as useful as newer,
fresher information. Thats because a review
might mention a professional who no longer works
at your office or a service your practice no
longer provides. The comment might not have
bearing on what youre doing right now. A 2018
poll found that 85 of consumers didnt consider
older reviews to be relevant. If your practice
only offers older reviews, they might consider
you to be irrelevant as well. Similar posting
dates The dates of online reviews are important
for other reasons. If youre posting reviews of
your own practice or encouraging others to do so
at a specific time, the reviews might be on or
around the same dates. That could look
suspicious, as if youre paying for people to add
comments, for example. To counter this, you
could gently encourage patients to leave reviews.
Some may choose to do so, and some may not. But
these decisions will be the patients, and
theyll hopefully result in the occasional honest
review that could help you and other
patients. Incorrect information
3
What people post is as important as when they
post it. If people use incorrect information in
their reviews of your practice, its imperative
to correct it. Without corrections, people might
believe things about you, your practice, or
medicine that just arent true. If readers know
this information is incorrect, a failure to
remedy the situation could make you look ignorant
or lazy, like you dont care about your practice
or the people it serves. Inconsistent
information or responses Reviews with
inconsistent information or responses could also
harm your practice and its reputation. Some
reviews may state that your practice does some
things, and some may state that it does others.
If some of those things are false, its important
to set the record straight with correct,
consistent data. Furthermore, its important to
be consistent in your responses. It might be
easier to acknowledge good reviews and ignore the
bad ones but responding to all reviews
demonstrates your engagement with current and
future patients. Late or no responses from your
practice When correcting information or
responding to reviewers, make sure you do so in a
timely fashion. Answering promptly is another
way to show you care and that youre responsive
to criticism. If you correct your mistakes, it
illustrates how youre willing to admit your
frailties and are working to overcome them.
4
Monitoring and responding to reviews regularly
also shows you what people really think about
your practice. It lets you know what people want
and could help you find ways to fulfil these
needs and desires.
Other ways to counter bad reviews. While
negative online reviews arent ideal, if you
handle them correctly, you could use them to
enhance your practice. Some actions you could
take include Thanking patients Thanking people
for their reviews, even if theyre negative,
could help manage your online reputation. Thats
because your words of gratitude acknowledge
whats been said. It sees people, their praise,
and their concerns. Youre acknowledging that
people care, and your thankfulness shows that you
acknowledge them as well. Being professional,
not personal Giving words of thanks also keeps
matters on a professional level. A negative
review might hurt. We might want to lash out,
saying that the person writing the review is
wrong or that they dont know what
theyre saying. Taking a professional tone will
reap more dividends, however. Thanking people for
taking the time to share their thoughts shows
that youre concerned about them as well as your
professional and personal reputation. As an added
bonus, this acknowledgement could buy a little
time while you decide what to do next.
5
Offering explanations One of the things you
could do next is to offer a few
explanations. After acknowledging their concerns,
you could add a few words of explanation. If
patients are having trouble understanding your
new billing system, for example, you could
mention if your office has recently started
using new software. By explaining things, youll
be giving your patients answers to
their questions. Youll be showing that youre
eager to help solve their problems together, that
theyre not on their own. Working online to fix
the situation Addressing reviewers questions
publicly could help your practice and your
patients. When you provide detailed, personalized
answers and solutions, your patients will receive
resolutions. People who were hesitant to post
their own feedback might find that youve already
addressed their concerns. Since you may be
addressing many patients concerns at once, you
might not have to respond to people individually.
Or you could be preventing such concerns from
occurring entirely. This could save time for you
and your co-workers, giving you time to attend to
other matters. Working offline to fix the
situation Of course, not all issues can or
should be resolved in public. After all, we still
live in a HIPAA world. While you want to make
your responses personal and resolve any disputes,
you still have to protect your patients health
information.
6
Consider saying something like, Please contact
my office so we could discuss issues privately
and in depth. Using a personal approach could
help you reach resolutions in ways that are more
efficient and satisfying. Not asking people to
remove reviews Even if negative reviews bother
you, dont ask people to remove them. Asking to
remove comments could make it look like you care
more about your reputation than your patients,
that youre dictating instead of collaborating.
On the other hand, keeping reviews posted gives
an honest, well-rounded appraisal of you and your
practice. These reviews will ideally also feature
your professional, courteous responses that show
that youre aware of what people think and are
willing to consider their suggestions. Youre in
the health care field to provide help, and
reviews and review responses show your eagerness
to provide it. If you need help yourself,
contact Practice Builders. Well help you find
different ways to communicate with your patients,
address their medical needs, and manage your
business.