Looking for More Online Reviews? Solicit and Post Them on Your Own Website
by Sheryl S. Jackson
While hospitals throughout the country look for ways to manage their online reputation on a wide range of review sites, an 86-bed rural community hospital invites patients to post reviews directly on the facility’s website.
“We have always focused on patient-centered care and are constantly looking for feedback from our patients,” says Mark D. Peterson, director of customer experience for Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg, TX. “We do use Press Ganey patient satisfaction surveys, but there can be anywhere from a 30- to 45-day lapse between the time of service and our receipt of feedback.”
The number and frequency of online posts on Yelp or Yahoo! Local about Hill Country Memorial were not high enough to provide real-time feedback, so Peterson contacted Bazaarvoice, a company that offers retailers technology that solicits reviews and feedback for websites and social media sites. Because the company had not worked with any health care providers before, the hospital and vendor had to develop a product and an approach that solicited comments to appear on the hospital’s website yet did not violate any privacy concerns.