(press release) SANTA MONICA, CA – PatientPop, a company specializing in practice growth technology, released its 2018 Healthcare Providers Survey Report: Online Reputation Management. The nationwide survey of medical and dental professionals sheds light on the evolving challenges, practices, and opportunities surrounding reputation management, including oversight of patient feedback, online reviews and practice website testimonials.
The survey report shows more than three-quarters of healthcare providers (80.3 percent) feel maintaining a strong online reputation is extremely or very important; however, the majority do not know or aren’t sure how to positively affect their own practice reputation.
Furthermore, most providers receive reviews from very few patients. In fact, 71.3 percent receive reviews from 5 percent or fewer of their patients, suggesting the methods they’re using to ask for reviews — if they’re asking at all — are not efficient.
These findings are significant because online reputation plays a pivotal role in a provider’s ability to grow their practice.
“A well-managed online reputation has a significant influence on patients choosing a provider,” said Luke Kervin, PatientPop co-founder and co-CEO. “It also optimizes a provider’s prominence in search results. Providers with great reviews, a well-rounded online presence, and exceptional service stand out, and will see patients gravitate to their practice. The survey results confirm healthcare providers currently aren’t doing enough to manage their online reputations.”
Nearly half of healthcare providers surveyed are devoting more resources to managing their online reputation in 2018, and more than one-third of this group will increase their resources by up to 25 percent.
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Other Key Online Reputation Management Findings
The report addresses several additional aspects of online reputation management. Other key findings include:
- Most providers fail to address negative reviews. Nearly 88 percent of respondents have at least some level of concern about receiving negative reviews, and nearly two-thirds (62.4 percent) say a patient has posted a negative review about their practice. Yet only 18.4 percent of providers have a process in place to follow up with patients who post a negative review.
- Providers are choosing outdated methods to manage online reputation. Most providers either use solutions that address only one aspect of reputation, or juggle several vendors at once, a strategy that demands additional staff time and budget. A holistic approach to reputation management, and practice growth in general, is still not widely realized.
- Office staff often carry the burden of online reputation tasks. More than 44 percent of practices with reputation management plans said they will ask current staff to spend more time on reputation-related tasks. This is despite high levels of burnout that support staff already suffer.
To download a copy of the 2018 Healthcare Providers Survey Report: Online Reputation Management, visit here.
