Online Reputation Management for Physicians talk given June 2019 for PMN conference for TNAAP

1. NOTORIOUS
ONLINE REPUTATION FOR
PEDIATRICIANS
Stephen T. Bauch, M.D.
Memphis Children’s Clinic

2. Reputation is only a candle, of wavering and uncertain
flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the
world looks for and finds merit.
James Russell Lowell

3. A NEW REALITY
• Perception is the reality: Who you are online is who
you are to most people.
• Reputation lives in two places: in-person and online. Few
things have a higher priority for practitioners and
practices…concern for their professional reputation is
hard earned and constantly protected in their daily work.

4. REPUTATION AND PATIENTS
• Physician selection is challenging in the online
environment
• Assessment based on the reputation of the physician
online
• Assessing the credibility and accuracy of the reputation is
difficult

5. SATISFACTION AND PATIENTS
• Healthcare is a “service industry”
• Fair or Not: Satisfaction as a quality of care “metric”
• Now, because patients can speak publicly about their
experiences and influence other prospective patients, they have
new-found leverage over doctors
• Research shows that online reviews are how we are increasingly
being discovered and judged

6. WHAT IS ONLINE REPUTATION
MANAGEMENT?
• ”The process of controlling what shows up when someone
Googles your name. How to promote positive content to the top
of your search results and push unwanted content (negative,
irrelevant or competition) farther down to ensure that when
someone Googles you, their results are populated with positive,
relevant content about you. It helps drive public opinion about a
business and its products and services.”

7. MAIN POINTS
• Reputation has always played a huge role in their ability to attract new patients to
their medical practice.
• Online reputation is a new reality and more patients are looking online
• Reputation is “crowdsourced”
• Cannot afford digital isolation
• Social Media is becoming a necessity
• How we respond to negative reviews is important
• Importance of satisfaction surveys and improving reputation
• Updates on SEO, website, and YouTube

8. THE NUMBERS
• When searching for news or information, 65% of consumers trust
search engine results (e.g. Google) the most.
• 97% of consumers read online reviews to find a local business
• 74% of consumers have greater trust in a company if they read
positive reviews
• Online customer reviews and personal reviews are nearly
equivalent in their trustworthiness

10. THE NUMBERS
• More than three-quarters (77 percent) of patients use online
reviews as their first step in finding a new doctor
• Almost half (47%) of consumers believe reputation is the
leading factor when selecting a doctor or a dentist. It is likely
those numbers will continue to rise
• Tied with restaurant industry as #1 in terms of online
reputation mattering
• 2016 study found (47 percent) would go out-of-network for a
doctor who has similar qualifications to an in-network doctor,
but has more favorable reviews

11. THE NUMBERS
• 53 % of providers looked at physician
review websites, likely to understand their
patients’ experiences and to improve their
practices
AND
• Overall, physicians indicated that the
numerical results from these ratings
websites were valid approximately 53% of
the time

12. 5 STAR REVIEW
• 5 Staff
• 5 Punctuality
• 5 Helpfulness
• 5 Knowledge
• Took care of my back pain with a simple, minimally
invasive quick procedure. I was up within an hour of
surgery and back to work in two days. Smashing
personality, quoted a Shakespeare sonnet when he visited
me in recovery. Adorbs!!

13. “DR DEATH”
• Christopher Duntsh neurosurgeon
convicted of maiming 4 patients and
killing 2 patients.

14. WHAT DO I DO?
• ACCEPT that you have an online reputation and that you need
to manage it
• Build a Website
• Own your digital profile and CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS
• Build a strong social media presence.
• Encourage and monitor online reviews

15. WHAT DO I DO?
• ACCEPT that you have an online reputation and that you need
to manage it

16. GOOGLE YOURSELF
• What is your current online reputation?
• The first page of the Google Search is your new business card
• Google dominates the online search market. In fact, 95% of all online
searches occur on Google
• Reviews are often the first impression a patient will get of a medical provider
when they type the practice’s name or physician’s name into a search field
• Look at other social media

