Your hospital’s online reputation is vital to its success, and the key to having an excellent online reputation is ensuring that there is always a great patient experience.

Reputation.com did a study of 4800 hospitals. They found that it will bring your scores up by 17% if you have a good online reputation.

On the other hand, if you have a poor online reputation, it’s three times more likely to fall. Your ratings have become a self-fulfilling prophecy, which is why you need to start thinking about the patient experience and how to improve it.

Using the Patient Experience to Improve Your Online Reputation

Have you ever wondered why patients won’t tell you how they honestly feel about you while they’re under your care and control?

Think about it this way: do you bother complaining about the food in a restaurant? Most people don’t because they fear what might happen to that food on the way back from the kitchen. There’ll be a new, invisible, moist crust.

Patients are very uncomfortable giving direct feedback. People are not comfortable being seen as a trouble maker. Remember: perception is deception. The way you think you’re doing may not be the way your patients see you. They’re very uncomfortable giving you that honest, direct feedback, which is why evaluations are so essential to understand the patient experience.

Five Questions to Ask Yourself About the Patient Experience

1. Do you know your latest patient satisfaction scores?
2. Do you know how the scores have changed since the previous report? How did they change in the last quarter?
3. What are the top two things your patients say that you do best?
4. What are your top two patient dissatisfiers?
5. What is your number one dissatisfier, and what are you doing to eliminate it?

“The speed of the leader is the speed of the team.”

It’s your role as a leader to educate your staff and inspire them to care.

Why Five-Star Ratings Are so Important to Your Online Reputation

A five-star rating is where you will find your loyalty. Five-star ratings keep and win patients back.

To get five-star ratings, you have to consistently meet or manage patients’ expectations with kindness and care everywhere, which should always be the goal.

What makes the difference, and what gives you a competitive advantage, is the patient experience. As the patient experience improves, operating margins improve. And as patient experience improves, nurse turnover goes down.

How to Get a Five-Star Patient Experience

1. Patient Engagement

Internal customer experience matters. One great way to improve patient engagement is through “chat time.”

One of the best things that you can do is make time to sit with a patient. This daily “chat time” touches patients and shows them that you care. When it comes to patient engagement, relationships come first, and business second.

Ask your patients about their kids or their grandkids. Ask them about their family. Be curious about them and connect with them on a personal level. Create a relationship first and get down to business after.

2. Listen

Be a brilliant conversationalist. Ask yourself every day, “what do I know about the patient that is not on their chart?”. The key is to listen with all of yourself and your heart. Don’t judge because when people feel judged, they judge you back.

Ask your patients questions about their lives. Be curious. Listen to them. Show them you care.

3. Be Kind

People begin to heal the moment they feel heard. When they feel seen and heard, they start to heal. Begin every work shift as a kindness shift.

Personalize a patient’s experience. Create a care board asking, “what would good care mean for you today?” and post responses on the care board. Always have a positive attitude and show your kindness to all your patients.

Power of the Word of Mouth

There are only two ways to grow market share: new services and word of mouth. Advertising will not bring back people who don’t like you, which is why you should never underestimate the power of word of mouth.

Referrals matter. Mark Zuckerberg said, “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences more people than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the holy grail of advertising”. Learn how to ask for referrals here.

84% of us trust recommendations from family and friends, but 88% trust online reviews more than family and friends.

You have 100% control over your influence when the patient is under your roof. Once they’re gone, it’s 0%.

Three Ways Your Patients Show Loyalty

There are three ways that patients show their loyalty:

1. They say they’re very satisfied with their experience.
2. They come back.
3. They recommend you to others.

If you provide a patient experience that they enjoy and appreciate, they will come back. The challenge now is to win back patients who have left you.

Remember: everyone is a caregiver. Being a caregiver is about treating customers like they are family and friends.

How do we treat someone like our kids or a neighbor? It’s an attitude of gratitude. It’s a sense of appreciation.

Embrace the practice that everyone is a caregiver.

Now let's go spread Kindness Care, Everywhere!

Reimagining Healthcare Engagement Summit

In June, we are holding a special one-day summit called “Reimagining Healthcare Engagement,” which will be 100% live streaming. Register to learn more about how to refresh the workplace through resilience, agility, and kindness.

Everyone’s a Caregiver: Providing Education for Healthcare Workers

Everyone's a Caregiver provides education to healthcare workers to better improve their patient's overall experience. We understand the time constraints placed in today's workplace and have customized microlearning videos to help you gain the skills you need to be a better, more positive healthcare worker. Contact us today to see how we can help, or click here to learn more.

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