Most medical providers know that a strong web presence is valuable in growing their clinic, but do they really know how valuable? Leaving online reviews up to fate is often the tactic of doctors who assume 5-star reviews will happen naturally, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Medical reputation management software has the ability to consistently bring in positive reviews without any legwork from the clinical staff, automatically encouraging patients to rate their experience after their visit. If you think this type of software isn’t necessary to grow a practice, think again.
Here are some compelling statistics showing exactly why reputation management is so vital to a medical practice and why it should never be left to chance!
People Only Pay Attention to Recent Reviews
Assuming that 5-star review from a year ago will still impress a patient, even if you haven’t had one since? It probably won’t. According to a study done by BrightLocal, 73% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the last month. The study went on to say that a staggering 50% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the past two weeks! These numbers alone should show you how crucial having a system to continuously gather online reviews is, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
A Single Bad Review Deters Almost a QUARTER of Potential Patients
A study conducted by Moz discovered how damaging just one bad review is for business, let alone several. They learned that 22% of people are driven away by a single negative review. Even more shocking is that only three negative reviews is enough to drive away 59% of business. Worse yet, four or more negative reviews will cost you 70% of potential patients! This proves how necessary it is to not only increase positive reviews, but deter negative ones. By investing in a reputation management tool, you are able to do exactly that. The software allows you to intercept negative reviews before they go public and personally address the patient’s complaint with them. This not only encourages those patients to return to your practice after a bad experience, but also helps generate new business.
Ratings Below 4.5 Stars Are Easily Filtered Out of Search Results
If you assume having a 4-star average online is enough to grow patient volume, here’s some sobering food for thought. Google Maps currently has a feature that allows people searching for businesses to filter out all reviews below a 4.5-star average rating. This means that even if your practice has a respectable 4.4-star average rating, you might NEVER be seen by potential patients at all during their online search. With software encouraging 5-star reviews so readily available now, anyone in your area having this tool will likely gain more new patients than you, which will dramatically impact your revenue in the long run.
DocResponse: The Doctor’s Choice for Medical Reputation Management
Considering all of these statistics, it’s probably evident now why reputation management software is so essential. DocResponse’s medical reputation management tool is made for providers, by providers, meaning it has the specific workflow of your clinic in mind. This makes it a natural choice for any medical practice.
Here’s a quick rundown of how it works. After a patient visits your practice, they’ll be automatically encouraged to leave a review via text. If they rate your practice 4 or 5 stars, they’ll be prompted to post the review online. A review of 3 stars or lower notifies your practice to contact them in order to learn how you could improve. This prevents that negative review from ever being posted, which in turn will prevent a decrease in revenue, loss of patient trust, and serious damage to your online reputation.
Ready to improve your practice’s web presence? Schedule a demo today!