Patient Resources on Covid-19 Vaccines

ODA MARKETING COACH

Managing Marketing | Legal and Ethical Aspects of Marketing Online Reviews / Social Media

According to the marketing intelligence agency Mintel, 70% of those consumers who seek advice before purchasing a product or service visit online review sites for information as part of the decision-making process. Many times, service providers or business owners who receive negative ratings say that online ratings sites are unfair and that allowing reviewers to post anonymously encourages them to post without regard for the facts. While that may or may not be true, the reality is that online reviews are a fact of life in today’s online world. See the articles Online Reviews and Negative Online Reviews in this module for more details about how to manage this aspect of your practice’s online presence. If your practice is the subject of a negative online review, you may be able to protect its online reputation, or minimize the fallout, by addressing the following steps. More information is available in the article titled Negative Online Reviews in this module. • Decide how to handle any negative review on a case-by-case basis. Some dentists opt to simply ignore them. • If you decide to respond, do not engage or get drawn into an online debate over the incident that prompted the negative review. Doing so can make you appear defensive, confrontational, or accusative and may inadvertently reveal protected healthcare information.

• Make sure that any response presents you as the caring, concerned and compassionate dentist you are. Consider a statement along the lines of: • “I’m sorry to hear that you had a less than exceptional experience at our office. I would like to learn more about what happened and how we can improve the situation. Please contact us as soon as possible so we can make things better.”

• Also make certain that any response offers no hint as to the identity of the person posting; always protect the patient’s privacy. Copyright © 2020 American Dental Association. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. For additional resources on how to grow your practice, visit the ADA’s Center for Professional Success at ada.org/success.

Future issues of the ODA Journal will include individual articles from this module, but you can see the module in its entirety at http://success.ada.org/en/ practice-management/marketing.

COVID-19 Vaccine Resources

NEW PATIENT RESOURCE ON COVID-19 VACCINES: Help educate patients on the importance and safety of COVID-19 vaccinations with this new article from the ADA's MouthHealthy.org. "COVID-19 Vaccines: 7 Things Your Dentist Wants You to Know" shares essential vaccine facts and helps debunk common vaccine myths. Check out the article at MouthHealthy.org/vaccine.

ADA RELEASES TOOLKIT FOR INCREASING VACCINE CONFIDENCE: The ADA has released a toolkit to help dentists increase patients' confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. The downloadable resource includes answers to commonly asked questions, advice for social media interactions and tip sheets for dispelling myths about the vaccines and sharing science-based recommendations for pregnant women or those planning to start a family. An Associated Press poll in February found a third of American adults harbored doubts about COVID-19 vaccines. Find the tool kit at bit.ly/3chdm6n.

The ADA and ODA continue to monitor developments related to COVID-19 vaccine authorization and

administration. Visit ADA.org/virus for the latest information.