Before purchasing a product or service online, the first things we look at are its reviews and ratings. A simple negative comment significantly influences our opinion of the said product or service. With patient rating sites and applications like Google Reviews, customers finally have the opportunity to speak their minds about their experience with a service or product.
A Customer Review Statistic found that 93% of local buyers use online reviews to establish whether a local business is worth their money. Moreover, when it comes to finding a doctor, almost 75% of people use online review sites and applications for determining if the doctor is reliable or not.
Healthgrades is one of the largest databases for online reviews and ratings. Unlike other review sites, Healthgrades is exclusively for doctors, where patients can share their experiences. With over 30 million users a month, Healthgrades is a vital resource that can help you improve your credibility and business. In this post, we will explore why Healthgrades reviews are so important.
Even though online awareness might have increased exponentially over the last decade, the credibility of these reviews does not really contribute to the overall quality of the doctor. While many people pay attention to these reviews, according to The Pew Internet Project, only 3% of patients really post a review about the treatment.
So, in a way, resentful patients and extremely glowing reviews can drastically improve your popularity online. This seems rather unfair towards doctors and their staff. However, the research found that there are plenty of other factors such as the location of the doctor, whether they accept health insurance and the specialties of the doctor that really attract patients.
Healthgrades has tackled the above drawback with simplicity and innovation, which has finally allowed a legitimate method of consensus of online reviews and factors that makes it one of the best online review sites in the USA.
HealthGrades first collects credible data and government records, creating a massive directory of more than three million doctors, dentists, and practices. That data is later used to make a Healthgrades listing, where all the relevant and vital information about doctors is available for patients to review and find what they are looking for, like the doctor's location, services, insurance information, and credentials.
Moreover, Healthgrades has adopted a unique way of rating doctors online. The site does not only evaluate doctors on the basis of reviews, they also consider clinical quality like mortality and complication rates.
For this, Healthgrades has to keep track of the patient who died or faced any complications right after treatment or after a certain period after being discharged. Along with a sound formula to filter out the best doctors and practices, Healthgrades also asserts that its transparent and democratic online rating process is what helps create a convenient way of finding a doctor who is worth it.
This systematic approach to reviews and ratings makes HealthGrades the most trustworthy and reliable platform for seeking out doctors.
Read: What is dental reputation management?
Good reviews on HealthGrades can really be a major factor that increases the reputation of your practice. A Harvard Business Review article concludes that an increment of a star or rank can easily increase 5-9% of your revenue. Also, Spiegel states that for every five reviews on HealthGrades, your practice has a 250-270% chance of attracting more patients.
What makes the reviews even more convoluted is that 82% of potential patients are actively seeking out negative reviews. So, even a single bad review can put a modest dent. Thus, doctors must spend at least 10 minutes every week building their online presence by addressing feedback and replying to queries. This publicly reduces the impact of negative HealthGrades reviews by 70%.
Now that doctor reviews are out there and are being evaluated properly, can you still do something to bridge the gap and further provide a better experience to patients? Of Course, you can!
HealthGrades reviews indeed play a crucial role when it comes to online reviews and ratings. The better your HealthGrades reviews are, the more patients you will attract. Every once in a while pay some attention to your online presence and reputation management to ensure your practice isn’t being jeopardized by false or aggressive reviews.
At the end of the day, if you are already providing patients with high-quality care and service, turning negative HealthGrades reviews into positive is just a matter of time.