Patient blasts his eye doctor on Facebook
Dear readers,
Pasted below is a word for word copy of a Facebook post I stumbled on while reading another site over this weekend.
Note; this was posted on June 12, 2009. It was still there on March 8, 2010.
Michael’s Facebook Page
"I was at an eye doctor's office yesterday with my two children. When we walked in I noticed the window to the desk was shut. But they at least had a couple posters up telling us what to do. The room was packed...
This is THE most PATHETIC customer service I've ever experienced...
And I've had some rough experiences! They want NO contact with their customers... None! They not only have a sign at the front window saying keep the window shut... But they are very clear that customers are not to "tap" on the glass! Sign in and Sit down! And wait. We've been waiting more than 40 minutes to see the Dr. and we're still waiting! At least it's giving me time to share this story with all my friends. Oh, and there is not enough seating here so we're out in the hall.
Lesson: Don't treat your customers the way (Name Removed) Eye Center treats their customers. This may be the last time we ever visit here.” End of Michael's post.
Rather chilling if you ask me!
How would you like to have your patients, and other consumers in your town, reading this?
There are two takeaways here.
One, your patients really, really hate to be ignored and to be kept waiting. Michael articulates these sentiments much better than I ever could. More on these topics later.
Two, Michael’s rant, fair or not, illustrates what a powerful force even one unhappy consumer can become with online social media.
Facebook isn't just kids
Given that 45% of Facebook users are over 26 years old and the fastest demographic is women over 55, you can bet that many of your patients are already on line. And no doubt, writing about their experiences in your practice.
What can you do about patients complaining online?
I used to go to a great Italian restaurant where the owner would walk around during the evening and ask his patrons, “How was your meal”?
His standard comment was, “If you enjoyed your dinner, tell your friends. If you didn’t like the food, tell me and I’ll fix it.”
That’s the type of message you need to deliver to your patients.
Facebook is a medium you cannot afford to ignore. Best case, open an account for your practice, it’s free. This will provide your patients to give you feedback.
At the very least, make sure one of your more computer savvy employees has a Facebook account and is actively looking for online comments about your practice.
I would like to hear from any of my readers who have a Facebook account for their practice. Please click discuss if you have any Facebook experiences to share, good or bad?
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To comment, simply click on the words 'Click To Discuss' in red below.
Regards,
Jerry Hayes, OD
Disclaimer: The information and opinions contained on this site are for discussion purposes only and are NOT intended to serve as legal, accounting or investment advice. ©2010 Jerry Hayes, OD. Not to be reproduced without written permission of the author.
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one way to monitor social media comments
Hello Jerry,
There is a company out of Greensboro, NC called Medical Justice (877-633-5878).
It's a service that weekly scans the internet for negative feedback comments, blogs, and such against you and your practice and then provide a channel via Contract Law to get the comments removed from the social media site and the internet.
Getting negative comments removed otherwise is pretty much impossible if you try because of Free Speech, but by having a patient sign something at check-in stating that they agree to not say bad things about you and you agree to do the same for them falls under Contract Law. This is enforceable and this company has good success at getting the comments removed from social and medical rating sites.
Because social media is becoming a force for those 35 and under, I want to protect myself against some of its negative power.
My office provides very good service and try our best to work with patients to solve the problem, but my reputation is of great value and needs to be protected.
Thanks and I enjoy your blog,
George Hertneky, OD
interesting! I like the
interesting!
I like the idea of having a service monitor online comments...
I am not sure how practical it is to have patients sign a form stating they agree not to say bad things about you.
Does anyone out there actually use this type of form? JH