MARKETING YOUR PRACTICE

Is Your Online Reputation Costing You Patients?

By Sonda Eunus, MHA, CMPE

What does your online reputation say about your practice? If you have a negative online reputation, you are missing out on new patients every day. Most medical practices now get the majority of their new patients through Google and other search engine queries, such as “Pediatrician in Orlando”. If your practice appears in these searches, the most common next step for a potential new patient would be to check out your reviews – what are other patients saying about your practice? It has been reported that 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business and that online reviews influence 67% of purchasing decisions (Bright Local). For this reason, it is incredibly important to pay attention to the rating and reviews that your practice has on search engines, social media platforms, and local online business directories.

However, despite the importance of cultivating a positive online reputation, only 33% of businesses report actively collecting and asking for reviews (1). One great process to set in place at your practice is asking for patient reviews after each patient visit. It can be as simple as training your front office staff to ask each patient how their visit went while checking them out, and if they receive favorable feedback then they can ask the patient to please leave a review on Google or Facebook about their experience. If they receive negative feedback, this feedback should be taken very seriously, and management should be notified as soon as possible so that the issue can be mitigated before the patient decides to post a negative review.

Setting up an automated text or email campaign that asks each patient for their feedback after their appointment is also a great way to improve your online reputation as well as to correct any issues that may be occurring at your practice. When you receive feedback from patients, you are then able to prompt them to leave a public review on Facebook, Google, Yelp, Healthgrades, or other applicable review platforms. However, you must be aware that legally, you are not allowed to only direct people with favorable feedback to leave reviews, which is known as review-gating – so if you are implementing an automated system like this, just make sure that you are aware of this limitation. There are online reputation management platforms which allow you to customize the messages that people see when they leave negative feedback as opposed to positive feedback, but both of those messages must still offer the option to leave a public review. However, if you create your message in such a way as to communicate to the patient who may leave negative feedback that you are working hard on resolving the issue and that someone will be in touch shortly, that may prevent them from leaving a public negative review.

When you receive a public review on Google, Facebook, or other review sites, make sure that you respond to it – either by thanking them for a good review or by asking them to contact you to discuss how you can improve their experience. Do not argue or try to defend yourself online – try to speak about it with them privately, fix the issue, and ask them to remove the review if possible. When you receive great reviews, make sure to cross-share them on your various social media platforms. You should also create a “Reviews” page on your website and add all great reviews to this page. This instantly adds credibility to your website.

Finally, make sure that when you look over the feedback and reviews that you receive, you are paying attention to what the negative reviews are saying – this is a great opportunity to identify current process challenges and improve your patients’ experience at your practice. Need help managing your practice’s online reputation? Visit www.lms-plus.com to see how Leading Marketing Solutions can help.

Sonda Eunus is the CEO of Leading Marketing Solutions, a Marketing Agency working with Medical Practices and other Businesses to help them identify the best marketing strategies for their business, create a strong online presence, and automate their marketing processes for a better return on their Marketing budget. Learn more about

Leading Marketing Solutions at www.lms-plus.com. 

By Farhan J. Khawaja, MD

As president of the Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute, I am privileged to lead a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists, heart surgeons, vascular surgeons and cardiovascular professionals who provide comprehensive care to patients from across the state of Florida and the Southeast. Minimally invasive intravascular lithotripsy and mitral valve surgery are just two examples of the scope of services offered that continue to revolutionize cardiovascular care. NOVEL TECHNOLOGY BREAKS UP DEEP VASCULAR CALCIFICATION

In the care of heart disease, the Shockwave Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) System is an innovative treatment option for severely calcified coronary arteries. The technology, which was previously granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the Food and Drug Administration, received pre-market approval in 2021. Based on established treatment for renal calculi, IVL now can be used to safely expand heart arteries and restore blood flow in patients requiring coronary revascularization. A U.S. pivotal study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology confirmed the primary safety and effectiveness of coronary IVL in clinical trials, with a low rate of major adverse events and a high rate of procedural success.

