Aaron Watkins, Senior Director of Internet Strategy and A. Jay Khanna, MD, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery presented this one hour session at the Healthcare Communicators Conference on online physician reputation management in an era of consumer-generated content on sites like Vitals, Healthgrades, Yelp, Google+, and others

1. Manage your online physicians’
profiles and reputations
Presented by
Aaron Watkins, Sr. Director, Internet Strategy & Digital Content Marketing
A. Jay Khanna, M.D. , Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Vice Chair, Professional
Development, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

2. Aaron Watkins
Senior Director of Internet Strategy and
Digital Content Marketing
@aaronwatkins
A. Jay Khanna, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Vice Chair, Professional Development,
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Reputation Management on left-nav.blogs.hopkinsmedicine.org

3. The Internet Strategy Team
We connect the people of the world
with the people of Johns Hopkins
Medicine
3

4. The Internet Strategy Team
Create opportunities for
meaningful interactions and
access to a complex
organization.
– Provide the right
information at the right
time.
– Connect the right people
at the right time.
– Create a positive online
experience to support and
4

5. Source: Pew Internet, The Social Life of Health Information, 2012
What are they looking for?
• conditions or diseases
• treatments or procedures
• names of doctors or other
health professionals
Integrated Web Strategy
77% of health activity begins
here

6. Industry-Leading Growth
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Sources: Experian Hitwise, ForeSee
6
www.hopkinsmedicine.org
• Highest increase in visits among
hospital web sites over 5 years
• #3 most visited hospital /
academic medical center web site
• One of the highest visitor
satisfaction rates in healthcare

7. Visits to hopkinsmedicine.org
faculty-physician profile pages
grew 20% in FY15
Hopkinsmedicine.org Profiles
http://tinyurl.com/ocu9htt
7
20%

8. Reputation Management
8

9. Reputation Management
9
What We Need to Know
• The public is seeking consumer-generated content, and physician rating
sites such as Vitals and Healthgrades are gaining in popularity and use.
• The online profiles on hospital web sites are our physicians’ most
competitive and effective resource to provide information at the top of
search engines.
• Institutional transparency presents new opportunities to compete and will
soon be the industry norm.
• Physicians can provide a great experience and encourage grateful
patients to create positive content about them.

10. Reputation Management
10
What We Need to Know
• The public is seeking consumer-generated content, and physician rating
sites such as Vitals and Healthgrades are gaining in popularity and use.
• The online profiles on hospital web sites are our physicians’ most
competitive and effective resource to provide information at the top of
search engines.
• Institutional transparency presents new opportunities to compete and will
soon be the industry norm.
• Physicians can provide a great experience and encourage grateful
patients to create positive content about them.

11. Proliferation of Physician Review Sites
11

12. Industry Stats & Trends
Slide Courtesy of Binary Fountain

13. Reputation Management
13
What We Need to Know
• The public is seeking consumer-generated content, and physician rating
sites such as Vitals and Healthgrades are gaining in popularity and use.
• The online profiles on hospital web sites are our physicians’ most
competitive and effective resource to provide information at the top of
search engines.
• Institutional transparency presents new opportunities to compete and will
soon be the industry norm.
• Physicians can provide a great experience and encourage grateful
patients to create positive content about them.

14. Source: Pew Internet: Health Online 2013
- Nationwide survey of 3,014 adults living in the United States. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline and cell phone
between August 7 and September 6, 2012.
- 72% of internet users say they looked online for health information within the past year
Doctor Profile as Center of Physician
Reputation Strategy
• 77% of online health seekers
began their last session at a
search engine
• 13% began at a site that
specializes in health info
(like WebMD, Vitals, etc.)
• 2% began at a more general site
(like Wikipedia)
• 1% began at a social network site
(like Facebook)
14

15. Search Engine Optimization
55% of searchers select from the
first 3 positions in Google.
Source: moz.com/blog/google-organic-click-through-rates-in-2014
31%
14%
10% 7% 6% 4% 4% 2%
1 2 3 4 5 6-10 P. 2 P. 3+
15

16. • Designed as sole source of truth
• Foundation of credentialed data
• Engaging content including videos
• Editable by physicians and trained
editors who know them well
• A centerpiece of all information and
linking strategies
• Critical connector for patients,
colleagues, collaborators and students
to our faculty and physicians
Hopkinsmedicine.org Profiles
http://tinyurl.com/ocu9htt
16

17. Physician & Faculty Profile Pages
Quality content enables data-sharing with:
• Doximity
• US News
• ShareCare
• Google+
• Vitals
• Healthgrades
• and other sources for physician
information
Often includes link-backs to
hopkinsmedicine.org profiles 1
7

18. Delivering Content in Search Results
Case Study: Ellen Stein, MD
• 45% of click-throughs
deliver content from Johns
Hopkins Medicine
18

19. Delivering Content in Search Results
Case Study: A. Jay Khanna, MD
• 49% of click-throughs deliver
content from Johns Hopkins
Medicine
• 27% deliver content that Dr.
Khanna or his patients have
influenced
• Google+ delivers content from
Hopkins Medicine 19

20. Reputation Management
20
What We Need to Know
• The public is seeking consumer-generated content and physician rating
sites such as Vitals and Healthgrades are gaining in popularity and use.
• The online profiles on hospital web sites are our physicians’ most
competitive and effective resource to provide information at the top of
search engines.
• Institutional transparency presents new opportunities to compete and will
soon be the industry norm.
• Physicians can provide a great experience and encourage grateful
patients to create positive content about them.

