Background

Improved Review Responding Helps to Optimize Patient Experience

MedQuest Associates owns, operates and manages a large network of nearly 50 outpatient diagnostic imaging centers in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. The organization delivers a full range of imaging services with board-certified radiologists and technologists, and service-oriented staff.

“We pride ourselves on delivering cost-effective healthcare, convenience and quality,” said Therese Hendrix, Director of Sales and Marketing. “Those are our guiding principles.”

According to Hendrix, today’s patients are far more knowledgeable about their healthcare choices, because they’re paying a greater portion of the costs. “With the trend toward high deductible health plans, patients are shopping around for care,” she said. “The most effective way to differentiate ourselves from competitors is to deliver an exceptional patient experience.”

And that’s where improved review responding comes in to play.

Challenges

MedQuest takes patient feedback seriously. The patient experience is important to them. But the organization’s small marketing team was struggling to keep up with monitoring and responding to a large volume of online patient reviews.

“We were in denial about how many reviews were going unanswered,” said Abigail Lamb, Inside Sales Manager at MedQuest. “Reviews were scattered across various review sites and difficult to track. Our ability to respond was inconsistent, at best, and we didn’t know how to handle it. We just didn’t have the bandwidth to manage reviews correctly, so we really weren’t doing it at all.”

“We were blindly running our business not knowing what patients were saying about us online,” said Hendrix. “We knew we needed to tune into patient feedback and resolve outstanding issues — but we didn’t know how to get started. That’s about the time someone from Reputation.com reached out to us to schedule a demo.”

“Our ability to respond was inconsistent, at best, and we didn’t know how to handle it. We just didn’t have the bandwidth to manage reviews correctly, so we really weren’t doing it at all.”
— Therese Hendrix, Director of Sales and Marketing, MedQuest

Solution

During the demo with the MedQuest marketing team, Reputation.com presented a snapshot of MedQuest’s online reputation by pulling existing online reviews into the Reputation dashboard.

“Seeing negative comments going unanswered really hit home, and that was the turning point that prompted us to get on board with actively managing our reputation,” said David Hidding, MedQuest’s Lead Web Designer. He added that over the prior year, the team was working on providing a better experience for patients on the website.

The team loved the unified dashboard and the ability to route online reviews to the appropriate contacts at specific centers for follow up. They also decided to leverage the platform’s Business Listings service, which automatically audits and corrects online listings for all locations and providers across the web.

“Our new focus on patient experience goes hand in hand with monitoring and responding to online reviews — especially any negative ones.”
— Dave Hidding, Lead Web Designer, MedQuest

Results

Review Response Reaches 100%

According to Lamb, thanks to Reputation.com, MedQuest’s marketing team now responds to 100% of all negative reviews and almost 60% of positive reviews. This helps build advocacy and trust among past patients and demonstrates the company’s commitment to providing an exceptional patient experience.

Marketing team leaders in each of the company’s regions receive email notifications when reviews come in, and they’re in charge of working with operations teams at the center level to address concerns that surface in the reviews.

“It’s so much easier to manage, and enables us to consistently respond to reviews,” said Hidding. “You simply log into the dashboard, see all your reviews, and — in a couple of clicks — route the reviews to the right person for immediate follow-up.”

“Reputation.com consolidates online reviews from across the social web so we can view at-a-glance what people are saying about the company, all on one dashboard.”
— Dave Hidding, Lead Web Designer, MedQuest

More Reviews = Higher Ratings

MedQuest is piloting Review Requesting in its Charleston, SC and Northern Virginia territories, asking patients to submit 1-5 star ratings about their experience.

Initial results from the Review Requesting pilot have been extremely promising. By proactively requesting reviews, review volume increased on Facebook by 163 percent and on Google by 23 percent.

“Reviews are coming back so strong — in the high 4-star range — that we have elected to display them on the South Carolina Diagnostic Imaging website via Reputation.com’s streaming widget,” said Hidding. “Although we know an occasional negative review may surface, we’ll be able to reply promptly, and other patients will see the care and empathy with which we respond to patient concerns.”

“Using Reputation.com, we’ve been able to collect actionable feedback to help us improve our business.”
— Abigail Lamb, Inside Sales Manager, MedQuest

Feedback Enables Operational Improvements

Tuning into candid patient feedback across the organization is helping MedQuest make operational improvements that elevate and optimize patient experience — initiating a virtuous cycle that leads to increasingly higher ratings, rankings and patient acquisition. In the six months since implementing Reputation.com, the company’s overall Reputation Score increased from 323 to 525.

“Not only has Reputation.com given us a single point of reference for patient experience, it’s our hearing aid for social listening, helping to keep us in tune with industry trends,” said Hendrix. “It’s a catalyst for adapting our business strategy based on what consumers are saying.”

Hendrix said that being able to monitor all patient feedback helps uncover areas that need attention, such as language used during the billing process or staff shortcomings. Ratings are reviewed regularly with the staff at each center, keeping them abreast of patient sentiment.

“The feedback we collect is used in staff training to fine-tune the service we provide at our centers,” she said. “Seeing positive ratings and reviews helps motivate our employees to continue to provide great service.”

In the six months since implementing Reputation.com, the company’s overall Reputation Score increased from 323 to 525.

Tuning In to the Voice of the Customer Builds Loyalty

Hendrix noted that over time, Reputation.com will build the organization’s credibility as a company that is trying to do the right things for its patients.

“Taking the time to acknowledge a patient’s problem and attempting to resolve the issue demonstrates how deeply committed we are to caring for our patients and ensuring they have a good experience,” she said. “It gives us a competitive edge.”

But Hendrix said the first step is to face the reviews.

“You’re selling your business short if you don’t take the consumer’s voice into consideration,” she said. “Everyone is sharing their opinions on the web, and patients are reading reviews. You can no longer turn a blind eye and not worry about what people are saying about your business. You have to address it.”

“You can no longer turn a blind eye and not worry about what people are saying about your business. You have to address it.”
— Therese Hendrix, Director of Sales and Marketing, MedQuest

For more information on how to improve your online reputation, please contact us at Reputation.com.