Cyberspace reviews sites, such as Yelp and Healthgrades, take a growing influence on medical providers' reputations and ability to attract new patients. Nosotros've conducted surveys in the past showing how, why, and when patients apply reviews sites, and at present we're revisiting the topic with fresh data from our 2020 survey* on how patients use online reviews.

One of the near interesting trends we've found over the years of conducting this survey is that the number of people who use online reviews sites to help select a new physician is growing. That means practices that take a small online presence—or worse, a negative one—could be missing out on hundreds of new patients each year.

In this report, nosotros'll talk about how reputation management software made simply for medical providers can assistance you manage your online presence, equally well equally some tips for addressing negative reviews.

We've found that spending as footling as 10 minutes a week cultivating your online presence and addressing feedback publicly reduces the impact of negative reviews by up to 70%.

Fundamental findings:

  • A healthy online presence is crucial for your medical practice, as this twelvemonth's findings prove that 90% of patients who responded to our survey use online reviews to evaluate physicians.
  • Almost iii quarters (71%) of surveyed patients utilise online reviews equally the very start step to finding a new doctor, so your online reputation is often the starting time impression you brand on many potential patients.
  • A positive review history could bring out-of-network patients to your practice, every bit nearly half (43%) of respondents would become out of their insurance network for a provider with favorable reviews.
  • Only 1% of patients go out "very negative" feedback on reviews sites, and just 10% go out "somewhat negative" reviews, then the majority of reviews should be either positive or neutral and therefore easier to engage with.
  • Lx-six percent of respondents feel information technology's "very" or "moderately important" for providers to respond publicly to online reviews, and so addressing complaints head-on (without violating HIPAA laws) is a smart strategy.

Near patients apply online reviews

To collect the data for this report, nosotros surveyed over 500 U.S. patients to inquire them virtually their employ of online reviews sites. We found that the tendency of patients using online reviews sites to inquiry medical providers continues to abound.

How often patients use review sites

If you compare these results to our research back in 2013 when only 25% of patients used online reviews to evaluate doctors, it becomes obvious that online reviews accept become a trusted and essential tool for the vast majority of patients.

The frequency with which patients apply reviews sites varies, but a combined bulk exercise so regularly; 65% report using them "often" or "sometimes," while a quarter of respondents use them "rarely."

This isn't surprising to Todd William, founder and CEO of Reputation Rhinoceros in New York Metropolis.

Todd William

Founder and CEO of Reputation Rhino

"I recall it'southward clear that the cyberspace wields a tremendous influence over people's choices in all areas of their lives. From where to eat, what to article of clothing, where to travel, and who to cull equally their physician. I believe healthcare professionals must carefully curate their online paradigm with the same thoughtfulness and intentionality every bit their bedside mode or part decor."

This data suggests patients are finding a great bargain of value in online reviews of medical practices. What'southward more, this dynamic can make or break a medical practice's online reputation. Information technology's not merely that then many patients are using reviews—it'south that those reviews are ofttimes the first affair patients see.

Search engine optimization (SEO) experts agree that user-generated content, such equally reviews, is heavily weighted by search engines. This means reviews are often the first impression a patient will get of a medical provider when they search for a exercise's name.

This is especially true in the age of Google, and we found that carried out in our survey results when we asked patients which reviews sites they used the most. The majority, 37%, said they used Google reviews.

Most visited physician review sites

Fortunately, in that location are marketing tools specifically designed for healthcare providers that make acquiring reviews easier. Some of these systems are ready up with event-based communication features that will automatically send out emails asking patients to leave reviews on popular reviews sites after they come in for an date.

These automatic invitations aid increase the number of reviews you'll receive which makes your page more than visible on search engine results pages.

Of form, you lot want those reviews to be positive in club to ensure review readers are seeing the all-time of your practise. Luckily, as long equally you're providing the all-time care for your patients, you'll naturally garner positive reviews. More on that later.

Most patients use online reviews to detect new providers

A good online reputation is of import for more than just visibility. 70-i percent of patients in our survey use online reviews as a style to evaluate and select a new doc.

When Patients Use Online Reviews

These results testify that while online reviews practice play a office in patient retention, about patients are consulting reviews to decide whether they should make a first engagement with a provider at all.

The good news for providers is that you can leverage reviews sites equally marketing channels and use them to grow your patient base cheers to healthcare CRM software. Many of these systems are equipped with dashboards that let you keep track of metrics and evaluate the success of your online marketing strategies.

Kareo's performance metrics dashboard
Operation dashboard in Kareo's medical marketing software

Having this data at your fingertips allows medical professionals to identify patient engagement trends, offering greater insight on which channels new patients are using to observe providers. It too reflects how electric current patients are interacting with the practice (eastward.1000., via phone, e-mail, or a patient portal).

