We are over the moon every time we get a notification that a satisfied patient has given us a 5-star review on one of our online channels, be it Google, Facebook or a place like Healthgrades.com. We always try to give each patient a 5-star level of care, but what exactly drives a person to leave a glowing review online? A recent study took a closer look at some of the factors that influenced a patient’s decision to leave a top review for their physician and the care center. We explore those answers below.
What Drives 5-Star Physician Reviews?
For the study, researchers analyzed more than 11,500 reviews of orthopedic surgeons. The average rating was positive, and most physicians had fewer than 20 reviews on the sites that were analyzed. After looking at the factors that influenced a rating, researchers said four factors drove high ratings for physicians and their clinics. They were:
- Staff friendliness
- Punctuality
- Knowledge/Expertise
- Resolution of original patient complaint
While these may not be groundbreaking revelations, they do shine a light on the aspects physicians and medical clinics can focus on if they hope to increase the number of positive reviews they receive on their online channels. At our clinic, three of the four above points are of high priority, and we’ll explain why the four fits in a slightly different category.
For starters, we pride ourselves on being highly knowledgeable about foot and ankle conditions that affect our patients. We are always seeking new information, taking continuing education courses and looking to further our understanding of treatment options to best serve our patients. In turn, this allows us to resolve a number of injury and health problems, which checks another box off the above list. And finally, the one thing we know that we can control with certainty is our attitude, so we make it a mission to treat every person in a friendly and respectful manner.
The one factor that we sometimes fall short on is timeliness, but it’s for good reason. We pride ourselves at being on time and helping patients in a timely manner, but we also need to make sure we spend enough time with each patient to ensure their needs are met. There’s no point in seeing the next patient on time if we’re rushing the previous patient out the door without providing them with the attention to detail they deserve. It’s easier for us to schedule appropriately as a stand-alone clinic than for larger hospitals, but we’d be lying if we said we were on time every single time. But it’s typically always because we’re providing the patients before you with the best care possible, and that can take time.
If you are happy with the care you received from Dr. Silverman and his staff, please consider leaving a 5-star review on Facebook, Google, Healthgrades, Vitals or another review site!