Management of Online Reputation

Educational Objectives

The goal of this program is to improve the management of online profiles of physicians. After hearing and assimilating this program, the clinician will be better able to:

1. Formulate strategies to improve the on-line reputations of physicians.

Summary

Third-party websites: rate physicians and hospitals; younger patients visit sites more frequently; 88% of users trust online review as much as personal recommendation; 44% of patients will seek out-of-network physician if recommendations better than in-network choices

Example of RateMDs.com: claims >2.6 million medical reviews; neutral or negative reviews account for 40%; difficult to remove posts or profile; relationship with physicians antagonistic; issues with integrity of website — payment of $250/mo allows physicians to hide some negative ratings; physician may also post own ratings and advertise on other physicians’ pages; website methodology cryptic; not possible to validate identity of patient, and one individual may post multiple reviews; basic information on physician sometimes inaccurate; very difficult for physician to respond to complaint without violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; absence of surveillance compromises fairness and accuracy; sample bias inherent drawback; Ellimootil et al (2013) reported that founder of RateMDs.com receives one legal threat from physicians weekly; lawsuits rarely succeed

Strategies: speaker recommends refraining from responding to complaints; encouraging patients to write favorable reviews unhelpful; inability to control ratings should be accepted; best approach to place positive information between online consumer and unregulated website; 91% of Google users do not search beyond first page of search results, and >50% do not look beyond first 3 results; flooding internet with positive information important strategy in management of online reputation (drives third-party websites downward on search engines); contact website designer of group or institution; algorithms available to drive desired links to top of Google search; social media — creating accounts recommended; avoid overlap between personal and professional lives; cater profile to only one intended audience; Facebook account should be open to friends only (do not accept invitations from patients); participation in private surgical groups helpful; assume that no information private; Twitter suitable only for professional use; e-mentorship — American College of Surgeons’ communities recommended; source of useful information; allows quick access to colleagues

University of Utah quality improvement project: electronic questionnaires sent to patients resulted in dramatic increase in response rates compared with written questionnaires; published unfiltered questionnaire scores; high volume of reviews drove site to top of Google search; while negative reviews must be published, majority of reviews positive; positive ratings for University of Utah and its physicians increased dramatically (26% of physicians now in 99th percentile of patient ratings)

Readings

Capko J: Five ways to boost your practice’s online reputation. Med Econ 2016 Apr 25;93(8):49; Ellimoottil C et al: Choosing a physician in the Yelp era. Bull Am Coll Surg 2013 Nov;98(11):20-1; Ellimoottil C et al: Online physician reviews: the good, the bad and the ugly. Bull Am Coll Surg 2013 Sep;98(9):34-9.

Disclosures

For this program, members of the facult and planning committee reported nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgements

Dr. Langenfeld was recorded at the 29th Annual Jagelman/39th Annual Turnbull International Colorectal Disease Symposium, presented by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and held on February 14-17, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For information on the next Jagelman/Turnbull International Colorectal Disease Symposium, please go to clevelandclinicmeded.com. The Audio Digest Foundation thanks the speakers and the sponsors for their cooperation in the production of this program.

CME/CE INFO

Accreditation:

The Audio- Digest Foundation is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Audio- Digest Foundation designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Audio Digest Foundation is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC's) Commission on Accreditation. Audio Digest Foundation designates this activity for 0 CE contact hours.

Lecture ID:

GS652204

Expiration:

This CME course qualifies for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for 3 years from the date of publication.

Instructions:

To earn CME/CE credit for this course, you must complete all the following components in the order recommended: (1) Review introductory course content, including Educational Objectives and Faculty/Planner Disclosures; (2) Listen to the audio program and review accompanying learning materials; (3) Complete posttest (only after completing Step 2) and earn a passing score of at least 80%. Taking the course Pretest and completing the Evaluation Survey are strongly recommended (but not mandatory) components of completing this CME/CE course.

Estimated time to complete this CME/CE course:

Approximately 2x the length of the recorded lecture to account for time spent studying accompanying learning materials and completing tests.

More Details - Certification & Accreditation