Case Study

Problem

Established over 100 years ago, WRMC had earned a great reputation in Watertown, Wisconsin, and the surrounding community. Unfortunately, their local search ratings did not represent those positive patient encounters. The 147 reviews they received translated to an overall rating of 3.95 out of 5 stars with only 2.35 stars on Google My Business. With such a low number of patients being represented, the reviews of a few unhappy patients weighed too heavily on their online ratings, pulling them down.    

With less-than-desirable ratings that had the potential to cause people to look for healthcare solutions outside their community, WRMC needed a way to encourage the happy, silent majority of their patients to speak up. They knew that if they could capture those positive sentiments, it would provide a more accurate snapshot of overall patient satisfaction.

Solution

Richard Keddington, CEO of Watertown Regional Medical Center, did not want to rely on the vocal minority of unsatisfied patients to determine their rating any longer. He turned to SocialClimb to improve WRMC’s reputation and provide a better way for their many satisfied patients to offer feedback. SocialClimb’s platform would allow them to take charge of their social reputation by giving their patients an easy way to leave a review. They knew a higher number of ratings would provide a more all-encompassing view of their excellent care and their patients’ experiences.

SocialClimb’s platform provided a simple setup process, seamless integration with WRMC’s practice management system, and instant results. In addition, many of the platform’s features were just what the hospital needed: 

  • Automated, personal review reminders for satisfied patients to easily provide feedback. 
  • A customized package to meet the needs of each department and provider. 
  • Full reporting tools to enable measurable practice improvement models and provide actionable results. 
  • Time-sensitive feedback to help improve patient care. 
  • A one-stop interface to monitor and respond to reviews as needed. 
  • Service recovery for their team to address negative experiences and work things out. 
  • Independent ratings for departments and providers to track their improvement. 
  • Detailed tracking and notification of reviews.
  • HIPAA compliant, secure service.  

In addition to requesting reviews from every patient, the marketing team at Watertown optimized their Google My Business listings. SocialClimb made sure their GMB listings were set up in the best way to give potential patients all the information they would need in a local online search. 

Results

To date, WRMC has used SocialClimb to deliver over 39,000 automated review requests through text or email. Patients are personally invited to leave their review within 24 hours of discharge on either Google, Facebook, or Healthgrades.

 

Number of reviews has increased.

Total public reviews went from under 150 in January of 2017 to over 1000 in September of 2019. WRMC is getting approximately 1,850% more public reviews on a monthly basis than they were receiving before. More importantly, they are getting a higher percentage of reviews from satisfied patients, which increases their overall rating and gives a more realistic picture of how patients feel about the care they received.

Ratings have improved.

WRMC’s Google rating moved from 2.35 stars in January of 2017 to 4.63 stars in September of 2019 with an overall rating of 4.55 across all platforms. In fact, they moved quickly to above a 4-star rating by August of 2017 and have risen steadily since then. This jump in rating was a result, in part, of a greater number of satisfied customers taking the time to give their feedback.

 

Actions have increased. 

Optimizing WRMC’s Google My Business listing has resulted in a higher number of actions associated with the listing. Calls placed from the GMB listing have increased from about 700 a month to over 1600 a month with over 31,000 calls placed since January of 2017. Website visits from the listing have increased from about 600 a month to over 1400 a month. 

Top rank among peers was achieved.  

The increased overall rating and high number of reviews have propelled Watertown Regional Medical Center to be the top-rated hospital in the LifePoint hospital group. Their GMB listings also rank higher in local searches than before.

 

Value

Watertown Regional Medical Center saw an instant rise in their ratings after SocialClimb began sending out automated, personalized review requests within 24 hours of patient care. With no effort on the part of the WRMC team, reviews began to accumulate, and satisfied customers responded with their 5-star and 4-star reviews.

These positive reviews have translated directly into higher ratings, shooting WRMC up in their Google rankings from 2.35 to 4.63 stars and making them more visible when potential patients search for local providers. 

With SocialClimb’s help, WRMC optimized 53 Google My Business listings. Each department and provider receives a monthly Provider Report Card. Customers are making more informed decisions on who to choose for their healthcare needs, and providers are using the time-sensitive feedback to improve their level of care.

 

 

Negative feedback gets automatically routed to the management team that can best respond to the issue, allowing for incident-based service recovery. This early notification helps WRMC handle patient complaints in a timely manner so they can resolve issues before they escalate. They are also able to make adjustments and identify areas for improvement on a continual basis as they build a reputation as an agile and responsive healthcare facility. 

SocialClimb’s platform helped WRMC reclaim their reputation to become the top rated hospital in the LifePoint Health group, improve their responsiveness to patient issues, and jump to the top of local search results to claim a higher market share.