With the popularity of ranking and rating physicians online gaining in popularity, more doctors are taking negative patient reviews seriously.

But doctors and physician offices aren’t always sure—or don’t know—how to handle negative reviews adequately, says a new survey of 200 doctors by healthcare reputation management services provider PatientPop Inc. The survey found that more than 80% of doctors believe maintaining a strong online reputation is extremely or very important; yet the majority of respondents (55.4%) do not know how to manage their own practice reputation to achieve more positive comments.

90% of doctors and physician offices fret about receiving negative reviews posted online by an unhappy or unsatisfied patient. Only one in five physician offices also have a comprehensive policy and plan in place to deal with negative patient reviews. “Nearly half of survey respondents (45.8%) said they are devoting more resources to managing their online reputation in 2018,” the survey says. “However, most are taking an outdated, haphazard approach: they either use solutions that address only one aspect of reputation, or juggle several vendors at once.”

Other survey findings:

• Doctors and physician offices who indicated their practice is in a very competitive market were far more likely to place significance on a strong online reputation. Specifically, 65.6% of that group called it extremely important.
• 88% of survey respondents have at least some level of concern about receiving negative reviews, with 62.4% saying they are extremely or very concerned about receiving negative online reviews.
• 72% of patients say their first step in finding a new doctor is checking online reviews.
• 8% of survey respondents indicate they have already received a negative review online.
• Healthgrades, Google, Yelp and Facebook are the comment and rating websites and social media site doctors and physician offices monitor most.
• 1% of doctors and physician offices note they receive reviews from less than 1% of their patients.

As patients now shop for healthcare, they expect the same breadth of choice they experience in other consumer settings. “Providers with great reviews, a well-rounded online presence and exceptional service will stand out and will see patients gravitate to their practice,” says PatientPop co-CEO Luke Kervin.

Keep up with latest coverage on digital healthcare by signing up for Internet Health Management News today.