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

Even since I began residency 4 years ago things have changed exponentially. Pho and Gay are brilliant in their positive take on the value of social media in medicine, and that it's not going away folks. No matter how much we avoid it, wish it would go away or dissuade patients and colleagues from using it, it simply isn't going to happen. Pho and Gay bring some relief in this fact. They give tools to grasp the vast nature of social media, organize it and use it to our benefit and a benefit of our patients. This is as much a self-help book as it is a primer on physician reviews and social media, as it is a reference for protecting your career and limiting personal and professional risk associated with participating in online communication. A thousand thanks to the authors for bringing this to our table.

We all have the ability to connect with our friends, family, and business associates - practically whomever we wish, in new ways that few even considered twenty years ago. Social media connects us in real time and allows us to share amazing volumes of information freely online.

Establishing, Managing and Protecting Your Online Reputation by Kevin Pho, MD and Susan Gay is a book that establishes how physicians too are blessed with the ability to connect with their peers internationally, partake in online conferences and chats and, most importantly, communicate and interact with their patients in new ways. Once physicians embrace these technologies, social media can enhance their practices and open doors to new opportunities not otherwise realized.

Today, there are an increasing number of websites and platforms where physicians' reputations are being built, whether they are aware of it or not. Although physicians spend an inordinate amount of time studying complicated medical text books and journals, this book is a fast, easy read. It presents itself as a 290 page, enjoyable guide filled with researched facts, true stories and online best practices proven to work. Physicians can no longer view social media as simply a way to connect with family and friends. This book can set doctors and their staffs on the right course for managing online reputations and also growing their medical practice business!

If you're a physician (or any other type of professional), Google your own name and see what comes up. Do you show up at all? Is the content flattering and complimentary or can you spot embarrassing facts and false information? Today's patients go to Google first to learn about their doctors' reputations. And guess what? Social media content is found by the search engines, so beware!

Authors, Kevin Pho, MD and Susan Gay make a strong case that physicians must be proactive and no longer stand on the sidelines allowing patients and others to post inaccurate or damaging information about them. The authors worked diligently to seek out their peers and elicit their online experiences for us, which are sprinkled throughout the text. In addition, they have done an excellent job researching social media platforms and websites, using their analyses to provide readers with the best tools available. As the subtitle suggests, this is a guidebook where readers can follow the step-by-step instructions laid out to create or enhance their online presence. Physicians and others will learn best practices for each social media platform.

In summary, Dr. Pho and Susan Gay teach us why a good social media offense is a good social media defense.

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.