21. Trusted Resources for Selecting a Doctor
When it comes to choosing a doctor,
which of the following types of information
do you trust?
#1 - 63% - Recommendations from
people I know
#2 - 42% - Reviews from other patients
#3 - 40% - Doctor or hospital websites
National Research Corporation
2015 Digital Decision Maker Study (n=3,002)
21

22. Reputation Management-CG CAHPS
22
Did the provider
• Explain things in a way that was easy to
understand?
• Listen carefully?
• Show respect for what you had to say?
• Have your medical records?
• Spend enough time with you?

23. Consumer Transparency Pioneers
23

24. Reputation Management
• University of Utah Healthcare first
to market to display patient
satisfaction scores
• Displays an average score of ‘1-5’
for each question and physician
• Transparency – Only reviews with
PHI and defamatory comments are
removed
• Exceptional Search Engine
Optimization results
http://tinyurl.com/pefwjyc 24

25. 25
Stars increase
click through rates by 150%
Catalyst Search Marketing – How Rich Snippets Can Improve Your CTR

26. 26

27. dr bob mann
Ratings Impact in Search Results
27

28. Ratings Impact in Search Results
dr bob mann
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29. Ratings Comparison – Dr. Bob Mann
Piedmont Website
- 4.8 out of 5
- 472 ratings
Healthgrades
- 3.8 out of 5
- 12 ratings
Vitals
- 3.5 out of 5
- 6 ratings
Rate MDs
- 2.5 out of 5
- 5 ratings
29

30. In 2014, Piedmont Healthcare went live with National Research Corporation’s
Reputation solution and became the second hospital system in the country to
embrace transparency by publishing verified patient comments online.
Piedmont has experienced significant improvements as a result.
Increased Page
Views
585%
Consumers
accessing the
physician
directory
Top Spot on
Google
90%
Physicians hold
the #1 position in
Google Search
(vs. 40% before)
Average Search
Position
1.2
For piedmont.org
when searching
by physician
name
IMPACT
Piedmont Healthcare Case Study
30

31. Transparency
Goal:
Pilot the presentation of
satisfaction ratings in faculty-
physician profiles.
Roll out physician training to
increase service excellence
across the system.
31

32. Reputation Management
What We Need to Know
• The public is seeking consumer-generated content, and physician rating
sites such as Vitals and Healthgrades are gaining in popularity and use.
• The online profiles on hospital web sites are our physicians’ most
competitive and effective resource to provide information at the top of
search engines.
• Institutional transparency presents new opportunities to compete and will
soon be the industry norm.
• Physicians can provide a great experience and encourage grateful
patients to create positive content about them.

33. Reputation Management

34. Tips for Physicians
• When a patient asks how they can help you, ask them to
write a review on Vitals.com. Vitals is one of the few
physician rating websites where users can give a written
review along with their ratings.
• Take a few minutes to review your hospital’s online profile
page and confirm that information such as your phone
number, address and clinical interests are up-to-date.
34

35. Tips for Physicians
• Put iPads or other devices in waiting rooms or at the
checkout desk. It takes 30-50 seconds for patients to
complete a survey that provides invaluable real time data.
If there’s a need for service recovery, your office can do
that immediately.
• Operational issues often impact physician ratings as much
as the interaction with the physician. Make sure staff know
exactly what questions are on the survey. When they
understand the importance of their role in the patient
experience, they bring their A game.
35

36. Maximize Online Content
• Web pages through specialty/sub-specialty societies
• Videos
– Explanation of diagnoses and procedures
– Patient testimonials
• Images
• Hyperlinking of websites/pages to your “core” content
• Accurate addresses and phone numbers on Vitals,
Healthgrades and related websites.
36

37. Weighting of Patient Satisfaction Factors
37

38. Weighting of Patient Satisfaction Factors
38

39. Weighting of Patient Satisfaction Factors
• 1,164 adults completed a 13-item web-based quantitative
survey
• To weight patient satisfaction favors and describe online
health seeking habits
• Proportional weights for each patient satisfaction factor for
surgical and non-surgical providers
• For both types of providers, thoroughness of examination
and ability to answer questions ranked among top factors
• Patients weight some factors as more important than
others and some patients are more likely to post online
than others
39

40. Weighting of Patient Satisfaction Factors
40

41. Weighting of Patient Satisfaction Factors
41

42. Weighting of Patient Satisfaction Factors
42

43. Online Physician Promotion
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44. Online Physician Promotion
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45. Online Physician Promotion
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46. Online Physician Promotion
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47. Online Physician Promotion
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Slide Courtesy of Binary Fountain

48. Online Physician Promotion
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Slide Courtesy of Binary Fountain

49. Online Physician Promotion
49
Slide Courtesy of Binary Fountain

50. Online Physician Promotion
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Slide Courtesy of Binary Fountain

51. Live Demonstration of Binary Fountain Platform
51

52. Reputation Management
52
Tips for Communicators:
• Position hospital profile pages as the center
of a reputation management strategy.
• Grow your content, ensure accuracy, and
share strategically.
• Communicate roles. Identify how physicians
can get involved – especially in ensuring
accuracy in professional societies and in
Healthgrades, Vitals, etc.
• Embrace transparency.

53. Reputation Management
53
Tips for Physicians:
• Focus on your patients’ needs.
• Update content – on hospital profiles, on
Vitals, on professional societies.
• Hyperlink to “core” content.
• Implement real-time feedback tools for
patients in your office.
• Operations play a key role in ratings.
Educate staff and share patient feedback.

54. Aaron Watkins
Senior Director of Internet Strategy and
Digital Content Marketing
@aaronwatkins
A. Jay Khanna, M.D.
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Vice Chair, Professional Development,
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Reputation Management on left-nav.blogs.hopkinsmedicine.org
Thank you!