Managing Your Internet Reputation for Orthopaedic Surgeons

1. Managing Your Internet Reputation for Orthopaedic Surgeons Christian Veillette M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC Assistant Professor, University of TorontoShoulder & Elbow Reconstructive SurgeryUniversity Health NetworkAffiliated Faculty, Techna InstituteEmail: 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 • 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

4. Your Internet presence What people see when they “Google You” Anything that appears in a SERP Your responsibility What is online reputation? You can be the driver of your online reputation or the passive recipient! Which do you choose?

5. 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

6. Customers are online Prospects are online Competitors are online People pissed at your for no reason are online Future of your practice is online Why is ORM important?

7. 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 Health consumers online 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?

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. Relatively few use hospital ranking and doctor review sites Do we really need to worry? 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. 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 Don’t use “gag contract”

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. 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 Monitor what people are saying

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

25. Monitor MyReputation

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

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

29. 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 3. Professional Listing Sites

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

31. 6. Create “Big 5” Profiles The Big Five

32. Manage Create Linkedin profile

33. 6. Expand Your Scientific Network Connections/Answers • Literature Based Network Reference Manager/Network Share/Follow

34. Create Google Scholar profile http://scholar.google.ca/

35. Manage 7. Connect Blog/Twitter/Facebook

36. Manage 8. Share your videos/talks/images

37. Manage 9. Review Physician Compare Sites Correct mistakes and false information Add professional achievements – awards & articles Consider paid listing

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

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

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

41. 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 Mitigate your online reputation risk

42. 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 Mitigate 1. Review and respond 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!

43. 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 2. Encourage positive reviews

44. 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 3. Let patients complain to you

45. 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 Summary

46. Questions?