Thinking how to get more patient reviews?

94% of patients use online reviews to choose a new provider. Surprising, isn’t it? Let’s do a quick analysis together to understand why reviews matter for patients and they should matter for your chiropractic clinic too.

Let’s say for example, there are three chiropractic clinics that come up on Google search results when you type – “chiropractors near me” 

Clinic A has a 4.9 star rating with 2,589 reviews

Clinic B has a 5 star rating with 3 reviews

Clinic C has a 3 star rating with 20 reviews

Which Clinic do you think will get the highest clicks and appointment bookings? A majority of the patients will choose Clinic A to book their next appointment.

Why? People consider both review count and star rating when choosing a new provider. The age and frequency of reviews matter too. Online reviews are a quick and easy way for patients to get valuable insights into your practice and services. Reading positive online reviews makes first-time patients feel more confident in your chiropractic clinic. That’s why it’s crucial for you to know how to get more positive reviews and earn patients’ trust in your clinic. But how to ask patients for reviews? Let’s dive in to find out:

Part One – Make sure you have profiles on top review sites

Patients can’t review you if they can’t find you. Before you ask your patients to leave any reviews, make sure you have business profiles created on top review sites. Your business should be listed on the platforms where patients usually go to search for a doctor or healthcare provider. So, make sure you have a profile on popular review sites including:

• Google
• Yelp
• Facebook
• Healthgrades
• Vitals

To maximize the visibility of your practice and gather valuable patient feedback, it’s essential to leverage multiple review platforms. Starting with the top five platforms and gradually expanding your list as your practice and patient base grow is a smart strategy. Always prioritize asking patients for reviews to keep building your online credibility.

To help you understand how to get more positive reviews for your practice, we’ve put together this three-part guide with everything you need to know about patient reviews (+ a bonus tip in the end).

Part Two – Provide star-worthy experience

The patient experience is an essential part of patient care. By focusing your attention on the patient experience and patient engagement, you can provide that “star-worthy” services to your patients. Ask yourself this: What does the patient remember or understand better – the chiropractic treatment or their experience? The answer to this will always be their experience with you and your clinic.

The following are seven best practices that your clinic can implement to help create an exceptional patient experience:

1. No one wants to wait on the phone for 20 minutes trying to schedule an appointment or wait 24 hours for a returned call. Provide online scheduling options through your website, social media, and business listings.
2. Use chiropractic practice management software to send automated texts that include personalized appointment reminders, insurance and intake requests, pre-visit instructions, and if applicable, secure links to telehealth visits.
3. Make sure you have a digital intake tool in place. Imagine how frustrating it is to be a patient who constantly reshares their personal information and care history and pain to the same provider because of inadequate paperwork. Digital intake gives patients the comfort they want and prevents hassles for both your staff and the patients.
4. Providing patients the ability to pay bills online and access records through a modern and intuitive online portal can be an enormous benefit to your practice.
5. Keep waiting time minimal by reminding patients about their appointment time, communicating wait times with patients, and apologizing when necessary.
6. Reach out to patients after their visit to keep open lines of communication. Share educational materials or relevant care instructions that assist them in recovery and maintaining a healthy life using an integrated chiropractic practice software. Ongoing communication between visits increases patient satisfaction and keeps patients coming back.
7. Provide patients with a textable number that they can use to communicate with your practice as needed. You can add this number to your website or share it with patients so they can connect with you when they want.

[You may like to read: Patient Experience Trends 2022]

Part Three – Make it simple to leave reviews

Patients today are busier than ever. Asking for reviews in their busy schedule will only leave you disappointed as they won’t do it. Making it easy for patients to leave reviews after their visit not only demonstrates that you respect their time, but also improves the probability that they’ll complete the task at hand. So how to get patients to leave reviews? Use text messaging.

Sending a text message to request a review is better than asking them over an email. 81% of Americans use text as a means of communication. 95% of texts are read within 3 minutes.

Send a simple text message asking your patients how would like to rate their experience with your clinic. If they reply with a 4-star or 5-star, send the next message with a link to your review platform of choice (i.e. Yelp, Google, Facebook, etc.).

How to ask patients for reviews – the easiest way in getting more positive patient reviews and improving your star ratings is implementing a system that automatically encourages online reviews from your satisfied patients — zHealth makes all of that happen.

zHealth chiropractic software has an integrated review management system that simplifies the process of asking patients for reviews. How? The system sends text messages requesting reviews from patients and automatically responds to patients who leave 4-star and 5-star ratings, with links to your pages on Google Business, Yelp, Facebook, etc. zHealth online reputation management software filters out negative ratings (1-3 star ratings) and directs the feedback to your provider or clinic. This helps fix the situation before it gets published as a negative review.

“A difference of one star in the average rating can lead to a 5-9% difference in revenue.”
– Harvard Business Review

Bonus Tip:

Perfect is too good to be true

It may seem that if your clinic has a 5-star rating, patients are more likely to click on your listing and book an appointment. However, a perfect 5-star rating isn’t the best. A study by PowerReviews and Northwestern University showed that an average rating of 4.2 to 4.5 is the most trustworthy and increases the likelihood of conversion. If you check the below image, a Google search for “Best Chiropractic Doctor in San Francisco” shows three results in the Google Local Pack. Google automatically places the chiropractic clinic with a 4.5-star rating at the top while the clinic with perfect 5-star ratings comes on third place. This means perfect 5-star ratings and reviews aren’t always desirable, even by search engines. They can create doubt about the validity and authenticity of the reviewers to your clinic.

The bottom line: Exceptional patient experience + automation can help you get more reviews

At the end of the day, how to get patient feedback or more positive reviews comes down to two factors – exceptional patient experience and a seamless way to leave reviews. By incorporating the “star-worthy” experiences into every touchpoint of your patient’s visit and adding chiropractic practice management software with a review automation tool, you can strengthen your online reputation while building a strong patient-provider relationship. While you’re an expert in providing quality care, zHealth chiropractic practice management software helps you streamline, digitize, and automate processes in your chiropractic clinic. Not only will zHealth chiropractic software help you get more patients reviews, but you’ll also be able to provide seamless, convenient experiences that patients want today.