Physician reviews in social networks

Web sites help physicians track patient comments

Monitoring patient reviews on sites such as HealthGrades, Vitals, and Angie’s List can be time consuming, but it is important to read those reviews and address them in daily practice. While some may just be a disgruntled patient who is having a rough day, reviews on sites like Angie’s List, which require reviewers to pay to post a review, should be taken seriously.

MDWebPro created a free tool called Get My Reviews that will make the monitoring process easier. This tool gathers patient reviews of physicians on the top 18 review sites, including Wellness.com,  Yahoo! Local, and Citysearch, and sends physicians a summarized report. It will also continue to track any new patient reviews on the sites.

Another approach is to generate positive patient responses on multiple channels. Steven Bates, a plastic surgeon in Palo Alto, CA, created a new system called DocsVox to help combat the current inefficiencies of patient surveys. DocsVox uses email, social media, and mobile apps to generate more patient responses and create more statistically significant ratings. This new system is just one reason why it’s a good idea for hospitals and physicians to embrace social media.

Creating a presence in social networks

More commonly, physicians are using social media, websites, and blogs to connect with patients professionally online.  There are two main reasons physicians should take the time to develop an online presence: to build relationships with patients and for reputation management.

Web content and frequent posts through social channels can provide enough information about themselves and their practice so patients can feel like they really know them. While posting content on a blog, on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest or your Twitter account won’t prevent negative comments, it can ensure that quality information appears in the first page of search results and minimize the weight of online reviews.

Even if physicians currently don’t have the time to start posting or aren’t sure if they want to add a new social media site to the mix, Cash suggests they set up accounts under their names “to prevent other people or organizations from misrepresenting or diluting [their] identity.”

For more on physician review sites, download the white paper “The Socialization of Medicine.”