Online reputation management is increasingly becoming a critical function that all providers, including clinical laboratories, must address or risk losing revenue
Recent surveys cite growing evidence that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and online review sites such as Yelp (NYSE:YELP) are swiftly becoming healthcare consumers’ preferred sources for researching doctors, hospitals, medical laboratories, and other medical service providers.
Healthcare consumers are using the Internet to review information
on healthcare providers prior to visits. More important, data show a majority
of Americans share their healthcare experiences publicly online following
visits with providers.
This should serve as a wakeup call for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups that have not developed effective social media strategies, as they are clearly among the health services being evaluated.
More than half of Americans (51%) reported sharing their healthcare experiences online, an increase of 65% over just one year ago;
Among Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) that number jumps to 70%, a 94% increase over last year;
70% of Americans overall say online ratings and reviews influenced their choices of physicians and facilities;
More than 40% of respondents admitted they researched doctors online even after being referred to them by another healthcare professional.
“The survey results underscore the significance of online ratings and reviews as online reputation management for physicians becomes ever-more important in today’s healthcare environment,” said Aaron Clifford, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Binary Fountain, in a statement. “As patients are becoming more vocal about their healthcare experiences, healthcare organizations need to play a more active role in compiling, reviewing, and responding to patient feedback if they want to compete in today’s marketplace.”
Healthcare Dive also noted that Millennials are likely to consider online reviews and ratings of healthcare professionals to be trustworthy.
97% of 24- to 34-year-olds report believing
online comments are reliable;
While 100% of the 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed felt
similarly.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory administrators should
consider the two findings above as evidence that a major change has already
happened in how the younger generations look for—and select—their hospitals,
their physicians, and their clinical laboratory providers. Thus, every
pathology group and clinical laboratory should have a business strategy for
managing the Internet presence of their labs. Failure to do so means that
competing labs that do a good job of managing their Internet presence will be
more successful at winning the lab testing business of Gen Xers (born
1965-1980), Millennials (Gen Y, born 1981-1996), and Gen Z (born 1997-2009).
In addition, the survey discovered that the most important
qualities consumers look for in a doctor are:
Friendly and caring attitudes;
Physicians’ ability to answer questions; and
Thoroughness of examinations.
Those polled reported the most frustrating issues when
dealing with healthcare professionals were:
Office wait times;
Cost and payment concerns;
Wait times for exam and medical laboratory
results; and
Scheduling appointments.
It’s All in a Word
Earlier this year, Healthcare Dive also reported on research that examined online reviews and their content conducted by Penn Medicine. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania used digital tools and data analytics to help healthcare providers better understand and improve the patient experience.
The researchers analyzed 51,376 online reviews about 1,566
hospitals posted on Yelp over a 12-year period. They published their findings in
the Journal
of General Internal Medicine (JGIM).
They concluded the word most often found in positive Yelp
reviews was “friendly.” Their example of how positive review writers used this word:
“The doctors, nurses, and X-ray technician who helped me out were all so cool
and friendly. It really restored my faith in humanity after I got hit on my
bike.”
Other words the researchers commonly found in good online
reviews include “great, staff, and very.”
“Told” was the word most often found in negative reviews. The
researchers’ example: “I constantly told them that none of that was true and
the nurse there wouldn’t believe me.” It appears from the JGIM study
that Millennials often felt healthcare professionals did not listen to them.
The researchers identified “worst, hours, rude, said, no and
not” as other words often found in negative reviews.
“As providers, we need to take a moment to think about how we talk in hospitals, but also what patients are hearing,” said lead author of the Penn Medicine study Anish Agarwal, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “I may say something, but the way it’s heard and interpreted and then processed within patients when they’re going through a vulnerable time can be different.” (Photo copyright: University of Pennsylvania.)
Half of Millennials Prefer Internet Research and Online
Virtual Healthcare
Another survey conducted by Harmony Healthcare IT, a health data management firm based in South Bend, Ind., found that more millennials are researching the Internet for medical advice in lieu of actual doctor visits.
