CASE STUDY: NEW PATIENTS IN NEW YORK

Today’s consumers are review-driven. A patient’s journey to an aesthetic provider often begins and ends with an online search. This mindset is the reason search engine optimization and online ratings have become necessities for gaining new patients. A one-star increase in patient online ratings leads to a 5% to 9% increase in revenue at a practice.[1]

THE PAIN

LUXURGERY saw an opportunity to take control of their online reputation by making it easy for patients to leave reviews immediately after each visit. The aesthetic practice, based in the heart of New York City, offers a full range of cosmetic surgery procedures. Its team is led by founder Dr. Sachin M. Shridharani, a board-certified, aesthetic fellowship-trained plastic surgeon.

Dr. Shridharani believed an online rating solution could help his practice gain more new patients since reviews act as a practice’s report card, showing the level of service the team provides. Since 85% of today’s patients trust online ratings and reviews more than a personal recommendation, he saw the importance of harnessing the power of online reviews by turning patients into online promoters for the practice.[2]

Despite the prominence and overwhelmingly positive reputation of LUXURGERY, Dr. Shridharani’s practice had received less than 50 patient reviews on any other single website in a three-year period. He and his team found the process cumbersome and at times challenging to comfortably ask patients to share this feedback considering the boutique feel of the practice. In addition, it’s impossible to know if the reviews on third-party sites are from actual patients. Those sites usually only capture the “extreme voices” of patients, the few reviews they collect are often months or years old, and some of the reviews might even come from competitors.

THE PROCESS

Dr. Shridharani began using Ratings.MD in October of 2018. The software-as-a-service solution allows practices to capture real, verified patient feedback after each visit – either at the point of care or shortly after, using an easy click-and-submit system.

The ratings appear on the practice’s own website and the Ratings.MD site. Both sites boost a practice’s visibility in online searches and turn your patients into online promoters of your brand. Prospects and patients can see the practice’s improved star ratings through online searches, instead of relying on third-party sites.

This approach seemed like a great fit for LUXURGERY. “Patients want to vocalize when they have a great experience, and they want a place to share when they don’t,” Dr. Shridharani said. “Ratings.MD gives patients a place to express their opinions but also protects practices if there is an issue that’s out of its control.”

Collecting feedback from patients is simple and can be done after each appointment. LUXURGERY captures feedback at the practice on an iPad and sends emails to customers following their appointment.

Implementing Ratings.MD at LUXURGERY was simple and seamless. “It was very quick and straightforward to get the service setup on our website, Dr. Shridharani said. “All the backend coding was already done by Ratings.MD. We just copied and pasted a couple of code snippets into our website and we have total control of how the ratings look on our site.”

THE GAIN

In just three months with Ratings.MD, LUXURGERY has collected 50 verified patient reviews. And according to Dr. Shridharani, those new reviews have already led to new business: “Patients do their homework before they go to a new practice. It has been encouraging to have patients tell us that they went online and saw that our practice has great reviews.”

Dr. Shridharani also appreciates knowing all the reviews on his site come from actual patients. “Because patients are filling out the Ratings.MD reviews either in office or through a secure email link, we know that all the reviews submitted are legitimate,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about a reviewer leaving comments for the wrong practice or posting false information. If someone leaves a great review and mentions a staff member who did something great or a service she enjoyed, it’s very validating. If you notice that something wasn’t great, we can see where we need to improve and make it right.”

LUXURGERY is excited to see where Ratings.MD can take the practice moving forward.

“Ratings.MD is a great system to collect patient feedback for a practice’s website because it was created with the doctor in mind,” Dr. Shridharani said. “The service helps to not only grow a practice but also to protect it. Ratings.MD would be a great addition to any practice dedicated to getting patient feedback in the easiest way possible.”

Qualified Bellus Customers can take advantage of Ratings.MD at a special rate.

Contact Bellus Medical today to learn more.


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[1] Harvard Business Review Case Study 2016

[2] Healthcare Consumer Trends Survey 2017