Manage Your Online Reputation to Grow Your Business
For more than a decade, Caring.com has been the top source for senior living and senior care reviews online — with more than 350,000+ consumer reviews published and thousands added monthly.
Our industry-specific expertise and high-integrity practices help businesses like yours understand and maximize the opportunity of online consumer reviews in the modern marketplace.
Have an immediate need related to online consumer reviews? Please contact our team: reviews@caring.com or (650) 762-8190.
Use Caring to Boost and Amplify Your Online Reputation
Build your reviews profile to reach and influence more prospects and better compete.
Today’s senior living and senior care searchers click listings with reviews and skip those without them. We help communities and agencies get more reviews, and have the industry’s first Review Call-in Line, which was recognized in the 2022 National Mature Media Awards as an outstanding program for America's seniors. Every review we publish has been screened by Caring's expert reviews processors, using our high-integrity review guidelines. Learn how to get more consumer reviews for: Senior Living or Home Care.
Manage your reputation with confidence.
How you respond to the feedback in reviews matters — whether the review is constructive or complimentary. We share best practices for responding to consumer reviews online and how to leverage this type of feedback to attract and convert new customers. To help monitor their reputation, Caring partners receive automated New Review Alerts instantly, with convenient quick links to respond and priority processing of their responses. No login required or password to remember. And our U.S.-based, reviews-focused customer service agents are available to answer questions by phone or email.
Get Recognized for Service Excellence with Caring Stars.
When you’ve accumulated a great collection of consumer reviews and respond well to the reviews you’ve received, you may qualify for Caring’s highly-coveted Caring Stars award. This industry-leading badge of honor helps communities and agencies stand out for greater sales and marketing success. You don't have to be a partner to win Caring Stars, and there are no fees to participate. Learn more.
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Sep 07, 2021
Will You Be a Caring Star of 2022, and Stand Out for Greater Sales Success?
Are you familiar with Caring.com’s annual Caring Stars award program? It can help boost sales and marketing (as well as support staff recruiting and retention) for your senior living community or home care agency!
Launched in 2012 as the first of its kind in the senior living industry and now open to home care agencies as well, the Caring Stars award honors service excellence based on consumer ratings and reviews on Caring.com. Senior living communities and home care agencies achieve the “Caring Stars” award through lots of high praise in online reviews from their customers — older adults and family caregivers — and by responding to any critical feedback in negative (1-star and 2-star) reviews.
The Caring Stars award helps families narrow their choices to the best of the best, and quickly find the right senior care providers for their elderly loved ones. The integrity of our reviews program and the extensive vetting we do of the Caring Stars helps instill confidence for family caregivers and older adults in requesting more information about the agencies and taking a tour of the senior living communities. In fact, in our analysis of directory listings for our partners with the award vs. those without:
Caring Stars winners have averaged twice as many inquiries and 3x the move-ins as partners without the award
Every year, Caring Stars also generates positive content, media coverage, and social buzz — and boosts morale — for winning communities and agencies. Some Caring Star winners put the badge or winner widget on their websites, within e-newsletters, and in their billing statements, as ‘social proof’ of the high quality services they’re delivering. Caring Stars also frequently get featured in their local newspapers which helps raise awareness about their high quality services with more people in their area. Both the award and review excerpts make for good content on their social profiles as well. And the award gives senior living communities and home care agencies an opportunity to celebrate staff for a job well done, and build enthusiasm and pride in their workplace. Some communities even host a Caring Stars celebration with residents, and we at Caring.com enjoy visiting some of these resident parties as well.
More than 650 communities and agencies were recognized as Caring Stars 2021. Congratulations to each of these senior care providers for earning such accolades from their customers!
The deadline to qualify for Caring Stars 2022 is October 15, 2021.
There is no application for the award — it’s based on the reviews on your Caring.com listing. To be a Caring Star of 2022, we recommend you plan to meet or exceed the 2021 winner criteria. We also recently held a series of free webinars to help senior living communities and home care agencies better understand how to get and respond to reviews, and how to qualify for Caring Stars 2022:
June 2021 – Senior Living: How to Optimize Your Online Reputation: Peruse the slides — slide 41 has specific goals for communities; or watch the webinar recording
June 2021 – Home Care: How to Optimize Your Online Reputation: Peruse the slides – slide 42 has specific goals for agencies, or watch the webinar recording
July 2021 – How the Major Reviews Websites Vary, presented with ReviewTrackers: Peruse the slides, or watch the webinar recording
August 2021 – How to Ask for Reviews, presented with Consumer Fusion: Peruse the slides, or watch the webinar recording
Have questions? Please contact our reviews team at reviews@caring.com or (650) 762-8190.
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SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT CARING POSTCARDS: We moved our postcard processing operations to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2019, and then sunsetted the reviews-by-postcard program in 2021 (blank card distribution ceased in March 2021, and the postage permit on return cards expires 9/30/21). We now offer a review call-in line. Contact reviews@caring.com for assistance in using this free service for partners only.
