National Research Launches Online Resource Center for Healthcare Organizations Seeking to Embrace Transparency

LINCOLN, Neb., June 29, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the interest of furthering the healthcare industry movement toward consumer-focused transparency, National Research has taken the best practices learned from publishing hundreds of thousands of physician reviews and created a resource center for healthcare organizations looking to implement their own transparency programs.

In an interview with Kelly Evans on CNBC's The Spark, National Research Vice President Andy Ibbotson stressed the importance of these programs for today's healthcare consumer.

"Seventy-seven percent of consumers today begin their healthcare search online; 45 percent read online reviews before booking an appointment; and one in three patients will avoid a physician after seeing negative reviews online. Online reviews have never been more important in healthcare," Ibbotson said.

"To ensure reliability and consistency of physician star ratings across all healthcare organizations publishing their patient experience ratings online, National Research is sharing its market-leading best practices with the public," explained Ibbotson.

Steve Jackson, Group President for National Research, shared his thoughts on the importance of sharing these transparency resources with the healthcare industry at-large.

"We've been in the business of publishing patient experience ratings and reviews longer than any other vendor, and our clients have achieved great levels of success, both in improving the patient experience and increasing the online visibility of their providers" Jackson said. "National Research is committed to advancing the transparency movement and building greater consumer trust in healthcare."

The new site provides tools and templates to help patient experience, marketing, and physician leadership teams achieve organization-wide support and accelerate the implementation of their transparency programs. These resources include case studies and internal communication templates from pioneer healthcare organizations, findings from a National Research nation-wide healthcare consumer study, and the best practice methodology for converting CAHPS scores to five-star ratings.

To learn more, visit the Healthcare Transparency Resource Center at www.hctransparency.org.

About National Research Corporation

For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today the company's focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders.

For more information, call 800-388-4264, write to info@nationalresearch.com, or visit www.nationalresearch.com.