I was recently featured in an article on AMED News and ReachMD (12:45) talking about how doctors should handle negative posts by patients on social media sites. I stated that doctors should never go on the offensive against negative postings and instead should work on “getting on top” of negative messages.
The principle is simple; you can never make everyone happy all the time so by nature some people will post negative messages. If you’re a good hospital or doctor, many of the patients you serve are happy with the work you do. Therefore, as a good practitioner or facility, if you give patients an opportunity to speak positively about you they will. More positive messages will always drown out negative messages.
Think about it like this, if you see a Yelp posting about a restaurant and 15 people say it’s great and one say it’s terrible… Who are you going to believe?
Doctors or hospitals can make it easier for patients to review them by taking some simple steps:
Give Them a Place to Talk:
The first step in gathering positive views is to create a place where you can collect these reviews. These collection points can be a simple website, a Facebook fan page, Twitter or a Yelp page associated with your facility.
Direct Patients to Your Collection Point:
Simple in-office signage or web address printed on a prescription receipt can tell a patient where they can comment on your service or facility.
Make it part of the Procedure:
Nurses and doctors deal with patients first hand. At the end of a visit take a second or two to remind them if they enjoyed the visit, or even if they had problems, that they can comment on their visit online.
DO NOT CENSOR (most of the time):
When thinking about censorship remember this, NEVER CENSOR ON CONTENT, ONLY DELIVERY. By this I mean if a patient complains about your facility or practice that is fine, let them complain. If your collection point is set up with any form of interactions, many times patients will come to defend you. If a patient is swearing or badgering other users you can sensor on those grounds and those grounds only.
Actually Listen and Act:
If patients are consistently complaining about your service, terrible seating, rude staff, horrible bedside manor or just about anything, chances are it’s actually happening. Why not address the issue and then once the issue has been resolved let everyone know you were listening and you fixed the problem.
Don’t be Afraid:
The number one rule is to not be afraid. Patients talk about you or your practice already; it may be at luncheons, with neighbors or at work. If you do ‘good’ and are providing great care most of what they will say will be positive. Why not give them a place to say it. Sure some people will be negative but more often than not the positive messages will rise to the top.
Do you have any examples of how you garnered positive feedback from your patients? Let me know.
Tags: doctors, Hospitals, Social media
