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Why not asking for patient feedback is hurting your healthcare practice

Establishing a patient feedback system allows healthcare practices to identify and address potential problems before it’s too late.

Doctor reviewing incoming patient feedback on her mobile device

Delivering a top patient experience not only keeps your patients satisfied and coming back, but also spurs your patient acquisition efforts as well. The best way to measure patient experience is to request patient feedback

By asking patients for feedback, those patients who have a positive experience can provide you with important social proof that helps attract new patients. In turn, the patients who have a negative experience have the opportunity to share their experience and give you the opportunity to address any issues. Otherwise, they may leave a public negative online review, share their experience with friends and family, or worse — just stop coming back. 

Doctors without a patient feedback system are missing several key opportunities, including the ability to engage with their patients, correct any potential problems, and build a robust online reputation.

Watch our learning session: 7 patient experience tips for 2022

Patient feedback for doctors: 3 ways not asking for it is hurting your practice

1. Patients may think you’re not listening. 

Actively asking your patients for feedback goes a long way in strengthening the patient-provider connection. Patients want to feel like their opinions and observations matter, and that they’re not falling on deaf ears. Patients aren’t afraid to switch providers if they don’t feel heard. In fact, more than one-third of patients (36 percent) say they have left a healthcare provider in the past two years — and eight of 10 did so because of a poor in-person experience and/or lack of access and communication, according to the PatientPop 2021 patient perspective survey. Establishing a patient feedback system can keep patients engaged and feeling heard — supporting your retention strategy.

2. You’re not getting valuable insights for online reputation control. 

Practices that aren’t actively collecting patient feedback via automated surveys may be unaware of problems (both small and large) that could be impacting overall patient satisfaction. By sending automated surveys following a patient visit, you’ll have access to data in real-time — making it easier to make adjustments or improvements that support better patient retention and improve satisfaction rates over time. 

Plus, you’ll be able to respond to negative feedback promptly. Most patients who have a concern simply want to be heard. In fact, 81 percent of patients who receive a response to a negative online review report being satisfied with the response, according to PatientPop.

3. Your online reputation may be suffering. 

A lack of patient reviews can have a serious impact on your overall online reputation. After all, a single negative review can have a devastating impact on your average star rating if you’ve got just a few. Sixty-nine percent of patients won’t consider a healthcare provider with an average star rating of less than 4.0. Most patients post positive reviews online, according to Software Advice. Thus, increasing your practice review volume is an important strategy for reputation management. 

Patient satisfaction surveys often remind happy patients to share their positive experiences via an online review. In fact, PatientPop research shows that patients asked for feedback by a provider or practice are more than twice as likely to post an online review. 

Online reputation management: A patient feedback system that works

The days of paper comment cards in your waiting room are long gone. If you’re ready to start collecting patient feedback for doctors, opt for a digital solution. According to Software Advice, 71 percent of patients read online reviews as their very first step when looking for a new provider. 

Healthcare practices should use an online reputation management system that allows them to monitor their average star rating across popular review sites, keep track of and respond to incoming patient reviews, and send automated requests for patient feedback.  

What should you do next?

1. Schedule a free PatientPop demo.
2. Measure your online performance using our free scanner.
3. Want to learn more about reputation management and reviews? Watch our session on “Reviews and reputation: Everything healthcare practitioners need to know.”

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PatientPop
PatientPop is the leader in practice growth with the only all-in-one solution that empowers healthcare providers to improve every digital touchpoint of the patient journey. As experts in the healthcare technology space, PatientPop makes it easy for providers to thrive in the consumerization of healthcare and promote their practice online, attract patients, and retain them for life.

The combined power of Kareo and PatientPop

As leaders in clinical, financial, and practice growth technology, Kareo and PatientPop have joined forces as Tebra to support the connected practice of the future and modernize every step of the patient journey.

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