17. HOW PATIENTS FIND DOCTORS
ONLINE IN 2019
• Three ways patients search for doctors online
• Local Search
• Practice Search
• Doctor Search
• Google’s Local Three Pack
• Distance, Relevance, Prominence
• Prominence factors
• More reviews and positive rating, SEO best practices
• Optimized Google My Business including photos, fresh reviews,
completeness

18. GOOGLE 3-PACK

19. HOW PATIENTS FIND DOCTORS
ONLINE IN 2019
• Practice Search
• Google My Business Profile will be in top right corner
• Google My Business is a free tool to help you manage presence on
Google Search, Google Maps, and Google + social network
• Doctor Search
• Usually brings up ratings and online reviews
• Affecting Google’s ranking
• Number of reviews
• Overall rating of reviews
• How recent the reviews are

21. WHAT DO I DO?
• ACCEPT that you have an online reputation and that you need
to manage it
• Build a Website

22. WEBSITE
• It serves as an introduction of yourself to the world
• Through SEO, it can be that first impression which you control
• It is your personal digital property you control
• You can deliver information
• You can deliver services
• You can post reviews
• You can tie into social media (next section)

23. • Quick rules to help build a great practice website
• Detailed Bio Section
• Detailed contact information
• Generate blog/videos
• Post genuine reviews
• Also remember to update your website regularly and consider a physician blog as that
improves your SEO through fresh content
• Top Doctor raised the reputation of practice so toot your horn
• Can offer appointments, prescription refill

25. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
• The process of maximizing the number of visitors to a
particular website by ensuring that the site appears high
on the list of results returned by a search engine
• Keywords, title tags, back-links, fresh content

26. SEO
• According to Google, 97% of users search for local businesses and local
business owners names online
• Search engine optimization (SEO) experts agree that user-generated
content, such as reviews, is heavily weighted by search engines
• The first priority when improving a doctor’s reputation is to make sure locals
searching for a doctor’s name see relevant results – preferably not the
questionable ones
• An important step when initiating a local SEO strategy is for a practice to
claim its local Google business listing

27. WHAT DO I DO?
• ACCEPT that you have an online reputation and that you need
to manage it
• Build a Website
• Own your digital profile and CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS

28. MD REVIEW SITES

29. CLAIMING YOUR
DIGITAL LISTINGS
• RateMDs.com, HealthGrades.com, and Vitals.com
are three frequently visited health care provider
ratings websites, with over 2.6 million, 6.1 million,
and 7.8 million reviews, respectively
• If you aren’t active on these sites, someone else
will be and they may not be friendly
• A provider can update their own information, or
someone who works on behalf of the provider
can also do this
• Bottom Line : Keep a well-monitored and high
engaged review profile-to engage neg review
and valuable feedback for improvement
 Healthgrades
 Vitals
 RateMD
 Yelp
 Facebook
 Google
 Angie’s List
 ZocDoc
 WebMD

30. THREE MOST POPULAR PRWS
Healthgrades.com
Website is a for-profit site
that allows patients to
anonymously complete
surveys about physicians
after registering with a valid
e-mail address or phone
number. Patients are unable
to provide written reviews
on this website.
Vitals.com
This online review website
provides free information on
physician’s educational
backgrounds and liability claims
using state-based public and
private insurance data sources.
Patients can anonymously rate
physicians and post
comments. The emphasis of
Vitals.com is largely on patient
reviews of individual physicians
rather than hospital rankings
and consulting.
RateMDs.com
This Web-based tool allows
anyone to anonymously post
comments about a physician.
There is minimal oversight, and
postings and categories can be
rather aggressive (for example, a
physician “Wall of Shame”).
Physicians may register and
respond to comments.

31. CLAIMING YOUR DIGITAL PROFILE
• Register Your Name as a Domain and Secure Relevant Web Properties
• Registering your name as a domain dramatically improves your search engine
optimization (SEO) and it can even protect you. When potential patients Google
your name, the domain that matches your name will appear at or near the top of the
page. If you don’t own this domain, someone else could purchase it for their own
means or even to use it against you.
• Verify and Claim Your Google My Business
• Claiming your business on Google provides a good starting point to control what’s
displayed about you on Google searches. This includes business location, images,
hours and reviews. Once claimed, you can use Google Business tools to improve
your listing

32. WHAT DO I DO?
• ACCEPT that you have an online reputation and that you need
to manage it
• Build a Website
• Own your digital profile and CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS
• Build a strong social media presence

34. WHY SOCIAL MEDIA ?
• It is well established that social media activity has an impact on Google search
results. Specifically, Google is drawn by the number of visits specific websites and
blog posts receive directly from social media like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
• An article from March 2018 reveals how various physicians all over the US leverage
social media to combat misinformation – not only about their own practices but also
about specific conditions, diagnostics, and other timely healthcare news that could
affect their patients (ex., flu season, epidemics, etc.).

35. WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?
• improve patient-physician interactions
• Enhance patient motivation
• Drive awareness and provide accurate information
• Become a thought leader
• Raise timely issues
• Facilitate the exchange of ideas
• Engage a larger community

36. A WORD ABOUT YOUTUBE
• DID YOU KNOW: YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world
• Has become increasingly popular among doctors to attract new patients.
• Present relevant medical content showcasing thought leadership
• In addition, YouTube allows users to create a custom URL in their own name for their
channel. As that URL gets backlinks, it will start ranking in search results.
• Actually, any doctor with a smartphone can become a videomaker. The videos can be about
any relevant healthcare topic. Some examples include: testimonials, health related tips /
tricks, video from a conference, etc.

37. WHAT DO I DO?
• ACCEPT that you have an online reputation and that you need
to manage it
• Build a Website
• Own your digital profile and CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS
• Build a strong social media presence.
• Encourage and monitor online reviews

38. ONLINE REVIEWS- SOMEONE LOVES
YOU
• Most patients give physicians positive ratings: one study reported that over
90% of all ratings were positive
• Individual reviews may not be credible, but the wisdom of the crowd is credible
(CROWDSOURCING)..Everything is crowdsourced from contractors to restaurants
• Remember, one bad review will not destroy your online reputation
• As the First Amendment maxim goes, the solution to “bad” speech is more
speech. Can bury a negative review with positive ones
• Patients look at a physician’s overall rating and when there are many good reviews,
a few bad ones will not stand out as the norm

39. HOW TO ENCOURAGE REVIEWS
• Just ask- 70% will leave a review if asked
• But ask promptly- Helps if they have access immediately (don’t make them work)
• Hand card to the patient with the URLs listed for key consumer ratings sites and ask
them to rate you
• Listing the practice with online review sites
• Keep a tablet at the front desk and ask patients to post a review before leaving your
office.
• Send an email request using your auto-responder.
• Incentivizing reviews
• Spotlighting positive reviews in marketing materials

40. GOOGLE ALERTS
• Set up your Google Alerts for your practice name and individual
practitioners’ names. Google will send you free alerts when you
have been mentioned. This will trigger the next step of how to
further engage with that post or review. Or it may make you
aware of something you can easily change to improve your
practice for all of your patients

41. HOW TO RESPOND TO
NEGATIVE REVIEWS

44. HOW TO RESPOND TO A NEGATIVE
SURVEY/REVIEW
SECRET TO CRISIS ANAGEMENT IS NOT GOOD VS BAD FROM HOW TO MAKE THE
BAD FROM GETTING WORSE
• Don’t ignore it. 70% OF PATIENTS WHO POST NEGATIVE REVIEWS
TEND TO FEEL BETTER IF CONCERNS ADDRESSED
• Don’t respond immediately
• Avoid emotional reactions
• Keep HIPPA in mind
• That means you cannot speak directly about a specific aspect of their treatment or care,
or otherwise present any personal patient information

45. DO’S
• Respond promptly
• Consider speaking with patient offline
• Show sincerity and sympathy
• Speak about general policies and standard protocols if you chose to
respond online
• Learn from the review
• Even if the review was poorly expressed

46. SATISFACTION SURVEYS
• Patient satisfaction as patients’ emotions, feelings and their perception of
delivered healthcare service
• Patient satisfaction as a degree of congruency between patient expectations
of ideal care and their perceptions of real care received

47. IRON TRIANGLE OR
TRIPLE CONSTRAINT

48. SURVEYS
Qualitative Quantitative
• Provides accurate methods to measure
patient satisfaction
• Standardized questionnaires (either self-
reported or by interview) have been the
most common assessment tool for
conducting patient satisfaction studies

