How Patient Reviews Can Boost Your Practice’s Revenue

Patient reviews are becoming more important than ever with the rise of healthcare consumerism.

As patients shop online to find the right physician or provider that meets their expectations, they will be turning to online reviews in evaluating their decisions.

A 2020 SoftwareAdvice survey of over 1,000 patients in the US revealed that 71% use online testimonials as the first step in finding a new physician.

In essence, healthcare consumers are simply doing their homework online before choosing a doctor or provider.

They are looking to see what other patients think about a certain practice or doctor they are considering. When they see a practice with no reviews, it can raise some doubts on the quality of that practice.

Online patient testimonials often constitute the first impression you make on many potential patients.

That’s why your online presence and reputation has a very big impact on the success and growth of your practice.

In healthcare, patients write reviews to share their experience and help others make informed decisions.

According to a 2021 PatientPop survey, 75% of people have looked online to find out about a provider or medical care.

In the same survey, 74 percent of patients find online reviews as the most influential online resource in choosing a provider.

The top channels where patients post their testimonials are as follows (PatientPop survey):

• Google (49.1%)
• Practice’s website (35.1%)
• Yelp (17.3%)
• Facebook (17.0%)
• WebMD (12.2%)
• Healthgrades (10.2%)

Due to the higher stakes involved in choosing a trustworthy provider, consumers find reviews very important.

In fact, 79% of consumers trust online testimonies as much as personal recommendations from friends or family. This even goes up for 18-34-year-olds at 91%.

Patients who have a positive experience are more likely to return and recommend the practice to others through word-of-mouth or online reviews.

Patient reviews matter so much that, in the 2020 SoftwareAdvice survey, 43% said they would be willing to go out of their insurance network for a provider with better testimonies.

According to a study by NRC Health, about six out of ten (59.9%) patients selected a doctor based on positive reviews and nearly the same percentage (60.8%) of patients avoided doctors based on negative ones.

When it comes to patient reviews, it’s important to focus on both quality and quantity.

Here are some strategies and tools for healthcare providers to generate more reviews which could lead more patients to their practice.

The patient experience always comes as number one. Patients often leave a review when they receive superior care and outstanding experience. On the other hand, patients also leave ones when they are angered or frustrated.

By creating a better patient experience from quality of care to financial experience, you create something that patients can actually promote online. Patients are also looking beyond medical skill or quality such as customer service, office environment, and convenience.

According to BrightLocal, 7 out of 10 people will provide an online review if they are asked.

Telling patients that their testimonials are important to your practice will go a long way. You can also run email campaigns or SMS campaigns to ask for patient reviews as these are some of the most effective tools today.

Be accessible on multiple review sites or sources like Google, Yelp, Facebook, Healthgrades, or Vitals. Patients won’t be able to review you if they can’t find you.

Make the process as simple as possible for your patients—which means meeting them where they are.

Patient reviews are absolutely vital for any healthcare organization. The more positive reviews your practice has, the more patients your practice will attract and retain.

Patients want their voice heard. They want their testimonies to count for something and they want other patients and their provider to know that.

We believe every patient deserves a helpful, transparent, easy-to-navigate financial experience in healthcare.

Mnet is the premier revenue cycle management & technology provider to the surgical industry. Mnet provides customized patient-pay solutions to surgical hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Mnet Health partners with over 900 surgical facilities nationwide and is the preferred vendor to the leading ASC management companies in the US both directly with and in support of centralized billing offices.

Mnet’s tailor-made brand, PaySUITE, is a white-labeled payment technology platform that helps surgical facilities, and their providers grow their business by helping patients pay. Mnet’s patient-pay solutions significantly increase self-pay collections while creating a better financial experience for patients. For more information, visit mnethealth.com.