Who Reads Physicians Online Reviews
In today’s digital world, we hardly ask for job references, clients or patients referrals anymore. We quickly run a search on Google or any other search engine. Woo unto you if your name or that of your practice returns either negative news, patients complains, malpractice verdicts, messy divorce or any other questionable material.
As a physician, you are certainly judged by your search results. Your patients could simply be reading a critical article, a deceptive blog or even some outdated news about you. Typically, there is a whole lot of bad press hanging around the internet that is likely to harm your online reputation.
Naturally, once your online reputation lags behind, it means that those new patients
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The software will always let you choose which reviews you want published or discarded.
Since patients are paying so much attention to these reviews, Google and other search engines are now paying close attention to online reviews for doctors and medical practices.
Why is online reputation important for Medical Practitioners?
Doctors who maintain their brands online say that about 10% to 15% of their patients found them through their online presence. That included Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn profile or their blog.
Physicians are therefore advised to Google themselves severally to see what comes out from the search engines. No doctor would want to be described by a blog article that has been thrown out of proportion. A negative review from a doctors review website can be equally damaging. Doctors should, therefore, manage their online reputation now before someone else does.
How can Doctors combine social media tools and reputation management software to manage their reputation
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This will have already given them enough mileage. Some may, however, want to increase their presence in social platforms and engage with patients via twitter and Facebook.
Patients, on the other hand award physicians and health practices that use digital tools like blogs, facebook, twitter and LinkedIn. They often book appointments with such practices simply because they connect better with them. They also appear to be more caring and overly supportive.
In conclusion, doctors need to be practical about their online engagement and reputation. Doctors will always have an online presence probably from a third party review site, whether they know it or not. This is not the first online notion that any sensible doctor would want to give patients.
Remember:-
• What is online can either make or break your profession. Patient’s recommendations significantly influence the decision process of other prospective
Doctors are well respected within the realm of American society and are perceived with the highest regard as a profession. According to Gallup’s Honesty and Ethics in Profession polls, 67% of respondents believe that “the honesty and ethical standards” of medical doctors were “very high.” Furthermore, 88% of respondents polled by Harris Polls considered doctors to either “hold some” or a “great deal of prestige”. Consequently, these overwhelmingly positive views of the medical profession insinuate a myth of infallibility that envelops the physicians and the science they practice. Atul Gawande, in Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, provides an extensive view of the medical profession from both sides of the operating table
Caveat lector is a Latin phrase meaning, “let the reader beware.” Health information on the internet is growing at an alarming rate. However, some information on the internet is not accurate or current, and unfortunately, many web sites regarding healthcare offer misleading, incomplete, and incorrect information. Many consumers do not have the knowledge to judge and evaluate the quality of online information. This paper aims to discuss how the website WebMD presents information to readers. It will evaluate WebMD according to its source, where was the source obtained; type of funding, is it commercially funded or private; the validity and quality, how valid is the information and can it be verified; and privacy, is your personal information protected and how?
“We look for medicine to be an orderly field of knowledge and procedure. But it is not. It is an imperfect science, an enterprise of constantly changing knowledge, uncertain information, fallible individuals, and at the same time lives on the line.” There is more to being a great physician than having intellect, clinical experience, and competence in the medical field. A doctor must be daring and genuinely driven to positively impact a patient’s life. A doctor needs stand tall, even in the face of uncertainty.
Technology is a driving force in our society. People can now manage their bank accounts, pay bills, and get their news with the click of the mouse. It only makes sense that the health care industry would join in on these web-based initiatives. More and more providers are using online patient portals as a means for communicating with patients and allowing them to have access to important health information. While patient portals are still in their emerging stages, positive results are being reported from patients and healthcare professionals alike. Online patient portals allow more effective communications between patients and their healthcare professionals by developing stronger, more utilized relationships and by creating a way to get information out to patients more efficiently. Through this enhanced communication there will be patients that are more actively engaged in their treatment, have stronger relationships with their healthcare professionals, and in many cases have improved medical conditions.
