10 Strategies for Healthcare Businesses to Boost Patient Online Reviews and Social Proof

"At my dental practice, building a relationship with my patients has always been a priority. It may be unconventional, but I go as far as giving my personal cell phone number to my patients. This ensures that they can always reach me in order to ask questions about their dental hygiene.

By building such strong connections with my patients, it makes asking for and naturally generating reviews that much easier! After a patient comes in, they will receive an email or text message from me asking them to leave a review and providing the link to do so.

At the end of the day, customer service and patient satisfaction help me naturally generate plenty of positive reviews. "

- Katie Orr, Dentist Dr. Katie Orr

"Make it easy for patients to leave reviews online. Give them clear directions on where and how they can leave a review. You can include direct links to review pages on your social media profiles, websites, or in follow-up emails. More importantly, even though you have made the procedure very easy, never expect patients to spontaneously leave reviews online. You should be the one to ask for feedback after the treatment or service.

Even if they are in the medical ward and have had surgery, wait for them to recover. When their discharge is imminent, politely request them to submit a review online. Patients will be eternally grateful if you take the time to listen to their thoughts and feelings and show that you are using their comments to improve your services. "

- Miranda Bence, CEO, CMO, and Entrepreneur Cherry Picks Reviews

"You need to ensure that any feedback given is protected, both for your sake and the individual's. Considerations like having agreements signed may seem formal, but actually, they could be of massive benefit for the protection of both parties. Whether it's for you to have evidence that it was okayed to be used publicly, or for the person if they feel they need it to stop being used.

In a straightforward matter, typically once you own that feedback, there would be little need to reverse the decision to use the material, but because of the safeguarding, this will be an extremely important aspect to consider for medical professionals—consider a mental health professional who uses feedback from a patient, who relapses and is triggered by the marketing; there is an extra layer of understanding in how that can be dealt with, and that will need to be clear in the agreements.

These situations may feel unlikely or worst-case scenarios, but when dealing with people in such a personal way, I think it's important to be prepared and protect everyone, instead of just hoping nothing bad happens. "

- James Hook, Chiropractor Neurogan Health

"As a business owner, there is nothing more frustrating than having a lot of clients but only getting negative reviews. Good reviews are harder to come by. After a little online digging and chats with other consumers, I realized a lot of people don't like having their names exposed and don't want to struggle with creating a throwaway account for a review. Unfortunately, you can't change Google's review policy. They don't allow anonymous reviews.

However, you can allow clients to post anonymously on your website and other review sites. You can even tell them they can post anonymously in your review requests. I think being able to post anonymously is especially important in the healthcare business industry. "

- Brooke Paulin, Owner Biohacker Supply

"One powerful tactic is to directly engage with patients post-appointment. Send a personalized follow-up message, thanking them for their visit and kindly asking for their feedback online. It's simple yet effective. Make it as easy as possible for them. Provide a link directly to your review platform in the message. The less friction, the higher the response rate. "

- Casey Jones, Founder and Head of Marketing CJ&CO

"As an agency with reputation services, we always tell our healthcare business clients to engage with their patients through proactive follow-up communication after appointments. This approach not only conveys care and concern for the patient's well-being but also presents an optimal moment to request an online review.

For example, a simple email or text message could say, "Thank you for choosing our healthcare practice. We truly value your feedback and would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to leave us an online review. Your experience matters to us and will help others in their decision-making process." This type of personalized communication shows that the business values their patients' opinions and encourages them to share their experiences with others. "

- Tristan Harris, Demand Generation Senior Marketing Manager Thrive Digital Marketing Agency

"After a patient's appointment, sending a personalized email or text message thanking them for choosing the healthcare service and gently asking them to share their experience online can be quite impactful.

This communication should include direct links to platforms where they can leave their review, making the process as effortless as possible for the patient. "

- Stephan Baldwin, Founder Assisted Living Center

"At any practice, fostering genuine connections with patients can not only be integral to providing exceptional care, but also serves as a potent method for encouraging online reviews and building social proof. By prioritizing personalized interactions and taking the time to truly understand each patient's unique health needs and concerns, we cultivate trust and loyalty.

When patients feel valued and supported, they are more inclined to share their positive experiences with others, whether through online reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, or social media posts. This organic promotion not only amplifies our practice's reputation but also extends our reach within the community, ultimately benefiting both our patients and our business. "

- Dr. Adelena Izold, Naturopathic Doctor Acupuncture Atlanta

"Healthcare organizations can cultivate social proof and promote patient engagement through online review solicitation by adopting a proactive review-solicitation strategy. This is how it might function:

Follow-Up Communication: Maintain patient engagement by means of follow-up communication subsequent to their visit or treatment. Communicate appreciation through email or message regarding their visit and politely request that they provide feedback on their experience, should they have been content. "

- Chandler Yuen, Digital Marketing Specialist SNF Metrics

"One strategy that my practice has utilized, and that has been successful for increasing online reviews, is to include a review request email in the follow-up to each appointment. You can set this up to send automatically through many patient management portals, or create an email sequence using marketing automation software, which makes it a low-effort and low-time-commitment action that can produce meaningful results.

This might sound too simple, but it’s effective in my experience. As a rule, people don’t think about reviewing healthcare providers, even if they’re the type of individual who normally does leave reviews for other purchases, eating out, etc.—it’s just not a category of service that people think about reviewing. Often, all it takes to prompt someone to leave a review is to let them know that it’s an option and tell them that you’d appreciate their feedback. "

- Carlos da Silva, Physician Assistant PA Career Hub

"Offering incentives such as discounts on future treatments or complimentary services in exchange for leaving online reviews can motivate patients to share their experiences.

Bottom line: By prioritizing patient satisfaction and engagement, healthcare businesses can organically build social proof, establishing trust and credibility within their respective communities and attracting new patients seeking reliable healthcare services. "

- Dr. Sam Fuller, Founder Sam Fuller Plastic Surgery

"After each appointment, we send out a personalized follow-up email to thank our patients for choosing our clinic and for their visit.

In this email, we kindly ask for their feedback on their experience and treatment. We include direct links to popular review platforms like Google, Yelp, or Healthgrades, making it convenient for patients to leave their reviews with just a few clicks.

We have observed that by highlighting the significance of the feedback provided by our patients in guiding others to make informed choices regarding their dental care, there has been an increase in the participation rate. "

- Jennifer Silver, Dentist and Clinic Owner Macleod Trail Dental