As many of you who have been reading my posts know, I am passionate about the solutions and tools that my company provides to help healthcare organizations improve care and get better outcomes.
But to paraphrase a famous ’80s commercial, “I’m not only the Chief Revenue Officer of Net Health, I’m also a client,” I too utilize these important tools to improve my interactions in healthcare.
For instance, I had surgery on my left shoulder five years ago and needed to find a physical therapist (PT) to guide me through my post-surgical rehabilitation after experiencing some pain in my right shoulder. My orthopedic surgeon recommended some PTs, but I wanted to do some research and make my own decision. Like most people, I take my healthcare seriously and wanted to ensure I was making the right choice.
Naturally, I wanted someone with a strong reputation, but also had some other requirements. As a leader in the business world, I’m really busy and I needed to find a PT who could treat me at home. Before making the choice, though, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the available therapists in the area, and I turned to the Internet. And I guess the last thing there was, I wanted somebody local meaning very close to my location. And I was able to accomplish all of that online and local search.
The point is that I found and selected a PT who was a perfect fit for my needs by searching online. What this means is that if there were any other PTs who also might have been a good fit but did not have an online presence, I never knew they existed.
Expand Your Business in the ALF Care Setting: How-to Guide for Part B in the ALF/Home
Importance of Online Presence
My experience made me realize that engagement online for any organization, not just healthcare, has never more important than it is today.
In today’s healthcare environment, it’s vital to maintain your company’s image, and the best way to do that is through online reputation management. Let’s face it, people are swayed by opinions and online reviews, and before making a decision about any practitioner, are going to jump on certain sites and ask around on social media to see what others think.
I am no different, and after my shoulder pain, started searching for a PT who seemed a good fit for what I needed. I saw first-hand how powerful automated online reputation management can be because I used it to find my ideal physical therapist. I used the reviews and the local “near me” feature, and I was quickly on the road to recovery with someone who I felt I could trust.
Building the Reputation
My company, Net Health, has been in the business of supporting rehab therapists for decades, and if there’s one thing we came to understand quickly it was that PTs don’t have time to go out looking for patients to grow their business.
The challenge for healthcare professionals is they have very limited time to spend on their online presence. That’s how we came to realize we needed to build an automated online reputation management feature within our existing EHR for rehab therapists to help owners, managers and marketing gurus of the practice to acquire and attract new patients.
Our automated patient review optimizes online directories to increase the likelihood prospective patients will find and choose your clinic over your competitors. It also allows for personalized patient interaction, so practitioners can connect with patients outside of visits to strengthen the patient-provider relationships and enhance the overall treatment experience.
For example, a provider can offer tips in between visits and encourage the patient along the way, even delivering more insight into the care journey via text or email. That boosts patient satisfaction levels, which often lead to superior online reviews.
We’re confident that Net Health’s solution will help practices or clinics increase business and become more relevant in their area. They can simply look at the ROI dashboard and see how powerful this all is.
Moving Forward
With increasing competition, providers need to do what they can to stand out and be seen, which is why focusing on online reputation management is so critical to success.
If you’d like to know more about how Net Health might be able to help you and your practice or clinic reach their goals and stay ahead of the curve of the future, feel free to email me at aaron.brandwein@nethealth.com or call me at 417-299-2308.
Otherwise, visit us to see if our Patient Engagement Suite is something that could help you build your business and drive more revenue.
