Reputation is built on genuine experience, trust and credibility built up over time. For healthcare providers and organizations, today’s digitally driven world means your practice’s reputation extends far beyond its physical space and word of mouth.
In this day and age where opinions are formed or shared in an instant, comprehensive reputation management has never been more important. This is especially true in the online space, as your digital footprint is often the first point of contact for many prospective patients.
These days, people often turn to online reviews, social media and search engines to make healthcare decisions, so managing your reputation effectively can be the difference between attracting new patients and losing them to competitors.
What Is Healthcare Reputation Management?
Healthcare reputation management is a strategic approach to shaping your image through monitoring and influencing the perceptions and opinions about your practice. This involves managing how patients, staff, partners and the greater community perceive your organization’s quality of care, expertise and trustworthiness.
The process of reputation management includes tasks such as monitoring online profiles, managing and responding to patient feedback, optimizing your website and actively engaging on social media.
In addition to reputation significantly impacting patient acquisition, maintaining a good reputation can also help you avoid scrutiny from regulatory bodies. A strong reputation often aligns with quality care and ethical practices, making it easier to navigate compliance challenges.
How to Improve Your Reputation
Develop a Strong Brand Identity
Your desired reputation should be closely tied to the purposeful branding of your organization. If you feel like you do not already have a recognizable and unique brand, you will want to establish a strong, unified identity that represents your practice and its distinctive strengths. This will help set you apart from your competition.
The brand development process should be strategic, thorough and grounded in internal and external research. In the end, you should reach a look, feel and voice that fully represent the identity you want to achieve.
Audit & Optimize Online Profiles
Whether someone is looking for mental health services, an urgent care facility or a specialist provider, choosing a medical professional is often a difficult decision. People often turn to internet searches to help inform their decision.
By establishing and optimizing your profiles on relevant review platforms, you can help potential patients feel confident and make informed decisions. In addition to prominent platforms like Google and Facebook, you should also audit industry-specific sites like Healthgrades, Vitals and WebMD.
Cultivate a Positive Patient Experience
Since reputation is rooted in genuine experience, the best way to bolster your practice’s reputation is by delivering exceptional patient care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality defines the patient experience as an integral component of healthcare quality that includes several aspects of care delivery patients value.
You want to purposely cultivate a positive patient experience by considering every touchpoint. This includes the ease of initial appointment bookings, phone system operations, interactions with staff, the visit check-in process, wait times, the quality of the medical care, the bedside manner of the providers, follow-up communications and much more. The goal should be to provide easily accessible information and compassionate care in a highly welcoming atmosphere.
Encourage Patient Reviews
You will want to establish systems to routinely encourage patients to leave reviews. The best time to ask a patient for feedback or a review is immediately after their visit, while the experience is still fresh in their mind.
It is also wise to train physicians and staff to ask for a review when they know or sense that the patient feels positive about their experience, like after a compliment is given. However, make sure you and your staff come across as genuine when asking for feedback, and approach it as a means to improve the patient experience.
Build Up Your Google Business Profile
Since Google is the most used search engine in the world, with a market share of nearly 92% according to HubSpot, generating positive reviews for your Google Business Profile should be a top priority. Positive local reviews can also significantly boost your ranking and visibility in search engine results.
To help build up reviews, you can utilize print collateral like easel signage, posters or business cards with QR codes that lead directly to a Google Review submission on your Business Profile. Healthcare software providers, like Doctible, also offer automated and electronic options for sending review requests directly to patients.
Utilize Patient Experience Surveys
Obtaining regular patient feedback provides valuable info to help improve the patient experience and generates a bank of patient success stories. Consider implementing follow-up emails to send out patient experience surveys after appointments. This makes it easy for patients to leave feedback, and provides a place to leave constructive or more negative feedback in a way that is not a public-facing review.
Respond Promptly to Feedback
The key in asking for patient feedback via reviews or surveys is that you need to be prepared to respond in a timely manner. You will want to develop an internal system for monitoring and responding to Google reviews, surveys and other feedback daily. Be sure to thank patients for taking the time to share their experience, and show responsiveness to both positive and constructive feedback.
Negative reviews are inevitable, but how you respond can make all the difference. You will want to address complaints professionally and empathetically, and offer to discuss issues offline when appropriate. This demonstrates your commitment to patient care and willingness to improve, and it helps you build up trust and credibility.
Highlight Patient Testimonials
Another benefit of routinely asking for patient feedback is that it will provide you with patient stories to use as social proof in your marketing materials. People tend to trust their peers over other sources of information, so you will want to highlight genuine reviews and testimonials on your website and social media.
Sharing patient success stories can humanize your practice and build trust. Just ensure you have permission from patients before sharing their stories.
Build a Strong Social Media Presence
Social media platforms are a powerful tool for building up your reputation and online presence by actively engaging with your patients and the greater community. You will want to share informative content, health tips, patient success features, physician/provider expertise and updates about your practice. Respond to comments and messages promptly to foster a sense of community and trust.
Prioritize Website Maintenance & SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for healthcare providers. A well-optimized website not only improves your search engine rankings, but it also provides essential information to potential patients.
You need to ensure your website is easy to navigate, informative and mobile-responsive. Keep your website technically sound, incorporate relevant keywords related to your services, and maintain updated content that reflects your practice’s mission and values.
Become a Thought Leader
Another way to positively impact your reputation and position yourself as an industry expert is to establish your role as a thought leader. You can do this in several ways.
Regularly share your expertise, insights and answers to highly searched questions through blog posts or articles on your website. If you have physicians or providers who publish research or speak at industry conferences, share that news on your social media and website.
You can also utilize press releases, media events and other public relations efforts to share the latest advancements of your practice or any industry breakthroughs.
Invest in Reputation Management to Grow Your Practice
Since online reputation significantly influences patient decisions, healthcare providers must prioritize reputation management. By actively monitoring reviews, encouraging feedback and engaging with patients, you can build a robust online reputation that fosters feelings of trust and attracts new patients. Investing time and resources into reputation management not only enhances your practice’s visibility but also promotes a culture of excellence in patient care.
If managing your online reputation feels overwhelming for your internal team, consider hiring marketing professionals who specialize in healthcare reputation management and digital marketing services. They can provide insights, strategies and support to enhance your online presence effectively.
Need Help Managing Your Reputation? Contact JFG Today.
Contact us to discuss how we can help you establish a well-respected brand, successfully manage your reputation and generate a consistent funnel of patient leads. You can also visit our healthcare marketing page to learn more about the solutions we offer.
