Managing Negative Online Reviews (Without Violating HIPAA)
Today’s consumers are a savvy group. They often research online reviews before making a decision about a product, service, or healthcare provider. But the care delivered by a physician isn’t as straightforward as determining the quality of a manicure, or whether a particular restaurant has good customer service. Patients can choose to follow treatment plans — or not. They can agree with their diagnosis — or challenge it. They can accept their situation — or fault the messenger who delivers the news. The relationship can be complicated.
Add to this complexity the fact that HIPAA prevents doctors or healthcare organizations from responding in a way that confirms the reviewer is even a patient, much less revealing details of their care or defending their treatment plan, and you have a situation that is fraught with challenges. It’s easy to understand why some doctors feel that the review sites are the bane of their existence, and that the playing field is far from level.
What can a healthcare provider do to protect their reputation while being mindful of patient confidentiality? What can a clinic or hospital do to assure patient reviewers that their experience is one they care about and wish to improve, while adhering to HIPAA and not confirming exaggerated or false claims?
Here are six tips to include in your organization’s physician review plan.
1. Monitor your organization’s and providers’ online reputation. It’s hard to address a problem you’re not aware of. One of the most critical oversights in reputation management is apathy or neglect. It’s important to respond to both positive and negative reviews, listening to patients in the process.
2. Consider all feedback with an open mind. Sure. There’s always going to be an unhappy person no one could please, or who is particularly critical of your staff. But it’s also possible that the comment represents an issue that others have also experienced, and might be something that merits a review of policy, procedure, or bedside manner. It’s important to express concern and resolve issues whenever possible.
3. Respond promptly. SThe last thing you want to do when there’s a negative review is ignore it. Ignoring a patient’s concerns suggests that no one really cares about the patient’s issue. A prompt response, on the other hand, sends the message that you care about the concern.
4. Observe patient privacy. Without revealing that the reviews is a patient, respond to the review without defensiveness. You can’t speak to the patient’s diagnosis, care, or treatment plan, or any other detail of the doctor-patient relationship, but you can speak generally about policies and procedures that your organization follows. You can speak about the desire to communicate and deliver a positive and productive experience for all patients. Crafting a polite, respectful response, an apology when necessary, and a service solution in mind, can all go a long way toward mitigating hard feelings. If the provider would like to address the issue in more detail, a one-on-one, offline conversation or meeting is in order.
5. Provide resolution. When you feel you understand the issue, , be prepared to solve the problem. Publicly demonstrating that the concern has been addressed provides reassurance to other readers and improves patient confidence.
6. Encourage positive reviews. TReseaerch has shown that more than 80% of patient reviews of doctors are positive. Such endorsements foster credibility, name recognition, referrals, and a positive professional reputation. The presence of positive reviews helps to balance the negative and provide a picture that’s more than a snapshot of one patient’s experience. Prospective patients look at the totality of the reviews, rather than a single experience.
A recent JAMA report shows that nearly 60 percent of healthcare consumers begin their search for care by reading reviews of the medical practice and/or provider. No matter how we feel about the review process — fair, unfair, or indifferent, in this digital world, they’re here to stay. Now, more than ever before, provider ratings matter; they have the power to influence new patients, and support or detract from your practice’s brand.