During this minimally invasive procedure, the IVL catheter is delivered to the heart through a small incision in the patient’s arm or leg. The balloon catheter contains integrated lithotripsy emitters, which produce sonic pressure waves to create a series of microfractures that break apart problematic deep vascular calcium buildup that is restricting the blood flow in the vessels of the heart. This helps open the blood vessels when the balloon is inflated (angioplasty). After using the Shockwave system, a stent will be implanted to keep the vessel open.

With IVL, calcium buildup is more easily cleared and with less trauma to the vessel. Shockwave technology offers high procedural success with minimal patient discomfort, while lowering the risk of complications such as major dissections, perforation and distal emboli. The procedure takes about 30 minutes, with patients discharged the next day.

“Patients with heart blockages that might have been hard to fix due to risk of complications can now have them repaired safely and return to normal activities without chest pain,” says Vijaykumar S. Kasi, MD, PhD, interventional cardiologist and director of cardiovascular research at Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute. Dr. Kasi also has used shockwave therapy to unblock peripheral and renal arteries and published the first article in the world about using the technology for stenosed renal arteries. He continues to advance clinical research studies to improve the understanding of the novel technology. EASING THE TRAUMA OF MITRAL VALVE SURGERY

Mitral valve repair is a cardiac surgery procedure to treat stenosis or regurgitation of the mitral valve, which consists of two triangularshaped flaps leaflets that connect to the heart muscle. While median sternotomy has been the traditional gold standard for mitral valve repair and replacement for decades, surgeons at Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute are taking a slightly different approach, bypassing the open surgery that involves cracking a patient’s sternum in favor of minimally invasive valve procedures. These less aggressive techniques access the mitral valve leaflets through tiny incisions, providing patients with a treatment option that reduces physical trauma, bleeding and recovery time. Most patients leave the hospital within days and have few restrictions on their activities. “If there are other reasons to do a sternotomy, that’s fine,” says Paul Massimiano, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon and medical director of cardiac surgery at Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute. “But our starting position for every patient is to do the least invasive procedure we possibly can. Our comprehensive program allows us to offer different techniques based on the individual’s needs.”

One example of minimally invasive mitral valve therapy is MitraClip™, an implant device used to treat mitral regurgitation (MR), the most common type of heart valve disease. While surgery is often deemed the standard treatment for MR, nearly 50 percent of patients are considered too high risk for surgery because of other illness or advanced age. During the MitraClip procedure, the permanent device is guided through a catheter inserted into the femoral vein — with just a small incision in the upper leg — to the heart. The surgeon then deploys a clip that grasps the mitral valve flaps, closing the center of the mitral valve and reducing the size of the gap. By reducing the gap between the malfunctioning flaps, the backflow of blood (regurgitation) is reduced. Heart function gradually improves, relieving MR symptoms and improving the patient’s quality of life.

Rigorously conducted clinical trials have shown that successful MitraClip procedures will result in fewer hospitalizations for heart failure, improve quality of life and provide relief of symptoms.

At Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute, we believe patients should know if they are candidates for minimally invasive procedures, rather than just being told that the only option is a traditional open-heart procedure. Often, they are. They just weren’t aware of the options.

Farhan J. Khawaja, MD, is an interventional cardiologist and president of the Orlando Health Heart and Vascular Institute, specializing in interventional cardiology, peripheral endovascular interventional cardiology and vascular medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular diseases, interventional cardiology, nuclear cardiology, vascular medicine and endovascular medicine, and is a registered physician in vascular interpretation (RPVI). Dr. Khawaja earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College in New York. He completed his internal medicine residency and cardiovascular diseases fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, followed by fellowships in interventional cardiology, and vascular and endovascular medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. He also served on the faculty of Columbia University as an instructor of medicine. Dr. Khawaja is a fellow of both the American College of Cardiology and the Society for Cardiovascular

Angiography Interventions and has been published in multiple journals. 