PC Magazine reported Harmony Healthcare IT’s survey found:
73% of Millennials reported following medical
advice found online instead of going to a doctor; and
93% reported researching medical conditions
online in addition to a doctor visit.
The survey also found that 48% of millennials trust online
resources for medical information and that 48% prefer virtual doctor office
visits over in-person visits.
In addition, 24% of this age group have gone five or more years without a physical and 57% prefer high-deductible health plans (HDHPs).
“With an emphasis on convenience, low cost, and technology, it will be interesting to see how this generation helps shape the future of health and how both patients and providers will adapt to those changes along the way,” Harmony Healthcare IT wrote in a blog post.
The results of these surveys illustrate why clinical laboratories
and anatomic pathology groups must have a social media strategy for managing
their reputations and presence on the Internet, especially where Millennials
are concerned.
That strategy should include easy and informative ways for
patients to learn about medical laboratory services, pricing of lab tests,
quality of work, and methods consumers can use to leave online feedback and
receive responses to their comments.
Researchers looked at how physicians in ambulatory settings followed up on the results of medical laboratory tests
Studies performed in the United States show that, for ambulatory patients, doctors fail to follow up on as many as two-thirds of medical laboratory test results and up to one-third of radiology reports! A recent review of 19 of these studies also showed that these failures resulted in serious lapses in patient care.
It was researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) who undertook a systematic review of evidence of failure to follow up on diagnostic test results and how this impacted ambulatory patients. The review was the first of its kind, internationally, according to a story published on UNSW’s Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) website.
Failure to Follow Up on Results of Clinical Laboratory Tests
The research team examined 19 studies that were conducted in the United States, where most of the research is being done, according to Callen. The U.S. studies quantified the extent of the failure to follow up clinical laboratory and radiology tests. Settings included ambulatory patients attending outpatient clinics, academic medical centers, community health centers, and primary care practices.
The investigators found that doctors in the United States fail to follow up as many as 62% of clinical pathology laboratory tests and up to 35% of radiology reports. This means that they are missing critical diagnoses. In turn, this causes delays in treatments for many conditions, including cancer, the AIHI story stated.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) found that doctors fail to follow up as many as 62% of clinical laboratory tests and up to 35% of radiology reports that they ordered for their patients. The UNSW study team reviewed 19 studies involving ambulatory patients conducted in the United States, where most of the research on this subject has been conducted. (Photo by advantagemedlab.com.)
The 19 studies included in the review reported a wide variation in the extent of diagnostic tests not followed up by the ordering physician. For medical laboratory tests, results varied from 6.8% (79/1163) to 62% (125/202). For radiology, the results varied from 1.0% (4/395) to 35.7% (45/126), according to the review abstract.
Studies Showed Improved Test Follow Up With Use of Electronic Systems
The practices and processes currently used are varied and unsystematic, the review authors wrote. They noted that most primary care practices are not using electronic health record (EHR) systems. Further, they stated that most are communicating with multiple clinical laboratories that are often not electronically connected.
“Quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of electronic test management systems was limited,” the authors observed in the abstract. However, they found that “there was a general trend towards improved test follow up when electronic systems were used.”
The researchers also pointed out that feedback on medical errors is essential in order to counteract overconfidence in decision making vis-à-vis diagnostic accuracy. “Without knowledge of the size of the problem, many clinicians may underestimate its extent and therefore fail to take any action to improve the process,” they stated in the abstract.
The researchers concluded that solutions to the problem of missed diagnostic test results require a multi-faceted approach. Their recommendations included addressing the following areas:
policies relating to responsibility, timing and process of notification;
integrated IT and communications technologies;
consideration of the multidisciplinary nature of the process; and,
the role of the patient as a possible safety net against error.
Pathologists Can Read the Original UNSW Paper
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers may want to access the original paper published by Callen and her colleagues. The paper’s statistics and findings may be useful in educating physicians about why failure to follow up on medical laboratory test results is a bigger problem than currently acknowledged.
In fact, publication of this study creates another opportunity for medical laboratories to add value to clinicians by helping them avoid missing key lab test results that might be overlooked. Such assistance is particularly important at a time when an important component of physician reimbursement is based on improvement in patient outcomes.
