New on Yelp Let Patients Know You Offer Virtual Consultations

Is your practice active on Yelp? If not, now is a good time to get involved. Yelp just released a new benefit that allows businesses to highlight their virtual service offerings as well as safety precautions in response to COVID-19.¹ This feature will help practices showcase telemedicine services and improve patient experience and communication during a crisis. Yelp is one of the most popular crowd-sourced online review tools with over 35 million mobile users per month.² If your practice isn’t engaged on the platform, consider getting on board now to attract and retain more patients.

^{Example of telemedicine call out on Yelp. | Image: Yelp}

Here are a few reasons to consider highlighting telemedicine and safety services on your Yelp profile:

• Make your patients feel comfortable and safe. By highlighting that your practice is following social distancing and enforcing temperature checks, it will help your patients feel more comfortable with in-office visits.
• This feature is not being widely utilized yet. With early adoption, your practice’s telemedicine offering will stand out amongst the crowd to potential and current patients.
• Patients can easily recognize that you offer virtual appointments. Once you update your profile, your practice will appear in search results with “offers virtual consultations” below your practice name.
• Your updates can be customized. You can include a unique “COVID-19 Update” note on your profile to explain what telemedicine services you are offering and how they can be scheduled.
• You can formalize your telemedicine services. If you are offering telemedicine indefinitely, you can permanently include it on your Yelp profile under “Services Offered”.
• Enhance your frame board management strategy. With these features, you can mention that all frames are being thoroughly sanitizing between patient try-ons, ensuring that they will have a safe experience picking out glasses. Learn more about creating a safe shopping experience here.

^{Example of in-practice safety measures to highlight on Yelp. | Image: Yelp}

Establishing your Yelp account is a critical step in capturing business from local web searches. For assistance on creating your practice’s page or updating it to include this feature, visit the Yelp Business Owners Support Center. Remember to update your profile and safety measures regularly, customize it with photos, business hours, and links to your website and social media pages. We also encourage you to use the platform to engage in conversation and acknowledge kind words or resolve negative encounters with your business. And if you haven’t done so yet, please let us know your practice’s current status and update your VSP Find a Doctor Directory listing to indicate if your practice offers telemedicine services here. Learn how to add your Yelp profile to your Find a Doctor Directory listing here.

^{1. "Yelp now lets businesses list the COVID-19 safety measures they’re taking," theverge.com, https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/16/21291496/yelp-new-coronavirus-safety-tools-business-owners}

^{2. “Fast Facts,” yelp-press.com, https://www.yelp-press.com/company/fast-facts/default.aspx}