Online Reputation Management for Orthopaedic Surgeons

1. Online Reputation Managementfor Orthopaedic Surgeons Christian Veillette M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC Assistant Professor, University of TorontoShoulder & Elbow Reconstructive SurgeryUniversity Health NetworkDeputy Editor, Information and Communication TechnologyClinical Orthopaedics and Related ResearchEmail: orthonet@gmail.com

2. Disclosure My disclosure is in the Final Program Book and in the AAOS database. I have no potential conflicts with this presentation.

3. Objectives • To learn why online reputation management is important • To learn why Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy forms are counter- productive • To learn how to monitor your online reputation • To learn strategies to protect your online reputation

4. 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?

5. Where on the Internet are you? You Control You Don’t Control • 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

6. Why is ORM important? • Patients are online • Competitors are online • Future of your practice is online You are only as good as your reputation

7. 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

8. Looking online for doctors common http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics/Part-1/59-of-adults.aspx

9. It’s a Reputation Engine

11. Growth of physician rating websites • 30+ physician rating websites exist in US • Top 10 • HealthGrades.com • Vitals.com • Yelp.com • YP.com • RevolutionHealth.com • RateMDs.com • Angieslist.com • Checkbook.org • Kudzu.com • ZocDoc.com

12. 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/

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

14. 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

15. RateMDs.com

16. The Good

17. The Bad

18. Dealing with a negative online review Don’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

19. 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

21. Dealing with a negative online review Don’t sue the patient 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. http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/05/doctors-sue-patients-negative-online-reviews.html

22. Steps to control your online reputation

23. Monitor 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/) • Socialmention.com • Yotify.com • Paid • Trackur (www.trackur.com) - $18/month • Reputation.com (www.reputation.com/medical) - $99/month

24. Monitor Google Alerts •  Include variations: • Dr. John Smith • Dr. John C. Smith • Dr. John Smith, MD • etc.

25. Monitor MyReputation

26. Manage 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 10 tools/tips to manage your online presence

27. Manage 1. Get your own website • Consider branded domain name

28. Manage 2. Google Places • Registration is free • Good for practices/sole practitioners • Show up on GoogleMaps http://places.google.com Also: Yahoo Local (http://listings.local.yahoo.com/)

29. 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

30. Manage 4. Professional Organizations & Groups • Name and web locations (sites, blogs, profiles, etc.) are accurately listed • Link to their sites from yours

31. Manage 5. Create Linkedin profile

32. Manage 6. Create Orthopaedia personal space

33. Manage 7. Integrate Blog/Twitter/Facebook Launch external blogs – Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr

34. Manage 8. Share your videos/talks/photos Create social media profiles

35. Manage 9. Review Physician Compare Sites • Correct mistakes and false information • Add professional achievements – awards & published articles

36. Manage 10. Paid AdWords listings http://adwords.google.com

37. Manage Should you hire an ORM company http://www.topseos.com/rankings-of-best-reputation-management-companies

38. Manage Where to start? • ReputationFriendly.com • ReputationChanger.com • ReputationHawk.com • Reputation.com • ReputationManagers.com • ReputationManagementKings.com • IronReputation.com • ReputationManagementConsultants.com • ReputationManagementLLC.com • ReputationArmour.com

39. Mitigate 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

40. 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 back A 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!

41. 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

42. 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 • eMerit – Medical Justice

43. 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

44. QUESTIONS?