3 ways to avoid a bad review
3 ways to avoid a bad review
A medical practice getting negative feedback on the services it provides does not need to be a bad thing, it can point out areas of weakness and thus lead to growth and improvement. Negative feedback can become harmful if it becomes a bad review however. Medical practices are in many ways business, they need to minimize costs and maximize income to ensure their sustainability and growth. And like a business, the reputation of a medical practice is detrimental to its performance.
Bad reviews can deter patients from seeking a medical practice for their healthcare needs. It is estimated that dissatisfied patients share their frustrations with 24 people on average, this can greatly affect the influx of patients to a medical practice as around 60% of patients consider referrals from family and friends a factor when deciding on their healthcare provider. When reviews appear online they can have an even bigger impact as they reach a larger group of people. Studies have found that 65% of patients check online reviews at least sometimes and that nearly 80% of patients will not consider visiting a medical practice with bad online reviews.
It is harder to deal with negative feedback once it’s out to the public as a bad review, that’s why it’s important to learn how to avoid getting them in the first place. There are 3 key tips to follow to be able to do that.
1. Provide an internal channel for complaints and feedback
Patients usually turn to external reviews to vent their frustration when proper channels are not provided by the medical practice. Giving patients a way to voice their concerns allows a healthcare provider to intercept them before they become public and affect their reputation.
2. Empower staff to deal with complaints
Patients usually resort to leaving bad external reviews as a last resort after they’ve exhausted all available channels. Making sure the staff handling complaints at a medical practice have the knowledge, skills, tools and authority to act to be able to handle patient complaints in a timely and satisfactory manner will make patients less inclined to leave a bad review because even despite their initial complaint they feel their needs have been met.
3. Use feedback to drive improvements
Medical practices should learn that any negative feedback is an opportunity to identify weaknesses and plan for improvements. Using previous feedback to develop the services provided ensures mistakes are less likely to repeat. Individual complaints should lead to systemic changes so they’re not a recurring issue. Having an issue become recurring between patients makes it more likely to become public and thus affect a medical practice’s reputation.
The best offense is a good defense, that’s why having helpful tools in place to avoid getting bad reviews in the first place is very important as it will save you the trouble of having to deal with bad reviews and mitigate any harm they might have on your reputation.