A friend sends you a link to an online review posted by the mother of a patient you recently saw.
I took my toddler to see this doctor for an ear infection. He didn’t listen to me, claiming my daughter had a virus and antibiotics wouldn’t help. Two days later, she still wasn’t feeling well, so I took her to urgent care. They prescribed an antibiotic, and it worked like a charm. By Sunday, she was doing great. Stay away from this terrible doctor.
Physicians’ online reputation can impact the success of their medical practice. Therefore, it’s important to cultivate a virtual reputation.
Following is some guidance on how to build a positive online presence and handle negative reviews, while being cognizant of privacy and consumer protection laws.
Keep tabs on reviews
Fostering a positive online reputation begins with active management. Routinely check major medical review sites by using a search engine such as Google or Bing. Consider registering on the review sites, as they may permit you to add personal and practice information.
Get into the habit of asking families with whom you have a good relationship for positive reviews to build your online reputation and dilute rare negative reviews. However, do not condition the provision of medical care on leaving a good review. It also is inappropriate to ask nonpatients to leave positive reviews.
Recently, The Seattle Times reported that a physician was fined $5 million for requiring patients to sign nondisclosure agreements and having employees create false accounts to place positive reviews.
Responding to negative reviews
Invariably, you will be faced with a negative online review. You can take a variety of actions in response.
First, consider ignoring the review. This would be most appropriate if the complaint is minor. If you have an overall high rating, one negative review is unlikely to have a significant impact.
In certain circumstances, you can contact the patient/family who posted the review. When taking this approach, make sure you listen completely to the complaint and respond in a nondefensive manner. If you can reach common ground, ask the person to remove the review or update it to reflect the interaction.
Reviewers also may confuse physicians and post a review meant for another practitioner. In such circumstances, ask the site to remove the review.
Posting responses
Physicians are permitted to post responses to online reviews but must do so carefully, given the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and state privacy laws.
Even acknowledging that the patient receives care in your practice would be a violation. An apology also would be problematic because the individual would be identified as a patient.
Responses can state general policies, practices and protocols, and should focus on the general patient experience. It would be appropriate to state that your response is limited due to privacy laws.
Putting lessons into practice
With careful attention to these parameters, a thoughtful response usually can be crafted.
Consider the following online review: “My son was sick with the flu. We arrived early for our appointment, but several children who arrived after us were seen before him. We had to wait 40 minutes — a horrible experience with a sick child.”
Poor response: “We are sorry about your experience. In truth, you arrived 35 minutes early for your appointment. Patients are seen in the order of their appointments, and you were seen within five minutes of your scheduled appointment time.”
Proper response: “Due to privacy laws, we are not allowed to respond to specific complaints. Our office policy is to see all patients arriving at or before their appointment time in the order of their appointment time.”
Rarely, a review is so heinous and inaccurate that it could devastate the physician’s reputation. In such situations, a formal approach is appropriate. Consider a complaint alleging that a physician touched a child inappropriately. In this case, consultation with an attorney is critical. The attorney likely would send a cease-and-desist letter to the person who posted the review, demanding the review be removed. It also might be appropriate to file a lawsuit for slander, libel or defamation.
With careful attention to online reviews and measured responses you can maintain a stellar online reputation.
Do’s and don’ts
When managing your online reputation:
- Check your reputation regularly.
- Consider asking for positive reviews.
- Limit review responses to general practice information such as policies, procedures and protocols.
- Remember your options for dealing with a negative review: ignore, reach out, ask site to remove the review, contact your lawyer.
- Don’t respond to reviews with specific patient information, including acknowledging that the reviewer is a patient in your practice.
- Don’t ask patients for a review as a condition of treatment.
Although you are frustrated by the online review, you know you can’t respond directly. You decide to ignore the review because you have a stellar online reputation and many positive reviews.
Dr. Bondi is chair of the AAP Committee on Medical Liability and Risk Management.