49. SATISFACTION SURVEY PROBLEMS
• Progressive incorporation of patient satisfaction ratings as a quality-of-care metric
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Committee on Quality
Assurance require participating health plans to publicly report patient satisfaction data
• In a nationally representative sample, higher patient satisfaction was associated
with less emergency department use but with greater inpatient use, higher overall
health care and prescription drug expenditures, and increased mortality
• May promote job dissatisfaction, attrition, and inappropriate clinical care among
some physicians. ALL THIS HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR RIGOROUS EVALUATION OF
OPTIOMAL METHODS FOR SURVEY IMPLEMENTATION

50. SO WHY SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT
IT?
• To provide quality health care, to make that care accessible and timely, and to treat
patients with courtesy and respect
• Patient satisfaction affects clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical
malpractice claims
• It is an ironic fact - the better you are, the better you must become

51. QUESTIONS?

52. SOURCES
• How Patients Use Online Reviews.” Software Advice™, 13 Aug. 2018,
• McGrath RJ, Priestley JL, Zhou Y, Culligan PJ. The Validity of Online Patient Ratings of
Physicians: Analysis of Physician Peer Reviews and Patient Ratings. Eysenbach G,
ed. Interactive Journal of Medical Research. 2018;7(1):e8. doi:10.2196/ijmr.9350.
• Houseman, Kaitlyn. “10 Most Popular Physician Rating and Review Sites.” EHR Medical Billing
| Top EClinicalWorks EHR Vendor, GroupOne Health Source Blog
• “How and Why Patients Use Online Physician Reviews.” PracticeLink Magazine, 18 Feb. 2014,
journal.practicelink.com
• Al-Abri R, Al-Balushi A. Patient Satisfaction Survey as a Tool Towards Quality
Improvement. Oman Medical Journal. 2014;29(1):3-7. doi:10.5001/omj.2014.02.
•

53. SOURCES
• “How and Why Patients Use Online Physician Reviews.” PracticeLink Magazine, 18 Feb. 2014,
• “How to Respond to Bad Online Reviews.” AMA Wire, 11 Oct. 2016,
• Goldman, Eric. “How Doctors Should Respond To Negative Online Reviews.” Forbes, Forbes
Magazine, 21 Nov. 2013
• Wang, Shirley S. “What Doctors Are Doing About Bad Reviews Online.” The Wall Street
Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 26 June 2017
• Stewart.gandolf. “10 Commandments of Online Reputation Management for
Physicians.” Healthcare Success, Healthcare Success, 1 Nov. 2016,
• Fenton, Joshua J. “The Cost of Satisfaction.” Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 172, no. 5,
2012, p. 405., doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.1662.
• Zgierska, Aleksandra., et al. “Impact of Patient Satisfaction Ratings on Physicians and Clinical
Care.” Patient Preference and Adherence, 2014, p. 437., doi:10.2147/ppa.s59077.

54. SOURCES
• “How Patients Search for Doctors in 2019.” rater8, 1 Feb. 2019, rater8.com/blog/how-patients-
search-for-doctors/.
• “10 Online Reputation Management Rules for Physicians.” Medical Healthcare Marketing,
• Hegvold, A. “Physician Online Reputation Management in 2018.” Six Things to Include in Your
2018 Marketing Budget
• George, Daniel R., et al. “Dangers and Opportunities for Social Media in Medicine.” Clinical
Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 56, no. 3, 2013, pp. 453–462., doi:10.1097/grf.0b013e318297dc38.
• “11 Online Reputation Management Techniques for Doctors (The Definitive Guide).” Digital
Authority, 12 May 2019, www.digitalauthority.me/resources/online-reputation-management-for-
doctors-guide/.
• Campbell, Kent. “2019 Online Reputation Management Statistics [May Update].” Online
Reputation Management Blog, Reputation X, 3 May 2019, blog.reputationx.com/online-
reputation-management-statistics.

55. NOTORIOUS
ONLINE REPUTATION FOR
PEDIATRICIANS
Stephen T. Bauch, M.D.
Memphis Children’s Clinic
Drbauch@memphischildre
ns.com
(901) 335-6511 (cell)