How to build a patient feedback program that works

Your online reputation is impacting patient growth and patient retention. The solution? Patient feedback.

During an August 18 webinar, a panel of experts from Podium and Ochsner Health discussed how to build a patient feedback program that works—engaging patients at the right stages of their journey, improving your overall patient experience and improving your online presence with more quality online reviews.

1 Online reviews are critical to patient growth and patient retention.

The value of online reviews and an attractive digital front door cannot be understated. Eighty-four percent of patients use online reviews to evaluate physicians and 77 percent use online reviews as their first step in finding a doctor. As new generations of Americans enter the health system as adults, this will become even more of a priority, as 88 percent of health consumers under the age of 40 report they will choose their next medical provider based on a strong online presence.

2 If patients are encouraged to leave a review, the vast majority are positive.

Seventy-two percent of consumers say they will write a review if they are asked, and reviews solicited by a provider are generally positive. Most healthcare organizations are providing solid care and a great patient experience, and in large part, the majority of their patients are satisfied. But because most providers aren’t asking for reviews, there is a skewed sample of negative reviews online. Disgruntled patients will always feel more compelled to leave an unsolicited review than those who had a good experience, so it’s critical that providers ask for feedback.

3 Start your patient feedback journey by auditing your online listings on various sites.

Healthcare leaders seeking to secure their online reputation should start by claiming or creating Google business listings for their facilities and providers, and ensure these and other listings— such as Healthgrades, WebMD and Vitals—are being monitored and maintained on a regular basis. Formalize the workflow behind this process, dedicate someone on your team to be responsible for it and consider working with a vendor for support. Vendors can help optimize your presence, especially for organizations with a small marketing team or many locations.

4 Pick a priority area and create your review plan.

Use data from your website to identify the highest traffic specialties that patients are inquiring about, and then ensure MDs and facilities in those areas have accurate listings. Next, make a plan for how to encourage patients to their/a leave review, whether that be via text or email. Don’t forget to identify contacts at your facilities so that you can create a plan for how you will escalate negative reviews, and make sure you have a protocol for responding online.

5 Use your data to drive operational change.

Work with relevant departments to perform service recovery on reviews, rectifying the problems on an individual basis. More broadly, identify trends and patterns in your review data so that you can make sure that necessary changes are made. Make sure you are keeping track of how many reviews are able to get to service recovery and how many patients change their review as a result. In the interest of ongoing improvement, don’t forget to share these results with stakeholders and review them as a larger team.

Watch the full webinar on-demand at www.modernhealthcare.com/FeedbackWebinar