Editor’s note: This article is published each year with updated dates and info.
Mar 04, 2021
Better Than the Rest: Why A Residential Care Home Owner is Keeping Caring a Secret from CompetitorsAllyn P. currently owns a couple of residential care homes in the Western United States and is in process of buying more. He doesn’t want us to be more specific, because he’s had so much success with his Caring.com partnership that he wants to keep us a secret.
“As soon as I signed up one of my residential care homes, I think within 72 hours, I had a total of 7 very qualified leads! And within 48 hours of signing up, I had my first move-in from the second lead I received from Caring.com. It was pretty shocking actually,” Allyn P. said. “At that point, I didn’t want any of my local competitors to know about Caring.com.”
Before upgrading his first residential care home listing on Caring.com, he’d tried a few other marketing channels, including advertising on a very popular search engine, advertising on a very popular reviews website, and working with offline local referral agents. He thought online directories and Internet referral agencies had a fee structure that wasn’t really in line with the budgets of residential care homes, so he explored other options.
“None of them worked, especially for the money I was spending,” he said, “And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure about Caring's site either at the start. I was extremely skeptical, but that feeling shifted to ‘Wow, this is a real thing!’ rather quick. I dropped the others, because Caring.com was supplying me a steady flow of qualified leads, resulting in more move-ins!”
One big reason that Allyn P. has been so successful with his residential care home listings on Caring.com is because he’s taken advantage of the review collection services in the partner package, including leveraging Caring’s reviews-by-phone service that wasn’t available with any other lead generating businesses. In fact, despite his second residential care home being fully occupied, he still upgraded his second listing to the partnership package anyway, just for the reviews program that Caring.com offers. (Even though the second home was full, he was able to offer prospective residents a place on the waiting list, or offered them a tour of his other residential care home nearby with vacancy).
He states, “It was absolutely worth it to upgrade my second home’s listing just to take advantage of Caring.com's review collection program. I absolutely believe the industry’s business owners are missing the fact that their online reputation is essential to growth and keeping their facilities full. Families are absolutely reading reviews and they need to be current and extensive to be effective.”
His focus on reviews has paid off: the first residential care home (starting in mid-2020) rapidly went from zero to 10 reviews and earned the Caring Stars 2021 award. He continues to focus and build his reviews in 2021, and has added 2 more reviews for a total of 12. His second residential care home is off to a great start in 2021, too, with 4 reviews and more on the way. His goal is to get each of his residential care homes to earn the Caring Stars 2022 award.
Senior living searchers seek out online reviews in their research and selection process. Reviews help Caring.com partners elevate in the directory rankings, and attract more potential residents and their family members to the listings. Allyn P. has seen this effect with both his residential care home listings — they’ve had about 1,000 pageviews in a short period of time (in months rather than years).
“Online reviews are huge for credibility for bringing people to your door,” he said. “People will call you when you have great online reviews, that they believe.”
He continued, “We have reviews on other sites that are 5-stars, but are older and just contain a few words. This is not really helpful to prospective families and they don’t believe them anyway. I’m always directing our residents/residents’ families to the reviews on Caring.com because they’re lengthy, current and believable. Caring’s collection of reviews-by-phone has made a HUGE difference to my businesses.”
He has also done an excellent job converting Caring’s referrals into customers too. Within 6 months, he achieved seven (7) move-ins just for one residential care home — realizing a high conversion rate from the leads he received.
“You have to work the lead as soon as you get the lead. You can’t let it go 2-3 days,” he says. “I have discovered that the first, second or third in, one of them wins, because the families are generally in a hurry to find a place. They don’t have the time or desire to go tour many different facilities, or they just get overwhelmed. We’re not the only residential care home or assisted living community calling them, and we have to compete by being fast in responding and booking them for a tour.”
His sales activity doesn’t stop there though. “You gotta follow up. Fortunes are made in the follow-up. Initially: call, text, or email them until you actually get ahold of them, and then decide if necessary, how to follow up later,” he suggests. “I will even contact them a month later, two or three months later, because some families are researching two to six months out from when they need your service, and you need to work with their timing and keep in contact with them as a great potential fit for their needs.”
As Allyn P. so eloquently sums it up: “We provide excellent service, safe, beautiful homes, and now 5-star reviews to prove it. With Caring.com, I have an edge on the competition and I definitely have selfish motives for keeping Caring.com a secret.”
***Results can vary by account and location. Please contact an account executive to learn more about the opportunities for your area: sales@caring.com or (855) 897-2433.
Dec 07, 2020
Best Home Care: Caring Super Stars 2021The Caring Super Stars of 2021 for home care are agencies who have earned the Caring Stars reviews award for 2021 plus two or more additional years since this award program expanded to include home care agencies in 2017, after being the first-of-its-kind for senior living communities since 2012. These are the repeatedly stellar home care agencies that seniors and their family members praise — year after year.
