Why Managing Your Health System's Online Reputation Is Critical for Access and Retention of Patients and Consumers (44H)

In early 2021, despite remarkable unaided brand awareness in Utah, Intermountain Health facilities and providers drastically underperformed in organic search results compared to smaller, more digitally savvy competitors. Executives identified patient online awareness and consideration in the form of Google Business Listing reviews as a key business need, and competitive disadvantage, and began a yearlong journey to strategize, build and execute post-visit text message Google Review solicitation that ultimately transformed Intermountain's online search presence and business. This session will share why online reputation is more critical than ever to acquiring new patients; how Intermountain Health built a coalition, including marketing, medical group, cybersecurity and legal, to launch this ambitious project as a scalable profit generator; and how it grew momentum despite a corporate merger just months after the program began. The results of this work have been remarkable with thousands of 5-star reviews coming in each month and flipping Local Search from one of Intermountain's most significant business weaknesses into its leading source of new appointment leads in fewer than 24 months.