Staying on top of what people are saying and writing about you is about more than ego. It helps amplify the positives and quickly resolve the negatives before they explode.
Healthcare providers face unique reputational challenges. How your current and future patients see you can make the difference between a full appointment calendar and an empty lobby. Even if what’s written isn’t true, just one negative post about her on social media can destroy her hard-earned reputation.
Maintaining your healthcare reputation at all times requires good reputation management practices. It also needs to be done in a safe and reliable manner. Start with these 7 reputation management tips before trying anything else.
1. Claim your profile on all review sites
There are a lot of review sites out there, and listing your profile on all of them can seem like a daunting task. But an unclaimed profile means you’re not tracking what’s being said about you on the site. Other times, they simply don’t seem to care.
It’s important to claim your profile, especially on big mainstream sites like Google My Business and Yelp. These are the first resources most people turn to when thinking about who they want to work with. Good reviews on these sites can help your site get past the first hurdle of consideration. If you get a bad review, you move on to the next option.
Even for medical professionals, there are many medical specialty review sites to monitor. Vitals, HealthGrade, RateMDs, ZocDoc, and RealSelf are some of the most popular sites. Choosing a health care provider is complicated for most people. Prospective patients delve into sites like this to find out as much information as possible before choosing a new provider.
If you choose to ignore profiles on these sites, you do so at your own risk. Similar to Google My Business or his Yelp, if you don’t pay attention to your profile on these sites, you’re missing out on the opportunity to shape your professional self.
It’s easy to claim your profile on these sites. Each site has very obvious options for claiming your profile. This is usually a clickable link that walks you through a process that takes just a few minutes to complete.
Here is an example of Vitals:
The process for claiming a profile varies by site, but it’s usually very simple and straightforward. Claiming your profile will allow you to monitor and respond to reviews.
2. Seed review sites with positive reviews
Don’t leave things to chance, especially when it comes to glowing reviews about the great service you provided. We want happy patients to share that satisfaction with others beyond their friends and family. Honest reviews from satisfied patients are the best way to maintain a good medical reputation.
So how do we do this? Identify patients with great results and ask for reviews. Now is not the time to be shy or trust people to give you reviews without prompting. people are busy. Even people who intended to leave a positive review somewhere tend to forget. Once they step out of the office, they get caught up in their daily lives and reviewing gets relegated to the bottom of their to-do list.
The key to getting positive reviews is making it easy for patients to leave. Send a personalized follow-up email a few days after the appointment and ask for a review. Be sure to include a link to your favorite review site. This makes it very easy for patients to simply click on a link, go directly to your profile on that site, and immediately leave a review.
But asking is just step one. It is equally important to regularly monitor all the reviews you receive on these sites. While sharing positive reviews across his social media channels and his website, he can immediately address any concerns or issues with not-so-great reviews.
3. Address bad reviews immediately.
The truth is, not every review left about you will be great. These may be rooted in reality, or the person with the ax may be purely out of revenge.
Legitimate complaints must be dealt with factually and empathetically. The two things you need to do are acknowledge the situation and provide follow-up options to further discuss the complaint.
Although you don’t want to, and shouldn’t, discuss medical details in public, showing compassion and concern can show positivity, even in a bad situation like a negative review. can. A simple statement like, “Thank you for bringing this matter to your attention. Please contact our office so we can discuss this matter further” is enough to show that you are paying attention.
However, there are also negative reviews that are not based on facts. They can be factually inaccurate or, in extreme cases, completely wrong. Both situations can damage your reputation.
The good news is that there are several options for dealing with these types of reviews.
If the review is legitimate but the facts are incorrect, you can choose to be polite and offer a private follow-up option to resolve the concern offline. Again, the key is not to defend yourself on review sites, but to show that you listen and empathize with the reviewer’s concerns. The less you have to say, the better. A simple invitation to connect and discuss offline is enough.
But what about fake or obsessive reviews? If a review is false, not about you or your practice, or meets other criteria set by each review site, you can completely remove the review. You can ask the site to remove it. Here’s how to request review removal on Yelp:
These types of reviews can also appear in Google searches about you and your clinic. In such cases, you can use a few different strategies to remove these unwanted search results from Google. It’s not always easy and may take a lot of effort, but it’s worth it when the information is particularly harmful and untrue.
4. Continuously monitor social networks
Social media feeds on anger, plain and simple. Negative content brings out anonymous keyboard warriors, and the way things are going now is that they pile up. No one cares whether what is said or written is true. They only add fuel to the fire.
The best way to keep potentially negative stories about yourself or your practice under control is to address them before they gain traction. Unfortunately, it only takes a few days (or even hours) for negative content to gain traction. This means you need to pay attention to these channels every day.
Manually checking all your social media channels every day takes a lot of time. It’s unlikely that you or your staff have the time or dedication to do it 365 days a year.
The good news is that there are tools that can help you manage your online reputation. Google Alerts, Social Mentions, and Semrush are just a few. Some are free to use, such as Google Alerts, but you won’t necessarily catch everything being said about you, especially when it comes to mentions on Facebook and Instagram. Other tools such as Semrush are subscription-based, but are well worth the effort to automate monitoring tasks.
If you come across negative content, it’s important to address it quickly and concisely. The best response is simply, “Thank you. Please contact me personally for more information.” You don’t want to get caught in a loop of anger by defending yourself or engaging with online trolls.
5. Seek patient feedback
The best way to understand how your practice is doing is to get feedback from your patients. Understanding what patients are thinking and feeling can help identify areas for improvement.
Patients are often hesitant to provide this feedback or make suggestions in real time. It’s human nature, especially when you have concerns or suggestions for improvement. To most effectively obtain honest feedback, patients must be provided with a way to provide these insights that do not involve a face-to-face conversation.
Sending a follow-up email with a link to an online survey after each appointment is efficient and effective. This ensures anonymity and allows patients to complete treatment in their own time frame.
You can also give the patient a printed questionnaire at the end of the appointment. In that case, it might be a good idea to set up a drop box outside your office where you can store completed surveys.
Whatever you choose, the important thing is to give your patients the freedom and space to express their honest opinions about you and their experience at your clinic.
6. Prompt response to complaints
How you respond when a patient has a complaint or bad experience can make a big difference. Even the most troubling situations can usually be handled by showing compassion.
The easiest way to do this is to actively listen to your patients. No one wants to feel ignored or unimportant. Even if a patient’s complaint is unfounded, making the patient feel heard can nip potential negative outcomes in the bud.
Listen to you and respond professionally to the best of your ability. Give the patient the time he needs to explain his situation. Don’t ignore or ignore their concerns. Keeping the lines of communication open will resolve many issues before they become major problems.
7. Don’t be afraid to ask for outside help
All of these suggestions can be a little overwhelming, especially for busy healthcare providers and their staff. The truth is, reputation management is a specialized skill set. There are professionals out there who make it their full-time job to help others maintain their reputations.
Most busy professionals don’t have the time to stay on top of reputation management. This is especially true for healthcare providers with high caseloads and tight schedules. Outsourcing this task can save lives.
If it makes sense to outsource your own reputation management, we recommend choosing a service provider with a proven track record. You need someone with extensive experience in this field and a long list of satisfied clients.
Check out our recommendations for reliable reputation management companies. Many of these companies have been around for decades and provide completely customized solutions to individuals and businesses. These eliminate the need for reputation management and deliver the desired results. You can focus on doing what you do best and leave the work to a trusted partner.