Legal and ethical considerations for managing your online reputation
With statistics showing that patients are increasingly going online for healthcare information, managing a physician’s online reputation within the confines of the law and policies regulating professional behavior is becoming more important than ever.
Social media and the proliferation of
Developing a positive online reputation through reviews posted by satisfied patients is the single best way to defend against any online negative reviews that may ultimately befall a practitioner. Indeed, when a negative review is one of no more than a handful of reviews, it can carry a disproportionate amount of weight to the present or prospective patient. However, the negative review appearing in a sea of hundreds of positive reviews is more likely to be seen by the world as an aberration.
If a provider’s reputation comes under attack from a patient’s use of social media or a negative online review, and the provider decides that a response is needed, the method should be driven by analyzing a variety of factors, including the extent of the harm that could be done by responding to the reputational attack.
If the provider knows the patient, he or she can try to reach out to the patient privately try to address any concerns. If the provider doesn’t know the patient, often the best course is to work with an attorney to craft a fair, broad, and general response to the patient’s claim to post on the social media or online review site.
The response should focus attention on the physician’s experience and policies with regard to such situations, express surprise and concern regarding the claim, and assure the public that the physician does not manage his or her practice in the manner the patient is alleging in the online review.
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