Nearly 7 in 10 healthcare consumers will leave a review when texted or emailed, meaning a “passive reputation management strategy won’t cut it” for health systems, according to a Press Ganey report published Nov. 6.
Referrals historically defined a health system’s reputation, but now, reviews do.
Press Ganey, a healthcare experience consulting firm, analyzed 6.5 million patient encounters across the U.S. and surveyed 1,000 healthcare consumers, which are defined as adults who researched healthcare providers online in the past year.
Here are key findings outlined in the report:
1. Safety is the foundation of trust in healthcare.
Eighty-five percent of consumers weigh perceived safety into healthcare decisions. This is more acute for parents (95%) and millennials (94%), according to Press Ganey. Parents are particularly swayed by perceived safety, as reputation often outweighs wait times.
Among patients who feel very safe, likelihood to recommend scores reach 85.3, but when safety confidence falls, likelihood to recommend scores drop to 34.6 — below the 1st percentile.
“When patients perceive physical, emotional, and psychological safety, they engage more openly and comply more fully,” the report said. “Conversely, negative experiences or perceived lapses in safety undermine confidence, degrade loyalty, and create reputational risk. By treating digital patient feedback as early safety indicators — not just satisfaction metrics — health systems can surface hidden threats, respond proactively, and deepen trust across the care journey.”
2. Social capital has a strong ROI.
When patients say their “care team worked well together,” likelihood to recommend scores rise, highlighting the influence of social capital.
Organizations with strong social capital are more likely than others to achieve the top-quartile “rate the hospital” scores.
3. The ‘comparison shopping’ trend rises.
In 2023, online searches eclipsed provider referrals. In 2025, healthcare “consumerism” continues to dominate. Google leads the way in these searches, followed by hospital/clinic websites, WedMD, health plan portals and Facebook.
In those queries, consumers are often seeking confirmation their insurance will be accepted. Other valued assets are specialty expertise, location and availability.
Difficulty in contacting the front office is the No. 1 reason someone would not book an appointment, the report found. Poor or lacking reviews also factor into that decision.
4. Trust in AI grows.
Nearly 1 in 5 consumers have used AI tools to look for providers. One caveat is they want to know how results are generated, such as differentiation between sourcing from positive reviews and citations from providers’ websites.
“Strip away these context cues, and AI search can quickly feel opaque — and lose credibility,” the report said.
5. Scheduling remains a top frustration and barrier.
Thirty-five percent of healthcare consumers cite scheduling appointments as their top pain point. And about a third of millennials and Generation Z respondents said they will not book an appointment unless they can do so digitally.
Difficulty scheduling appointments (14%) and declining care quality (15%) are the top reasons patients leave their primary care providers.
Besides scheduling, common frustrations in the healthcare industry were deciding on a new provider, making payments, receiving and refilling prescriptions, and getting referrals.
