Managing Your Internet Reputation for Orthopaedic Surgeons

Christian Veillette M.D., M.Sc., FRCSCAssistant Professor, University of TorontoShoulder & Elbow Reconstructive Surgery

University Health NetworkAffiliated Faculty, Techna Institute

Email: orthonet@gmail.com

DisclosureMy disclosure is in the Final Program

Book and in the AAOS database.

I have no potential conflicts with this presentation.

Objectives

• Learn why online reputation management is important

• Learn why Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy forms are counter- productive

• Learn how to monitor your online reputation

• Learn strategies to protect your online reputation

What is online reputation?

• Your Internet presence

• What people see when they “Google You”

• Anything that appears in a SERP

• Your responsibility

You can be the driver of your online reputation or the passive recipient!

Which do you choose?

Where on the Internet are you?

• Practice website/blog• Free/paid listing• Professional assoc sites• Published articles / press

releases• Quotes in news articles• Social media sites

– Facebook, Twitter

• Social media sites– Facebook– Twitter

• MD review sites• Blogs• Forums

You Control You Don’t Control

Why is ORM important?

• Customers are online

• Prospects are online

• Competitors are online

• People pissed at your for no reason are online

• Future of your practice is online

Health consumers online

• 59% of all adults in the U.S. look for health information online

• 80% of Internet users look online for health information– 3rd most popular online activity

• Most start with a general search engine, rather than a medical vertical

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics/Part-1/59-of-adults.aspx

Looking online for doctors common

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics/Part-1/59-of-adults.aspx

It’s a

Reputation Engine

Growth of physician rating websites?

Do we really need to worry?

We identified 33 physician-rating websites, which contained 190 reviews for 81 physicians. Most reviews were positive (88%). 6% were negative, and 6% were neutral. Generalists and subspecialists did not significantly differ in number or nature of reviews. We identified several narrative reviews that appeared to be written by the physicians themselves. Despite controversy surrounding these sites, their use by patients has been limited to date, and a majority of reviews appear to be positive.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/90366h3012414001/

http://www.jmir.org/2011/4/e95/

Do we really need to worry?

• Relatively few use hospital ranking and doctor review sites

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Social-Life-of-Health-Info/Part-1/Section-4.aspx

RateMDs.com

The Good

The Bad

Dealing with a negative online reviewDon’t use will-not-review agreements

“Patient will not denigrate, defame, disparage, or cast aspersions upon the Physician; and will use all reasonable efforts to prevent any member of their immediate family or acquaintance from engaging in any such activity”- Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy form

Don’t use “gag contract”

• Prone to failure• Legal precedent makes it unlikely that such an

agreement would hold up in court• Doctors risk alienating patients and encouraging

spite-based online reputation attacks

Dealing with a negative online reviewDon’t sue the patient

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/05/doctors-sue-patients-negative-online-reviews.html

No matter what kind of merit he thought the case had, doctors who sue patients for online ratings are going to lose in the more influential court of public opinion.

Steps to control your online reputation

Monitor what people are saying

• Conduct Google search on yourself once a month• Develop a listening process• Use alert service to inform you when name used online• Free

– Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts/)– Naymz.com– Rankur.com– SocialMention.com

• Paid– Trackur (www.trackur.com) - $18/month)– Reputation.com (www.reputation.com/medical) - $99/month– BrandsEye (www.brandseye.com) - $199/month

Monitor

Google AlertsMonitor

 Include variations:• Dr. John Smith• Dr. John C. Smith• Dr. John Smith, MDetc.

MyReputationMonitor

Manage your online presence

• Be proctive – brand optimize your content to control the information others find

• Maximize the number of search engine result pages (SERPs) that YOU control

• SEO and social media push negative reviews down the results

Manage

10 tools/tips to manage your online reputation

1. Get your own website

• Consider branded domain name

Manage

2. Google Places

• Registration is free• Good for practices/

sole practitioners• Show up on Google

Maps

http://places.google.com

Manage

3. Professional Listing Sites• Sites that rank well +/- pay to be listed on• Enter search terms that your patient or referral

sources use & see which sites are on top

Manage

4. Professional Organizations & Groups• Name and web locations (sites, blogs, profiles,

etc.) are accurately listed• Link to their sites from yours

Manage

6. Create “Big 5” Profiles

The Big Five

Create Linkedin profileManage

6. Expand Your Scientific Network

Literature Based Network Connections/Answers

Reference Manager/Network Share/Follow

Create Google Scholar profile

http://scholar.google.ca/

7. Connect Blog/Twitter/FacebookManage

8. Share your videos/talks/images

Manage

9. Review Physician Compare Sites

1. Correct mistakes and false information2. Add professional achievements – awards & articles3. Consider paid listing

Manage

10. Paid AdWords listings

http://adwords.google.com

Manage

Should you hire an ORM company

http://www.topseos.com/rankings-of-best-reputation-management-companies

Manage

Where to start?Manage

• ReputationFriendly.com• ReputationChanger.com• ReputationHawk.com• Reputation.com• ReputationManagers.com• ReputationManagementKings.com• IronReputation.com• ReputationManagementConsultants.com• ReputationManagementLLC.com• ReputationArmour.com

Mitigate your online reputation risk

• Review and respond cordially and respectfully

• Encourage and incentivize positive reviews on multiple sites

• Provide an easy way for those upset to file complaints on your site

Mitigate

1. Review and respond– Many review websites allow physicians to

display professional profiles• use to defuse potential attacks & control your

reputation

– Post factual information to counter critiques– Doctor patient confidentiality prevents you

from directly engaging online critics– Can address common themes in a general

manner• Long waits, slow responses, call backA creative, positive response exists for virtually any criticism.

When you do find content that addresses a genuine shortcoming, use it as an opportunity to improve your practice!

Mitigate

2. Encourage positive reviews– Highlight positive reviews, listing the source,

on your site– Quote positive reviews, listing the source, on

your patient intake forms or information brochures

– Create a web address with links to most popular sites and provide card to patient

– Create cards with different review site address for each day and provide to patient

Mitigate

3. Let patients complain to you

• Provide easy way for patients to file complaints on YOUR site– Post a sign in your waiting area saying that

you value patient feedback - in person, by phone, by email or via website

– Send follow-up emails encouraging patients to provide feedback

– Provide patients with satisfaction survey in office or on website

Mitigate

Summary

• Use the right tools for you to boost/control your online reputation

• Do not engage in any online activities that may endanger your reputation

• Treat the development of your online reputation as an integral part of your career and business strategy

• Take your Internet presence into your own hands

Questions?