One bad online review can cost you £90,000
Updated: Feb 7
It’s a scary thought. Gone are the days when a patient having a bad experience would share that with a friend or two. Now, every thought, every fear or judgement can end up online, shared and viewed by thousands.
YESpbm recommends active engagement for “Medical Marketing”.
Arguably, the last decade has seen the largest shift in the medical industry since Penicillin. Not only are doctors now judged for their work openly online, but private practices are now needing to adopt “Medical Marketing” to stay competitive.
The value of each of these reviews is directly linked to the cost of services offered.
Elective surgery and private healthcare are expensive. As a result, many of our clients within the industry rely on Google's statistic that "one bad review can cost up to 30 customers" to understand the true cost of each bad review for a practice.
For instance, a plastic surgeon who charges £3000 for a basic Lip Implant (a lip job) understands that one bad review could cost the practice up to £90,000 (The loss of up to 30 patients at £3,000 each).
Remember, being a healthcare provider, you and your practice are under the scrutiny of millions of users online.
Healthcare is getting more expensive every year, encouraging patients to choose the “best” doctor after substantial research online. Patients and their families are more often than not now simply typing, for example, "Good Plastic Surgeon in Manchester" on Google.
The YESpbm team has discovered that a whopping "94% of patients use online reviews to evaluate healthcare providers." - software advice.
Potential patients are greeted by hundreds of highly skilled doctors online when they search, which can be overwhelming, so they visit review websites such as Google, Trust Pilot, Real Self etc.. They can then shortlist the ones with the highest reviews. According to a report, "online ratings influence 67.7 % of buying decisions." - Moz.
In today's competitive market, healthcare practitioners must focus on two things: Providing excellent customer service and, operating a profitable business.
These two seemingly disparate clinical and business goals are interconnected through reputation management, patient engagement and value-based care. Patient feedback is now considered to be essential for quality improvement and professional growth.
"Online reviews are seen by 77% of patients as a first step towards seeking a new doctor". - software advice
Even though physicians can at times feel criticised online, statistics show that patients are almost twice as likely to give positive ratings as negative to doctors. "51% of patients thought online ratings of doctors were a good idea".
Since "84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations", make sure you put the best version of yourself online. - inc
YESpbm PRO TIP: Give timely and proper responses to all the reviews, especially those that are negative!
Accept their feedback with openness and acknowledge their concerns, promising to address them if given the opportunity.
Responding to online reviews will help in the development of your online reputation.
It takes between 1 and 6 online reviews for potential patients to form an opinion about a practice. If practices want to increase repeat patients, they must provide professional, personable, and valuable experiences for their patients.
Patient experience is a common thread that ties reputation management, patient engagement and value-based care together. The experience is the catalyst for driving patient retention, referrals and revenue in practice. After all, the customer is always right, and without satisfied patients, there is no profitable business.
If you are still not sure how to improve your online reviews or don’t have the time and resources to dedicate to their daily management, contact the experts at YESpbm NOW for a free confidential chat by clicking HERE- Calendar.