Patients are spreading the word
"Health care has always acted as if it isn't subject to the same cus-
tomer service requirements that other consumer products are," says
Ms. Dentler. Given the rise of the educated patient and social media's
impact on the economy, she adds, "we're losing that special category."
"The healthcare sector is just now experiencing what a lot of other
sectors have already experienced," says Mr. Hadlock. "Online, con-
nected people who are willing to offer feedback, like we've seen in
the travel and hotel industry," and potential patients who are influ-
enced by those reviews.
"Going forward, it's going to come down to individual healthcare con-
sumers who are leading us to step up our performance," he says.
"Those reviews, good and bad, are important all the same. If we don't
take them seriously, we could see a loss of business."
During a recent meeting with ASC clients, Ms. Dentler searched the
local-business-reviews website Yelp for "I need a knee scope," and
showed them the results. "They were devastated, how many of them
were being blasted," she describes. "Do you know if you have nega-
tive reviews out there?"
She recommends Google-searching your facility and surgeons' names
on an ongoing basis and routinely monitoring what people are saying
on consumer review websites. "When there is a negative experience,
respond to it, don't ignore it," she says. And if your facility doesn't
already have some form of Internet and social media presence, make
that a priority. "At minimum you should be proactively putting positive
information out there, publishing patient satisfaction letters," says Ms.
Dentler. "Spend a few minutes every quarter on your own marketing
efforts to counteract any negative reviews."
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