Like it or not, your online reputation impacts your ability to attract new patients.

Positive patient reviews boost your practice’s credibility and drive referrals. Remember — you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

When it comes to your online reputation this is especially true. A recent Software Advice survey reports that when searching for a new doctor, 72 percent of patients base their selection on online reviews, and 48 percent of patients would go out of network for a doctor who had favorable reviews.

Boost Your Online Reputation With Positive Patient Reviews

With so much potential business hinging on your online reputation, you can’t afford to sit back and wait for new patients to come to you. If you want to generate new business you need to be proactive.

While you can’t just go pepper Yelp and Healthgrades with fake accolades for your practice, there are a few things you can do to encourage patients to post their personal positive experience online.

• Verbally ask. When a patient checks out, inquire about their experience at your office, and if it was positive, ask them to post an online review. Don’t dismiss any negative venting, though — consider it an opportunity for you to learn where your practice might need improvement.
• Email. Send a follow-up email after a patient visit complete with a link and a request to rate your practice online. Go a step further, and make sure you have an active link included in your email signature for outgoing emails.
• Text. Send a follow-up text thanking patients for their visit and include a link for them to rate your practice online.
• Signage. Post small, attractive, infographic signs in the waiting and examination rooms explaining how easy it is to post an online review.

Keep Your Cool When Responding to Bad Online Reviews

Not every patient review will be positive, but to your benefit, the Software Advice survey revealed that only 2 percent of patients leave “very negative” reviews and just 10 percent leave “somewhat negative” reviews.

That means the majority of your reviews should be neutral or positive! But you can’t ignore the bad reviews; responding to them indicates to other current and potential patients that you care, building your trustworthiness and your reputation. Use these tips when responding to negative online reviews:

• Remain calm. Insulting reviews can be infuriating, but you can’t respond based on emotion. Instead, take time to cool off before posting a rebuttal.
• Delegate the task. Physician’s don’t have to respond to negative reviews personally — your practice can delegate a staff member who can respond in a neutral tone and not stir up controversy.
• Take it offline. In your response to a negative review, consider asking the patient to contact you directly so you can talk privately about their bad experience. In the event they take you up on the offer, be sure to empathize with their concerns and apologize for any inconvenience. Remember, the patient is your customer!

Monitor and Boost Your Online Reputation

Keeping up on what patients are saying about your practice is twofold — beyond just your online reputation, it gives you valuable insight into your practice and how you can improve. But in order to monitor what patients are saying about you, you need to know where to go. Here are some of the top physician review websites that you should visit frequently to monitor what patients are saying about your practice:

• Yelp
• Healthgrades
• RateMDs
• Vitals
• Google My Business
• Wellness.com
• ZocDoc

The bottom line is you need to build a strong online presence to boost credibility with new and existing patients.

The good news is you don’t have to do it alone, with some step-by-step guidance from compliance expert Chad Schiffman, MHI, MHA, director of compliance.

In Chad’s 60-minute online training session, you will get practical tips on how to use social media to expand your practice’s business.

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