Learn how to protect your online reputation as a physician
As a physician, you can easily blunt the effects of a few bad reviews by proactively building a positive internet reputation for your practice. Although the Internet is held accountable for creating some serious obstacles to doctor-patient relationships, it has also given rise to amazing medical resources for patients and physicians. Your online reputation is regarded as one of these potential obstacles caused by the internet. Today, everyone has to be concerned about their online reputation unlike in the past where managing one’s reputation in the internet was considered the concern of politicians, celebrities and other famous people. The main reason behind this is simply because nowadays, about 40 percent of internet searches are those of individual names. This is the case whereby patients want to know more about their physicians.
How a patient selects a doctor depends on various factors including referrals from other physicians, recommendations from friends, and even word of mouth. Therefore, when it comes to doctor selection, you will find that the online reviews and social media play an increasingly important role. According to one study, it was found out that when choosing a doctor, 60 percent of patients consider CAHPS Surveys very important while 40 percent rely on Social media for physician rating. At least to potential new patients, a poor online reputation can damage the doctor’s training and education hence portraying a bad picture. As a matter of fact, while using the same one-to-five-star system, websites that were originally designed to rank restaurants or hotels are now being used to review medical professionals. Just the way a poor rating can deter a consumer from trying a new hotel or restaurant is the same way it might keep a prospective patient from selecting a physician, with similar financial results.
On the other hand, a physician’s practice can also be negatively affected by the absence of online ratings and reviews. A 2015 study on medical online reputation management showed that 70 percent of the patients who could find some positive reviews about their doctors online trusted them more as compared to doctors who lacked online reviews at all. Therefore, this means that when a physician has some information about them online, then they are more likely to be selected by the patients who viewed their profile. As a doctor, you have to make the well-being of your patients a priority because you devoted many years of training and education for your career.
It can be damaging both professionally and personally to doctors when a patient writes them a negative online review. However, it is highly advisable that you take negative online reviews with care and do not panic hence you should avoid taking them personally. From time to time, many physicians have come to realize many ways in which they can handle or deal with their negative online reviews from various types of patients. You should also learn to monitor your online reviews since it is the critical step when it comes to managing your online reputation. All in all, never panic because the results could turn out to be surprising and often times it includes a combination of positive feedback, misinformation, and even negative reviews.