Caring Super Stars in Home Care for 2021
ALABAMA — 3 agencies
ARIZONA — 8 agencies
ARKANSAS — 6 agencies
CALIFORNIA — 27 agencies
COLORADO — 5 agencies
CONNECTICUT — 4 agencies
FLORIDA — 25 agencies
GEORGIA — 4 agencies
IDAHO — 1 agency
ILLINOIS — 12 agencies
INDIANA — 3 agencies
IOWA — 2 agencies
KANSAS — 2 agencies
KENTUCKY — 1 agency
LOUISIANA — 2 agencies
MAINE — 1 agency
MARYLAND — 8 agencies
MASSACHUSETTS — 8 agencies
MICHIGAN — 13 agencies
MINNESOTA — 2 agencies
MISSISSIPPI — 2 agencies
MISSOURI — 7 agencies
MONTANA — 2 agencies
NEBRASKA — 1 agency
NEVADA — 2 agencies
NEW HAMPSHIRE — 1 agency
NEW JERSEY — 9 agencies
NEW MEXICO — 1 agency
NEW YORK — 13 agencies
NORTH CAROLINA — 7 agencies
NORTH DAKOTA — 1 agency
OHIO — 14 agencies
OKLAHOMA — 3 agencies
OREGON — 5 agencies
PENNSYLVANIA — 8 agencies
PUERTO RICO — 1 agency
SOUTH CAROLINA — 5 agencies
SOUTH DAKOTA — 1 agency
TENNESSEE — 6 agencies
TEXAS — 24 agencies
UTAH — 4 agencies
VIRGINIA — 7 agencies
WASHINGTON — 4 agencies
WISCONSIN — 6 agencies
Congratulations to these 271 home care agencies across the United States and in Puerto Rico!
***See the full list of Caring Stars of 2021.
Sep 17, 2020
The HIPAA Compliant Way to Respond to Online Reviews
“My migraines are feeling much better thanks to Dr. Jones,” writes a patient in an online review. The doctor replies, “Glad to hear it! Take two more of those pills and call me in the morning!” Seems like a fairly innocuous exchange. That is, until Dr. Jones gets slapped with a HIPAA violation for publicly disclosing too much patient information.
The policies set forth by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act may be difficult to navigate and can discourage many healthcare providers from addressing their online reviews altogether. However, considering a staggering 84% of consumers turn to review sites to find a healthcare provider, online reviews can no longer be ignored. In addition, 89% of consumers read the business’ response to online reviews. Finding a healthcare provider comes down to trust, and how people are treated online is a reflection of that. This not only applies to medical practices but all types of businesses including Senior Living and Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living, and Home Health Agencies. All signs point to the importance of implementing a strategy for responding to both positive and negative reviews.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when addressing your reviews online, to help build trust with patients while also adhering to HIPAA guidelines.
1. Don’t use any details or specifics about a patient, and avoid language that indicates the patient even visited your local business premises.
In the hypothetical example of Dr. Jones we used earlier, a more appropriate response would have been: “Our office strives to deliver the highest quality patient care. We love to hear about positive experiences. Thanks for sharing this feedback with us!” The response is vague and focuses on the general policies of the organization rather than confirming or elaborating on any details of the patient visit.
Here is another example of what NOT to do:The business owner’s response in the example above includes both the name of the patient and the name of the doctor in the review, and would be in violation of HIPAA. A more appropriate response would be: “Thank you for your kind review! We strive to provide the best possible service.” The response again should focus on the policy of the organization without providing any specific personal information or confirming that the reviewer was even a patient.
2. Don’t argue with negative reviews or provoke further public online discussion.
If a patient were to complain about your staff online, the knee jerk reaction would be to either defend your staff member or to apologize for the staff member’s behavior. However, neither would be compliant because those types of responses would confirm the patient visit and would also open up further public discussion online.
Here is another example of what NOT to do:Rather than admitting the incident happened, keep the response brief, polite, and as general as possible, while moving the conversation offline. An appropriate response would be: “We are committed to providing the best patient care experience. It’s our policy to resolve issues offline. Please feel free to contact us at [enter contact information].”
3. Monitor and respond to online reviews with Reputation Management Tools.
It can be overwhelming to manually track your online business reviews. Time spent on marketing tasks like responding to your reviews can be better spent on quality care for your patients. Reputation Management platforms like Consumer Fusion can help you keep track of incoming reviews with automated review alerts and allows you to set up HIPAA compliant review responses to automatically respond within 24-48 hours of a new review.
While responding to reviews is an important and effective component of your overall online reputation, it’s only the beginning. Reputation Management services like those provided by Consumer Fusion can also be utilized to generate more reviews for your business to build upon that loyalty to your brand. Consumer Fusion also has a proven track record for getting reviews removed that violate terms and conditions from major review sites including Google, Facebook, Caring.com and Healthgrades. As long as you are following best practices for HIPAA compliance, monitoring your online reviews can work wonders in establishing trust and improving relationships with your patients.
***This blog post is related to a webinar Mark Spencer did in Caring's Digital Marketing Academy, focused on HIPAA and online reviews.
Available in the webinar archive as:
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