Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices

The availability of online health information combined with social media channels like Twitter and Facebook has created a new generation of patients. They are empowered. They have a voice in their own care that they never had before. And they’re not afraid to use it. Bottom line: If doctors don’t take steps to define themselves, patients will.

Maybe you’re not a big social media user – but your patients are. And they rely on social media sources when they’re finding a doctor or a medical practice. In fact, a recent study concluded that, 80% of new patients and 60% of prospective new patients consulted physician review sites in making their decision. Given these stakes, you can’t afford to leave your online reputation to chance.

Kick off your social media efforts today with Establishing, Managing and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices, a comprehensive guide to physicians and social media not available anywhere else. In addition to unique insights from a practicing physician, social media pioneer and author Dr. Kevin Pho, (KevinMD) this book offers doctors a step-by step guide on how they can brand themselves on all of the major social media networks. It also provides insider tips on how to respond to online ratings and a guide on how to work with all of the major reviews sites. Don’t let social media chatter define you. Take control of your online reputation now – or someone else will!

From the Foreword, Robert Wachter, MD, says, “. . . whether we like it or not, our online reputation is becoming the main prism through which we will be known – to colleagues, to friends, to patients, to prospective employers. . . . With this realization comes the recognition that we can no longer afford to be passive observers of our online persona.”

NOTABLE FEATURES:

* Written by Kevin Pho, MD and co-author Susan Gay. Dr. Pho's blog, KevinMD.com, has been voted the best medical blog, and he has over 100,000 subscribers on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and RSS. Contributor to USA Today, CNN, and the New York Times, and cited regularly by major media.

The book covers:

* Why an online presence is important for doctors
* How patients use social media in choosing doctors and practices
* A step-by-step guide for how practices can brand themselves on all of the major social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs) and drive Google traffic through content
* Profiles of the major ratings sites, including Vitals, Yelp, RateMDs.com, Angie’s List, ZocDoc and Google+ Local
* Tips for managing your online reputation
* How to respond to online ratings

* Guidelines to online professionalism

* Anecdotes and case studies from Health 2.0 leaders like Susannah Fox, Kerri Morrone Sparling, “E-patient” Dave deBronkart, Natasha Burgert, Wendy Sue Swanson, and Bryan Vartabedian.

Foreword written by Robert Wachter, MD, Dr. Wachter, a board certified internist, is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Associate Chairman of UCSF’s Department of Medicine, Chief of the Medical Service at UCSF Medical Center, and Chief of UCSF’s 50-faculty Division of Hospital Medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Pho is a board-certified internal medicine physician and founder of KevinMD.com, which Forbes called a "must-read health blog." Klout named him the web's top social media influencer in health care and medicine, and CNN named @KevinMD one of its five recommended Twitter health feeds. Transforming his social media presence into a mainstream media voice, he has been interviewed on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and his commentary regularly appears in USA Today, where he is a member of their editorial Board of Contributors, as well as CNN and the New York Times. His opinion pieces highlight the challenges everyday doctors face, ranging from the primary care shortage to the epidemic of physician burnout. Dr. Kevin Pho practices primary care in Nashua, NH. He received his medical degree and completed residency at Boston University School of Medicine, and is a member of the New Hampshire Union Leader's 2010 class of New Hampshire's 40 Under Forty.

usan Gay is a medical publisher and content strategist with over 25 years' experience in medical publishing leadership. Known for her foresight and vision in creating ground-breaking publications, she has published several hundred books, journals and multi-media products, many of them market leaders. Her creative imprint can be seen in such pioneering works as the 5-Minute Clinical Consult and the Netter Collection reference works. As Vice President and Publisher at Williams & Wilkins (now Wolters Kluwer Health), Susan was the first clinical publisher to apply branding strategies to a clinical publishing program. Earlier in her career, she was an award-winning editor at Mosby and served as president of the American Medical Publishers Association. Through it all, Susan has had a keen eye toward the forces that shape medical practice. Today, she is focused on the digital future of medicine and all that it means for clinical medicine and medical education.

Dr. Wachter, a board certified internist, is Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Associate Chairman of UCSF's Department of Medicine, Chief of the Medical Service at UCSF Medical Center, and Chief of UCSF's 50-faculty Division of Hospital Medicine. His blog, Wachter's World (www.wachtersworld.org) is one of the nation's most popular health care blogs. Modern Physician magazine has ranked him as one of the 50 most influential physicians in the U.S. for each of the last five years, the only academic physician to achieve this recognition.