Love them or hate them, online reviews do matter. And their influence only continues to play a role in patient recruitment and retention.Consider the statistics. In 2020, 87 percent of consumers said that they read reviews before patronizing local businesses.* Star ratings make a difference, too. They’re the most influential criteria impacting the purchase of a product or service.Here’s another eye-opening stat. Medical practices rank within the top 3 industries likely to garner reviews, topped only by restaurants and hotels. Plus, three out of four clients say looking at online reviews is the first step in selecting a provider, and one in five still turn to the internet for validation—even with a solid referral.The takeaway is clear: Reviews play a key role in building consumer trust. In the medical aesthetic space, how you manage them—positive and negative—can significantly impact your company’s reputation and bottom line.Unlike restaurants, where evaluations are fairly straight forward, medical-oriented ratings are somewhat harder to decipher. A study in the JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery Journal sheds some light. Yelp reviews posted for dermatologists, general plastic surgeons, and facial plastic surgeons in five cities—New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Chicago— indicated that the practitioner’s “approach or attitude” was the most commonly cited factor, even surpassing satisfaction with results.**A 2018 Northwestern University study concurs. According to senior study author Dr. John Kim, a professor of plastic surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine plastic surgeon, "The important thing used to be how the surgery turned out. Our study shows what's almost equally important are things we wouldn't have thought of, like how quickly we answer the phone, how nice the staff is in their interactions, the wait time and bedside manner. Service is becoming paramount and almost as important as tangible results and outcomes."***Not surprisingly, research also showed 1-star and 5-star reviews significantly outnumbered 2-, 3- and 4 star. "We found the people who write reviews are either very happy or unhappy, so it's difficult for the consumer to get balanced information," says Kim.So, what’s the best strategy for managing reviews?For starters, be proactive in keeping the balance of positive to negative in check.The general consensus is not to sweat a few adverse reviews if the overall trajectory is favorable. While most platforms have strict guidelines about how companies solicit feedback, there are things you can do to cultivate positive reviews.

• Set up profiles on multiple review sites—Yelp, Google and Facebook, among others. Keep them robust and up-to-date, highlighting your practice’s points of difference.

• Ask clients directly. The next time someone compliments you, mention that you’d appreciate that same feedback in an online review. Follow every appointment with a personalized email or text asking about their experience. Make it easy to leave reviews by putting direct links in multiple places. And be sure to acknowledge every response.

• Seek out information during client visits: How was your wait time? Did we answer all your questions? You’ll know right then and there if there might be cause for a negative review. Immediately addressing issues can cement the provider-client relationship—and maybe even lead to more referrals. Consider implementing an incentive program that rewards staffers for facilitating reviews.

• Take advantage of available tools. Yelp Reviews widgets, for example, allow you to publish business reviews directly to your website and apply filters to hide unwanted reviews.

Clients pay attention to how a business responds to feedback—positive and negative. There are differing opinions whether or not to respond to reviews. On the plus side, it shows clients that you care about what they have to say and demonstrates your commitment to delivering outstanding service. Responding also opens the door to resolving a complaint.Conversely, due to HIPPA guidelines, health care professionals responding to online reviews can speak generally about the way they treat clients but are not allowed to discuss individual cases. The bottom line: Just because you, as a practitioner, have been rated, you cannot publicly rate reviewers in return.So what you can providers do? “If the complaint is about poor patient care, they can come back and say, ‘I provide all of my patients with good patient care’ or ‘I’ve been reviewed in other contexts and have good reviews,’” says Deven McGraw, co-founder and the chief regulatory officer for Ciitizen, a consumer-health technology start-up.If you do respond, be thoughtful and appropriate. Many practitioners find their best option is inviting clients to contact them offline to discuss concerns privately. Avoid replying quickly or haphazardly—not only for HIPPA purposes, but to make sure all interactions will result in a positive outcome. “We recommend a public-facing response where you take the conversation offline, always being mindful of protected health information,” says Andrew Rainey, executive vice president of strategy and corporate development at Binary Fountain, a patient feedback management company. “For example: ‘I’m sorry to hear about the long wait time when you visited our facility. Will you please email us so we can better understand your experience?’”Larger practices may want to consider designating the role of responder to the marketing team or a well-trained staff member. At smaller practices, make checking websites part of a seasoned employee’s everyday duties.In cases where a review is blatantly false—or if there’s no confirmation that the person is or was a client—you can try asking the hosting site to remove the post. Unfortunately, health practitioners have few other alternatives. Filing a lawsuit rarely works in a practitioner’s favor and, in many cases, can result in even more unwanted attention to the questionable post. There’s also a case to be made for not replying at all. It’s difficult not to come across as angry or defensive, especially when posts are one-sided or inaccurate. But only responding to positive reviews can diminish credibility. A better strategy is offsetting negative reviews with an abundance of 5-star ratings.Track and use feedback to refine your practice.If you’re hearing the same things repeatedly, there may be simple fixes you can do internally to correct specific issues. In a competitive market, it’s imperative to continually finesse the client experience. Whenever you receive feedback, make a note of what was said, what aspect of your business was involved and what action was taken.Finally, think of reviews as a direct way to hear what your clients are saying about your business—pro and con. According to Derek Kosiorek, a principal consultant at the Medical Group Management Association’s Health Care Consulting Group, practices should work to uncover the truth of even a hurtfully worded post. A single negative review “should be enough for you to trigger an investigation. Find out if it’s true, and if it is, make a change. If not, then just keep going forward.”*https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/**https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5815107/*** https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180426180021.htm