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Healthcare Consumer Trends to Know: A Rise in Reviews

Analysis  |  By Melanie Blackman  
   April 08, 2022

The 2022 Healthcare Reputation Report found that consumers are increasingly using digital means, such as reviews and ratings on the internet, to shop for the best care.

Consumer review volume and star ratings are up, according to a recent analysis by Reputation.

The 2022 Healthcare Reputation Report found that review volumes increased 50% for hospitals and 58% for physicians compares to 2020.

Consumers are continuing to evolve and are increasingly using digital means, such as reviews and ratings on the internet, to find the best care for themselves. Google was found to be the most popular internet source, with more popularity than provider and physician websites, healthcare-specific websites, or social media.

The report also found that:

  • 75% of adults read online patient reviews as part of their health facility or physician decision
  • 72% of healthcare consumers look for a rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars when deciding on a health facility or physician
  • Facilities saw an average star rating of 4.4 in 2021, a .05 point increase over 2020
  • Physicians saw an average star rating of 4.7 in 2021, a .03 point drop from 2020
  • 65% of adults expect providers to respond to reviews

Reputation's Four Tips for Health Systems

1. Improve your reputation scores

  • Providers should request reviews as well as respond to them
  • Use patient feedback to improve the patient experience
  • By increasing review volume, sentiment, and recency, you can increase your Reputation Score

2. Establish a feedback hub and analyze patient sentiment

  • Collect feedback through an array of channels including structured and unstructured. This includes using surveys and social media.
  • Bring all feedback data to a single hub to see the complete picture, then prioritize based on the data

3. Optimize your Google Business Profiles

  • Make sure all physician and facility information is up to date
  • Enable communication from consumers to physicians through the profile
  • Physicians should monitor and respond to patient feedback

4. Create an employee experience program

  • Improve retention by collecting and listening to employee feedback
  • Communicate with transparency with your employees
  • Patient experience can be affected by unhappy staff

Top 15 health systems based on Reputation Score

Reputation analyzed the 25 largest health systems in the country and ranked the top 15 using a Reputation Score, looking at the following elements:

  • Star average
  • Review volume
  • Review recency
  • Review spread
  • Search impressions
  • Social engagement
  • Listing accuracy
  • Review response
  • Review length

The top 15 health systems are:

  1. Community Health Systems
  2. HCA Healthcare
  3. Universal Health Services
  4. Baylor Scott & White Health
  5. CommonSpirit Health
  6. Trinity Health
  7. Advent Health
  8. Ascension
  9. Tenet Healthcare
  10. Sutter Health
  11. Northwell Health
  12. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
  13. Spectrum Health
  14. Banner Health
  15. Intermountain Healthcare
     

Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.


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