How to respond to patient comments on the Internet? – The best practices

“This doctor is an angel. “Hospital to avoid at all costs!” Today’s patients no longer hesitate to share their opinions and experiences on the Internet. These opinions and comments left online about doctors, therapists or health centers are going to be visible and will impact their “e-reputation”. That’s why you should, as a healthcare professional, be aware of the comments about you online and what you can do about them. If most reviews left by patients online are positive, according to studies by the FMH (Swiss Medical Associations), son can be negative. Here’s our guide to responding to online reviews and taking control of your e-reputation!

#1 Respond to all comments, even if they are positive or neutral

It’s important to respond to all questions and comments on your profile, even those that are positive or neutral. Here’s how to respond to these comments:

First, formulate a simple, short and benevolent response. for example, “Thank you very much for your feedback, we are happy to read that you appreciated your treatment with us.”

But be carful! The sharing of contextual, personal or confidential information is to be avoided in order to respect medical confidentiality. Here is an example of a response that is not appropriate: “Thank you very much for your feedback, we are happy to read that your hemorrhoidectomy went well.”

#2 Responding to negative comments

There are many types of negative comments. However, not all require the same response from the healthcare professional and his or her team.

1. Objective negative comments

Certain criticisms enable practitioners to identify shortcomings in the way their practice operates or in the way their patients are managed. It’s important to take this into account and offer an appropriate, understanding response. Indeed, it is vital for future patients who consult the comments, even the most derogatory ones, to see that the practice is able to provide a solution to the problems raised and that it values the opinions of its patients. Here are a few tips on how to handle this situation:

1. Take note of the opinion in a neutral and straightforward way.
2. Offer a solution and a brief response.
3. Offer to continue the conversation privately, as quickly as possible, to avoid these messages appearing on your Google Business Profile page. In this kind of case, prefer the telephone to written communication channels.

Here’s an example if a patient complains about waiting times:

Thank you for your feedback. We are very sorry to hear about your experience at our practice. We have recently implemented online appointment booking to relieve the secretarial workload and allow better patient care. We will also be contacting you by telephone shortly to arrange a meeting to answer all your questions.

2. Insulting negative comments or false reviews

Insulting comments or false reviews (by someone who has never been to your practice) constitute an attack on personality. In this case you can report it as inappropriate to Google. If the comments are abusive, use obscene language or are false, then there is a violation of the Google reviews policy.

Legal action is also possible. The comment will be evaluated to determine the prejudice caused.

#3 Pro tipp: answer all comments

We recommend that you respond to all reviews and comments. Responses should be written as quickly as possible, within a maximum of 12 hours on weekdays and during the usual opening hours of Swiss establishments. Here are some way to help you achieve that:

1. Set up a Google alert

It’s a good idea to set up a Google alert so that you can receive an e-mail with links to all publications mentioning your name or the name of your firm. Simply sign up here.

2. Manage reviews on Google Business Profile

You can manage all Google reviews from the dashboard of your Google Business Profile.

3. On social networks

Don’t forget to consult and respond to comments and reactions on your professional social network profiles. Each network has alerts visible at the top of the page, which are relayed by email. To respond to reviews, follow the same procedure as above

In conclusion: control your e-reputation

Today, everyone is hyper-connected to the Internet, which is why it is essential for all healthcare professionals to control their online presence and be methodical in managing the opinions and comments left by patients:

1. Respond to positive, neutral reviews, in compliance with the FMH code of ethics.
2. Respond to objective negative reviews, offering a public solution and quickly directing the conversation to a private channel.
3. Remove defamatory or false negative reviews.