Establishing and Protecting Your Online Reputation.

The Internet has given rise to amazing medical resources for physicians and patients, but it has also created some serious obstacles to doctorpatient relationships. One potential obstacle is your online reputation. In the past, managing one’s reputation in the media was primarily the concern of celebrities, politicians, and other famous people. Today, about 30 percent of all online searches are of individuals’ names, and everyone has to be concerned about their online reputation. For example, employers conduct online searches for information about job candidates, blind dates “Google” each other, and, yes, patients search for information about physicians. Many factors influence how a patient selects a doctor, including word of mouth, recommendations from friends, and referrals from other physicians. Social media and online reviews are playing an increasingly important role in physician selection. Social media influences more than 40 percent of consumers’ decisions on choosing a physician, according to one study, and 59 percent consider physician rating websites “somewhat important” or “very important” when choosing a doctor. A poor online reputation can supersede a physician’s education and training, at least to potential new patients. Websites that originally were designed to review restaurants are now being used to rank medical professionals using the same one-to-five-star system. Poor ratings can keep a prospective patient from selecting a physician in the same way it might deter a consumer from trying a new restaurant or hair salon, with similar financial results. A Harvard Business School study demonstrated that a one-star increase in the rating of an independent restaurant on a review website led to a 5 percent to 9 percent increase in sales. An absence of online reviews and ratings can negatively affect a physician’s practice too. A 2014 study showed that 72 percent of people trusted a local business more if they could find at least some positive reviews