Many providers now agree that the use of the Internet such as patient portals results in a more inquisitive and informed patient. (Gwen Van Servellen)One disadvantage as mentioned by Yonette Leacock, an employee of a local hospital, when patients received results prior to speaking to their physicians, patients would read the results and call the radiology department to ask for certain things meant. “One patient actually called and argued with the radiologist about why he describe her as obese in his report”. But as a patient, Yonette agrees that she receives her results in a timely manner and is able to conduct business in efficient manner, instead of calling in and being on hold at her doctors office. Portals are usually linked to a single hospital or office therefore if you had several physicians you frequented you needed to log on to each but an advantage would be if all your physicians belong to one physician group. This would allow for all your doctors to see what each has prescribed or made not of in your charts. Keeping everyone the same page when it comes to your healthcare. One other disadvantage as noted in health news is that small clinics small usually have to absorb all of the start up and training cost involved in using a portal plus the annual usage fee. Smaller clinics couldn’t handle the influx of messages
Randolph, S. A. (2012). Using Social Media and Networking in Health Care. Workplace Health & Safety, 60(1), 44-44.
Doctors have always been regarded as one of the most prestigious professions in the United States. It is up there with lawyers and political leaders. Doctors are usually considered pillars of their communities. From the beginning of our lives to the end of them, we spend quite a lot of time with our doctor’s. It would make sense that we would want to know that there is always going to be enough of them to cover all Americans.
Health care must be fully accountable for quality and the patient experience is simply the patient's perception of quality. Society should question and debate on how healthcare organizations should show improvement for consumers. This can help organizations create reliable health coverage cost and evaluate medical performances for families and individuals in the future. Physicians and organizations are now evaluating patients with collection of electronic data to improve a patient’s...
These days’ health care systems are using social media to improve quality and safety of overall health care delivery, through access to information. Nurses as well as patients can get deta...
As I mention in a privacy post privacy and security of patients records is the main reason social media can be an issue in Healthcare facilities. The breach of patients privacy and security are some of the major negative affect that technology has already has on healthcare. Their is a greater possibility that patients information can be hacked or be exposed easily by people (healthcare workers/providers) through technology (social media)
In the past few years, the popularity of social media has increased tremendously. The board and evolving term ‘social media’ can be defined as a group of web-based applications and technology such as Facebook and Twitter that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content (Power, 2014). A myriad number of social media tools such as Facebook, YouTube, WebMD are available for health care professionals in Australia and globally (Power, 2014). Social Media is valued in health care as it can improve professional networking, student’s education,
Cambell, L. C., Ed.D, Eichhorn, K. C., PhD, Early, C., Caraccioli, P., & Greeley, A. E., .S.T. (2012). Applying the transtheoretical model to improve social media use in the health care industry. American Journal of Health Studies, 27(4), 236-244.
Selvam, A. (2012). The recruiting network. Social media sites, tools become increasingly popular on both sides of job search. Modern Healthcare, 42(31), 36-37.
When it comes to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, nobody wants to think about the negative effects it has on patients. Brian Cayko, the director of clinical education in the respiratory care program at Great Falls College, Montana State University in Great Falls, Montana argues that social media makes it easier for patients. When a patient is not able to acquire care at the medical facility, they can get in touch with their respiratory therapist with the use of social media sites. Cayko also states that social media sites can be helpful as “educational resources, patient support and social and professional networking.” I think that Cayko knows that everyone must remember the negative things about social media and the internet, with the understanding that just because it’s on the web doesn’t mean that it is the truth. No, not everything is wrong with social media sites, I am involved in social media sites myself; however, personally I know that when it comes to an occupation especially in the medical field, you have to be more aware of the negatives than the
But overall experts cannot always be trusted. For example, I often attend the ‘health food’ store with my mother, a place stacked floor to ceiling with vitamins and supplements. One of the workers there only a sophomore in college often suggests certain supplements to the customers. Most take the supplements, purchase them and walk out happy. They trust his opinion. In their eyes he is an expert. Has he had medical training? No. Does he believe it what he offers to the customers? His eyes seem to say so. The customers are looking for a way to solve status ailment and he gives his advice. He’s is very important to people who have little idea what they are doing. Maybe one customer will get curious about this ‘experts’ advice and ask his doctor about it and learn some facts.