Meet Kittitas Valley Healthcare
Located 120 miles east of Seattle resides a healthcare system in the town of Ellensburg, Washington. But don’t let the small town charm fool you. When it comes to providing comprehensive, high-quality healthcare services to its community, Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) operates on another ecehlon. As a forward-thinking, rural healthcare provider, KVH addresses the unique needs of its community while tackling broader challenges in rural healthcare delivery.
With a full spectrum of services, KVH is dedicated to providing personalized, compassionate care. At the heart of KVH’s success is a devoted team of over 800 professionals, all committed to fostering a nurturing environment that prioritizes patient well-being and steadfast service to the Ellensburg community.
The Problem
KVH needed a way to showcase their excellent quality of care online to bolster trust within their community. While many patients shared their positive experiences in person, they were not leaving online reviews. Kittitas Valley Healthcare’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Michele Wurl, shared “Patients who were unsatisfied would go to Google to write a review. And patients who were happy would stop us in the hallways to tell us about our wonderful service, which was great, but wasn’t something we could share widely with everyone else.”
While a negatively skewed reputation is not an uncommon challenge faced by healthcare providers, it was the lack of a holistic view that frustrated Wurl and KVH’s leadership team more than the negative feedback. KVH therefore sought a solution to encourage all patients, not just the highly motivated ones, to leave reviews.
“We did not want to be in the game of filtering out reviews, or in the game of not knowing,” Wurl emphasized. With transparency as one of the organization’s core values, KVH needed a vendor that could provide a simple, streamlined way for patients to speak their minds, regardless of positive or negative sentiment, so KVH could understand and address their concerns.
“We are here to serve the community,” said Wurl, “and we wanted to reinforce the fact to everyone, from our employees to our community, that we are dedicated to operating in a transparent manner.”
The Solution
After meeting the rater8 team at a healthcare conference and learning about our no-risk free trial, it became clear that partnering with rater8 — healthcare’s leading reputation management solution — was the ideal choice for KVH.
Recalling the decision, Wurl shared, “I have seen some of the services that other vendors are offering, and I’ve got to say, it just doesn’t even compare to rater8.“
Overall, KVH’s partnership with rater8 brought several impactful solutions, including:
Online Review Builder
Fully automated, real-time online review requests that prompt patients to rate KVH’s providers and services with a single click or tap. Integrated with the hospital’s EHR system, Cerner Community Works, rater8 sends requests directly to verified patients via text or email at the conclusion of their visits.
To maximize KVH’s online presence, rater8’s pollin8™ algorithm intelligently distributes online reviews, directing each patient to the listing and review platform that needs the most attention.
Testimonial Widget
rater8’s testimonial widget is embedded into each doctor’s profile page on KVH’s website. The widget automatically pulls in 5-star reviews of 100+ characters from the top healthcare review sites for publication.
All reviews published on a doctor’s profile page via the widget are tailored toward that specific doctor, which, in turn, strengthens the profile, reputation, and social proof of quality care for each physician.
The rater8 Platform
A unified dashboard that consolidates every online review to a single screen — for every listing, from every significant healthcare review site. Â
With unparalleled visibility, KVH can easily monitor, analyze, and respond to reviews, and view advanced reports to evaluate the strengths and gaps in their online image.
The Results
Reflecting on rater8’s impact, Wurl said, “For that first year, the board was so ecstatic to see the community’s constant engagement and positive perception, and then our results continued to impress. We immediately started wondering, ‘What’s the next improvement we could do?'”
Among KVH’s many successes with rater8 are the following:
Increased new online reviews by 2,378%
In 2022, Kittitas Valley Healthcare accumulated a modest 130 new online reviews across all major healthcare review platforms. In 2023, KVH’s first year with rater8, they amassed 3,221 reviews, a 2,378% increase.
Notably, this influx of reviews flooded the health system with glowing praise, proving what Wurl and the KVH team had known to be true: KVH offered the best care in the area. They had simply lacked an outlet through which patients could quickly and easily express their satisfaction. In 2022, KVH accumulated just 83 5-star reviews; one year later, that number skyrocketed to 2,947 5-star reviews — a 3,451% increase.
Cultivated a 4.85 average star rating
At the conclusion of 2022, KVH’s overall rating sat at 3.68 stars, burying the health system in local search results, leaving prospective patients to flock to competitors. Many in the Ellensburg community felt they had no choice but to drive long distances to seek the high-quality care they could’ve discovered right next door, if not for the domination of big-city competitors online.
With the outpouring of positive new reviews came dramatically improved online ratings for every KVH department, provider, and facility in the organization. In 2023 alone, the community-centric healthcare provider grossed an overall star rating of 4.85 across all of its listings.
Built trust within their community
When KVH began their partnership with rater8, their goals were simple: foster transparent communication with patients and showcase their real-life success online.Â
Now, just over a year later, they have done just that. With a cumulative average rating of 4.86 stars and rising, KVH has cultivated a well-rounded online image, complete with an abundance of stellar patient reviews.
In practice, these optimized listings have positioned KVH as a dominant local online presence, holding the top-ranking spots for nearly all relevant search results, including “best doctor in Ellensburg, Washington.” By earning these top rankings, KVH’s listings are virtually guaranteed to receive more than 50% of actions from this search.
As a result of this increased exposure, the health system has been able to drive more patients to their services, leading to greater acquisition and long-term retention. Â
Beyond enhancing patient satisfaction, KVH is also dedicated to becoming a top choice for employment. By sharing timely and constructive patient feedback with their staff, KVH not only supports professional development, but also ensures their team’s contributions are acknowledged. “These reviews are going under their names and profiles, so it’s important they’re recognized and that we make an effort to boost their confidence,” shared Wurl.
This growth is just the beginning for KVH. With rater8’s solutions, the Ellensburg hospital will continue to cultivate a plethora of high-quality reviews, affording them the ability to stay ahead of competitors, increase their online presence, and make continuous operational improvements. Wurl said it best: “We want people to feel comfortable and secure with the healthcare they have here at home. If they need healthcare, we’re here.”
Overall, rater8 has proven to be the perfect tool for KVH, providing the support they need to showcase their unmatched quality care.
