NEW YORK, NY — (Marketwire) — 01/18/13 — Social networks can provide endless hours of amusement, communication, and even information retrieval — but for members of the medical profession, they can also provide dire consequences. According to a recent NPR report, doctors can be severely penalized if they misuse or abuse Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social platforms; the report notes that medical licensing boards have limited patience for unprofessional and undignified social media posts, and that doctors who are reckless in their social media use can see their careers ruined. The report has won the attention of ReputationChanger.com. all of the latest trends in online reputation defense, and has weighed in on the NPR report with a new statement to the press.
In the press statement, company CEO Cliff Stein says that, for doctors, online reputation management is of the essence. “It is not at all far-fetched to say that patients — or members of licensing boards — will seek you out on social networks,” warns Stein, addressing doctors of all stripes. “If a patient sees his or her doctor posting drunk, slovenly photos to Facebook, or tweeting disrespectful or potentially defamatory comments about patients, rest assured that the doctor will face severe consequences.”
Stein goes on to say that these potential consequences are diverse. “If a licensing board gets wind of this ill-advised social media use, doctors can face very significant disciplinary matters,” he explains. “Even if the licensing board never gets wind of it, though, the effects of a poorly-managed online reputation can be brutal. Patients will not stand by doctors who present themselves as untrustworthy or unprofessional, and as such, entire practices can be brought to ruin.”
The good news, according to Stein, is that there are actions doctors can take as they seek to defend their online reputations. “The first step, obviously, is to be aware of the fact that what you post to the Internet matters a great deal — and that irresponsible posting can have major consequences,” he says. “Medical professionals ought be careful with their social media activity, and also make sure they are aware of what kinds of privacy settings they have on their various accounts.”
Sometimes, though, doctors can face online reputation problems that are beyond their control. “Doctor review sites, like HealthGrades.com, are taken very seriously be many consumers,” explains Stein. “As such, a doctor who incurs a negative review on one of these sites might find that his or her patient numbers start to dwindle. Again, the effects on a practice can be ruinous.”
When these bad reviews hit, Stein says the best course of action is usually to enlist the services of a firm like ReputationChanger.com. “Given the weight that these reviews have with patients and potential patients, medical professionals do not want to leave these defamatory reviews unaddressed for too long,” he offers. “It is vital to counteract them are promptly as possible.”
Online reputation management companies seek to counteract them by flooding the Web with positive information about the doctor and the practice in question. “We cannot make bad reviews disappear, but we can basically make them non-issues,” concludes Stein. “We can inundate the search engines with so much good, glowing information about the doctor, those negative reviews and other unwanted posts will fade from the public-s eye.”
online reputation defense needs on behalf of doctors, dentists, and businesses of all kinds.
ABOUT:
ReputationChanger.com was launched in 2009; the brainchild of a devoted team of online marketing professionals, ReputationChanger.com was founded with the intent of giving companies and individuals greater control over how they are presented online. Today, ReputationChanger.com stands as the leading company in its industry; staffed by a large team of marketing pros, social media gurus, content developers, Web designers, and SEO professionals, ReputationChanger.com reviews the online reputation defense needs of businesses and brands, private citizens and public figures.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login