Doctor reputation management

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How to improve a doctor’s business reputation on the Internet and what patients pay attention to when choosing a clinic and specialist — Topface Media experts answered in the article.
The specifics of working with reputation in the medical industry
A medical center's positive reputation may be at risk due to risks and systemic problems with service directly in clinics or in the company's online services.

It will be easier to restore a reputation after significant losses if you engage in ORM: regularly interact with the media and social media, develop an expert image, work with review sites and other platforms where patients share feedback on services.

The largest Russian website for reviews of doctors, prodoctorov.ru, has more than 16 million visitors per month. Every day, clients leave ratings and comments on the quality of medical care, and future patients use the information to find the most reliable and competent doctor.

According to a Brightlocal study , 84% of users rate reviews social media marketing service of healthcare services as "very important" and "important" for decision making, because the quality of medical care directly affects a person's health.

A client will not choose an unknown doctor with a damaged business reputation. If a user is confused by something in the opinions and impressions of other patients about a doctor, they are likely to refuse to contact this specialist. Therefore, clinics and doctors must monitor what patients write about them online.

Working with reviews is an important part of ORM for medical companies, but it is not enough to strengthen online reputation. Reputation marketing for medical brands should include: publishing expert content on the clinic's blog and articles on partner and specialized Internet resources, as well as developing and promoting the personal brand of employees.
How patients choose a clinic and specialist
In the medical field, the client's choice depends on both the reputation of the clinic and the image of a specific specialist. Consumers of private medical services can be divided into 2 types according to their priorities.



The first, when choosing a place for treatment, are guided first by the rating of the medical institution and then choose a specialist there; the second go to the doctor who has inspired confidence in them, no matter where he works. When choosing a medical service, these consumers first study information about the specialist who will provide it - they look at reviews and ratings. Patients care about the business reputation and personal qualities of the person who will take care of their health; they want to know more about their doctor. Having found a suitable specialist who can be trusted, a person is likely to constantly seek medical help from him.

Reputation management in the medical industry must be done in such a way that the needs of both types of clients are satisfied. This is a doubly difficult task: you need to simultaneously monitor the image of the medical center and its medical staff.

If a doctor has a positive professional image and develops as an expert, focusing on the audience of patients, this has a positive effect on the rating of the medical organizations in which he practices.
How consumers choose where to receive treatment
Recommendations
Medical companies, especially network ones, can directly influence this channel of customer acquisition with the help of referral programs. For example, provide a bonus reward for a patient who came on the recommendation.
example of contextual advertising
Source: dental clinic website

When choosing a clinic and doctor, most patients prefer to rely on reviews from relatives and friends or, secondarily, other users on the Internet. The patient's decision when looking for a specialist can be influenced by the opinion or advice of his attending physician, who is an authority for the person.

A separate type of recommendation is advice in influencer blogs.
Search the Internet
The company's website, social networks, publications about the doctor in the media and reviews - the user studies all available Internet resources before making a decision to make an appointment with a specialist.
Ways to Manage the Reputation of a Medical Clinic
Ratings and reviews
Ask patients to leave ratings and reviews on popular rating platforms — directories of medical organizations. Simplify the process for clients: place QR codes on receipts, at the clinic reception or in the doctor's office.
SERM and SEO
Check that the website pages are indexed, search engines display it among the first results, and the company card contains only positive reviews. Information about the clinic should be updated and synchronized on all platforms where the brand is present. Uniform and accurate data on different sites improves the rating. The user will not encounter conflicting information, and his loyalty to the brand will not suffer.
Social listening
Patients express their most honest opinions about a company in a comfortable environment — on social networks. Special social listening tools will collect all mentions of the brand on any platform and help promptly respond to comments that require attention. Using this method, you can learn about real but not obvious problems and try to fix them.
Replies to reviews
Most patients who leave a negative review feel better if the clinic listened to their review and acknowledged the problem. An important condition for working with reviews in medicine: always prioritize the confidentiality of patient data.
Promoting positive reviews
They will save your reputation when negative comments about your company or employees appear online. Share high ratings and patient gratitude on your doctors’ personal social media pages and on brand resources.