A successful online review initiative in your practice is a great way to get the attention of patients in your community. In a recent survey by Software Advice, 90% of patients say they rely on online reviews to make their decisions about which healthcare providers to visit. So, how can Flex help you take your online reviews from non-existent to 5-stars and help bring in those patients? Read on to find out!
The Top 10 Ways Flex Can Help Boost Your Online Reviews
1. Provide GREAT Service
The best motivator for a patient to leave a 5-star review is receiving service that warrants shouting from the rooftops. Flex helps you deliver a 5-star patient experience with features that patients love, including online appointment scheduling, online bill pay, and two-way texting. Take that extra step from good to GREAT.
2. Ensure Accuracy of Patient Contact Info
It sounds simple, but making sure you have the correct cell phone number and email address for each patient ensures your review requests are received. Our digital onboarding forms sync directly into Open Dental, so the information the patient enters is what's captured in your management software with no chance of manual data entry errors. Review requests are one of many reasons to prioritize getting every patient’s cell number/email address and routinely confirming their accuracy.
3. Request Reviews Via Text With a Follow-Up Email
Flex will automatically send a text requesting a review on behalf of your practice. If the text is not clicked, Flex will send a follow-up request via email. Multiple touch-points improve the odds of a patient successfully submitting an online review.
4. Utilize Email If Your Patients Do Not Provide a Cell Number
In Flex, there is a setting for sending email requests for reviews to patients that do not provide a cell phone number. Turn on this feature for these patients to ensure they receive the review request.
5. Disable Requests For Patients That May Not Share a Positive Review
Sometimes avoiding a negative review is just as important as receiving a positive one. Flex allows you to toggle off review requests for individual patients, either via Flex or in Open Dental. As a second line of defense, Flex's review requests include a "help us improve" button that routes negative feedback directly to your practice.
6. Direct Requests Where YOU Want Them To Appear
Choose to enable Google, Yelp, Facebook, or any combination of the three.
7. Test a Variety of Send Times For Best Results
Flex allows you to specify how long after an appointment a review request is sent, so you can test sending at various times and see which works best for your patient base. 90 minutes after an appointment may work better for some practices where others send requests all at once or at a certain time of day - perhaps after dinner, for example.
8. Use Direct Links To Your Google Reviews Page
Making it easy to leave an online review gives you a better chance of success. By linking directly to your practice’s Google review page versus your Google My Business homepage, you’ll avoid additional clicks that may be a barrier to your patient completing the review.
9. Don’t Spam Your Patients
In Flex, you can set frequency parameters so patients aren’t receiving multiple requests, even if they have multiple appointments in a short period of time. No one likes to be spammed - even your patients!
10. Personalize Your Request
Including a team photo in the review request email is a nice personal touch.
Ready to learn more about Flex?
Please visit our learning center to see more features that Flex includes to supercharge your practice. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to contact a member of our team via the button below.
If you’re an Open Dental user looking for a patient communication solution, please ask for opinions of our solution from other Open Dental practices. We pride ourselves on creating Flex fans for life. The words of our customers are our best reference and we think you’ll like what you find.
