Your Reputation Precedes You Four tips for Online Reputation Management BY PAULA WYATT
It is true in healthcare, in life, and in business that a milligram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure.
What is Your Current Reputation Management Strategy? Investing time in conducting an Annual Reputation Refresh will polish all the “word-of-mouth” outlets floating around on the internet and ensure you are leading the online conversation “about YOU.” To get started, define your current growth strategy for your practice. Which are you?
In the healthcare industry, more so than in most others, your reputation does in fact precede you — it defines you. As a physician your reputation is built not only on the positive outcomes you provide for your patients but also on the strength of the bonds you build with patients through positive experiences, and then through their enthusiasm to share their experience, whether it be perceived as positive or negative. Your reputation is further illustrated through the dynamics of your staff, your alliances with referring physicians, and your reputation among other health-care industry professionals. The term “word of mouth” was coined before we had keyboards. Now, it is easier than ever, with the “stroke of a key,” to praise or hurt a physician’s reputation. Everyone gets to vote. In comparing a one-star “my pasta was cold” review that a restaurant might receive to a one-star “this doctor and his entire office are incompetent” review a medical practice might receive, it is clear that both reviews take about the same amount of time to create but have vastly different impacts. This is great news — if you choose to leverage this opportunity to grow your practice. Elevating your online footprint (reputation) is a central part of a comprehensive medical marketing and communication strategy (MCS). Your MCS defines and illustrates your values and commitments to your patients, your practice, and your team, and it establishes a plan (tactics, timelines, and processes outlining how you are elevating your unique specialties and distinctive approaches to enforce your reputation among your patients, your potential patients, and your health-care peers and affiliates). Within the combination of tactics are some that you can control (such as website, social media, email marketing, and outreach efforts) and some that you cannot (such as word of mouth and online reviews). A strong MCS helps you and your staff excel in the things you can control and manage well the things you cannot. If you do not currently have an MCS fueling the growth and ensuring the harmony of your practice, you are not alone. In my experience working with physicians to grow their practices, I would say less than 20 percent have an MCS, and of those who do not, most are not even considering it, which makes having an MCS a clear competitive advantage. Developing a strong MCS is quite an undertaking. It involves integrating long-term financial goals with situational analysis, understanding your patient profiles, evaluating referral paths, and developing your “products” (procedures, treatments, and specialties) as well as tying it all together with an ROI reporting mechanism. If you are like almost every physician I know, you are busy—so I am offering you an effective, inexpensive FIRST STEP.
• My strategy is that patients will find me because I am a qualified physician. I am busy with patients. I do not have time for anything else. • I usually have some people in my office who, when they are not doing their main job, can post on our Facebook page. We try to respond to negative reviews if we see them. • I have a dedicated marketing and communication professional (either an employee or a marketing contractor) who manages the reputation and branding strategy that fuels the growth of my practice.
How to Conduct an Annual Reputation Refresh • Who: Confirm who will be the author of the plan; it can be you, an employee, or a contractor. • When: If you are doing it yourself, plan a weekend in front of your computer to complete 90 percent of it. • How: Start with a blank document in your favorite font, size 10, and double spaced — your logo is the cover page. Then, scan this QR code for an easy-to-follow process.
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Step One | Storytelling • Clear your Google browsing data, and then search (your name and your practice) 10 pages deep on Google. Remember to search Google images, videos, and news. • Copy links of all the places you appear. • Create or refresh the story of your practice (300 or fewer words). • Create or refresh short and engaging bios for yourself (and all physicians in your practice). • Refresh your headshots, group shots, and casual images, for website and social media. • Integrate affiliations, such as hospitals, universities, and medical organizations. • Integrate charitable causes that pertain to your areas of expertise.
Step Two | Physician Review Sites • Of the many physician review sites, I suggest owning at least the top five (Vitals, Healthgrades, ZOCDOC, RateMDs, and doctor.com). Depending on the site, you can establish a free account. You may also consider the benefits of paid membership on a few. • View each referral source, and update image, bio, links, hours, and information. • Create a monitoring schedule and a reporting mechanism. • Address negative reviews with the patient directly.
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FEBRUARY 2021