Positive reviews could attract out-of-network patients

Almost half of respondents in our survey (43%) said they'd exist willing to go out of their insurance network to see a provider if their reviews were better than those of an in-network provider.

Willingness to Go Out-of-Network to a Provider With Better Reviews

When compared to the same data signal back in 2013, the number of patients who are willing to pay more for an out-of-network provider has nearly doubled.

This means a significant pct of patients are willing to overlook of import factors such as cost and convenience in favor of positive online reviews when selecting a new healthcare provider.

Well-nigh patients post positive reviews online

Once more, y'all'll only be able to take full advantage of online reviews to attract new patients if your reviews are positive. That'due south something that scares many doctors off from asking for online feedback from patients, as satisfaction is such an inconsistent thing to estimate.

The good news hither is that most patients go out positive reviews for health care providers.

Of the patients in our survey who said they leave online reviews, a combined 72% of patients said they leave "very" or "somewhat positive" feedback when reviewing healthcare providers.

Most common sentiment in posted online physician reviews.

Physician concerns about negative reviews are incredibly common, so the fact that then many patients are sharing positive experiences online (rather than focusing on negative ones) is probably surprising to a lot of readers—and encouraging!

The data suggests that bad reviews don't actually happen all that often, and I suspect the fear of patient feedback stems more from the perceived severity of negative reviews rather than the number of them.

We'll talk more near how to handle these negative reviews subsequently, but for now permit's focus on the positive: With patient appointment and feedback software, you tin can easily capture these positive reviews and promote them on your own website.

Nearly patients want providers to respond to negative reviews

Unfortunately, negative reviews practice happen sometimes, and based on the number of hits that come from a Google search of "how to deal with negative patient reviews," a lot of physicians struggle to deal with them. That'south why we asked patients whether or not they believe it's important for providers to respond to negative reviews publicly on reviews websites.

Sixty-six percentage said it's either "very" or "moderately important" to them that providers respond negative reviews in a reasonable way that presents their side of the encounter.

Importance of Doctors Responding to Negative Reviews

Rick Ostopowicz is the marketing managing director at Eurofins Eastward&Due east Due north America and has been working as a marketing and public relations specialist for 20 years. He coaches his clients on the value of responding to even the harshest reviews.

Rick Ostopowicz

Marketing Director at Eurofins Eastward&Eastward N America

"One thing that providers need to remember is that the responses given are not just for the patients leaving the feedback; in fact, many patients volition just rant online and then move on to rant almost something or someone else. Rather, the responses should show other potential patients who are researching a practise or facility that the provider listens, empathizes, takes all feedback seriously, and addresses matters promptly (if possible)."

William agrees and adds advice about the competitive edge that responding to reviews can requite providers.

"I generally advocate for responding publicly to all reviews, public or private," he says. "It shows a responsiveness and level of date that distinguishes 'proficient' from 'great' and in any competitive business organisation, that is a huge advantage. It is too a relatively easy edge to obtain with minimal investment, fourth dimension, or resources."

A lot of patients are willing to overlook negative reviews for a number of reasons and then the central here is not to experience overwhelmed or also threatened past negative reviews, and instead address them head-on.

That's easier said than done when y'all consider how many private reviews sites there are for medical professionals these days. Just thanks to CRM software, y'all can hands monitor these reviews sites and rapidly respond to serious reviews without taking likewise much fourth dimension out of your day.

Some of these systems are even equipped to ship email or text alerts direct to yous when a negative review comes in so that you tin provide your measured response as quickly as possible.

There are a few things to keep in mind when responding to negative reviews:

  • Don't take information technology personally. Things tin go nasty online, but information technology'south imperative that y'all respond in a professional, courteous tone.
  • Admit the reviewer'due south concerns. Unless the review is entirely unreasonable or untrue, don't spend the whole response refuting or debunking their complaints; instead, pay attention to what acquired the patient to accept the negative experience, acknowledge it, and offering a solution if possible. Practise annotation though: you lot should not offer discounts or placations as doing so in a public response could encourage other reviewers to leave negative reviews in an endeavour to get similar compensation.
  • Do not violate HIPAA laws. This is ane of the main reasons that responding to negative reviews in the healthcare industry is so hard, because you tin't actually confirm whether or not the reviewer visited your practice or was treated past you or your team. Practice your research and institute your guidelines earlier responding to whatever reviews in order to avoid costly HIPAA violations.

Here are a few more "exercise's" and "don'ts" for responding to negative reviews of your medical practice:

Do's and don'ts for responding to negative patient reviews.

Nigh patients condone unreasonably negative reviews

Hither is some more than good news—In many cases, patients reading extremely negative reviews will automatically disregard them, so the potential damage these bad reviews can have on your reputation is express.

A bulk of patients tend to ignore negative reviews that seem unreasonable or exaggerated, and 36% of patients overlook negative reviews if the provider responded to them thoughtfully.

Reasons for disregarding negative online reviews

Ostopowicz recognizes the validity of this data point and gives a great example:

"Online reviews accept their expert points and bad points based upon the blazon of feedback given," he says. "For example, someone who leaves a 1-star rating for a hospital with the comment, 'This place should go out of business concern or be burned to the ground,' is non giving any feedback that would be useful to me as a consumer. But a 1-star rating that talks in specifics—await times, date issues, or horrible staff attitudes—volition give me pause and make me read more reviews from others."

These results prove that patients are looking at reviews with a critical eye, and they won't automatically believe everything they read. This is great news for providers who have dealt with those exaggerated and/or fake reviews before, especially since many reviews sites don't require verification before reviews tin can exist posted.

If you suspect a review is fake, you should still gather credible bear witness (due east.g., show your part was airtight on the day the reviewer claimed they received care), and then contact the website administrator to come across if it tin can exist removed.

This cognition, combined with the number of patients who get out positive reviews, should encourage yous to start request for and promoting online reviews more than than always.

Most patients look for quality of care in reviews

So now that you've embraced the power of the online review, let's talk a bit about what kind of information patients are looking for when they're evaluating your review history.

We asked our survey respondents to rank the most important information in three categories:

  • Full general
  • Delivery of care
  • Authoritative

For our "general" category, nosotros found that most patients are interested in reading near other patients' experiences and ratings besides equally the quality of care provided.

It's both encouraging and unsurprising to see "quality of care" among the most important information on reviews sites. Accept, for example, the transition to value-based care, a model in which provider pay is tied to the value and quality of care delivered rather than the volume and frequency of services rendered. This is not but a priority for patients, but for authorities healthcare officials, every bit well.

For our "delivery of intendance" category, patients are nearly interested in the accurateness of diagnoses and and so how well the provider listens to patients.

In fact, a quarter of patients selected "accurateness of diagnosis" as one of the most important elements of care delivery. That's not surprising when you lot realize that about 20% of patients accept dealt with a misdiagnosis in their lives, and the consequences for an inaccurate diagnosis tin can be severe. It then stands to reason that and so many patients seek data related to diagnosis records when researching providers.

For our "administrative" category, near patients want to know how easily they tin schedule appointments and how friendly the medical staff is.

This goes to show that online reviews aren't solely focused on the commitment of care. Thus, it'due south important for providers to consider a patient's perspective beyond the exam room. The entire function must take a good bedside manner or doctors will risk negative ratings from patients due to issues with staff exterior their control.

Side by side steps: What does all this hateful for yous?

Our survey shows that medical practices must continue an middle on their existing online reviews, but providers should besides be proactive about recruiting more so that they don't miss opportunities to attract or retain patients.

When information technology comes to how patients employ online reviews, nigh focus on writing and reading the positive stuff. The reward eclipses the risk of the occasional negative feedback.

Negative or fake reviews are still a concern. All the same, our data shows they are not as common equally doctors may think and tin be mitigated by responding straight to the reviewer or contacting the reviews site with contrasting evidence.

Physicians interested in improving their online presence should consider taking the following steps:

  • Designate or hire a staff fellow member to monitor and manage the online reviews presence of the practice at large as well as for private physicians.
  • Evaluate software programs that integrate with practise management systems to automate the process of recruiting reviews.
  • Keep the patient experience in listen from intake to diagnosis making all communications courteous and clear along the way. In some fields, software such as movie archiving and communications systems (PACS) and radiology information systems tin can assist maintain open up communication with the patient through diagnosis and beyond.
  • Consider investing in a healthcare CRM system with functionality designed to support medical professionals in marketing their practices.

Interested in what other practices are using for their software solutions? Schedule a xv minute chat with i of our consultative advisors for complimentary and nosotros can help to guide your research.

Methodology and demographics

To notice the data in this report, we surveyed a total sample of 854 patients in the Us. Using screening questions, we narrowed the number of respondents down to 498 with relevant experience. We worded the questions to ensure that each respondent fully understood their significant and the topic at mitt.

Gender of Respondents


*Master Patient Feel Survey 2020

We surveyed over 1,000 patients in the United states of america. We used screening questions to narrow the number of respondents down to 990 with relevant histories and experiences. Nosotros worded the questions to ensure that each respondent fully understood their meaning and the topic at hand. For more than information, see our methodologies page.

Note: The information contained in this article has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The applications selected are examples to show a feature in context and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations.