Transparent Doctor

Basic qualifications

1. A Transparent Doctor informs all patients that they can leave a review. Just attach the card to the other documents you give patients.
2. A Transparent Doctor accepts all patient reviews and links to them on his or her website.

Transparent Doctor badge

Brief summary of current online doctor reviews

• Online doctor reviews are here to stay. You can find them on review sites or discussion sites.
• Good is better than perfect. A score of 4.78 out of 5 is better than 5 out of 5. You need some critical reviews in order to seem authentic – no doctor has 100% satisfied patients.
• Letting patients know you are interested in their feedback can get you significantly more positive reviews. Plenty of positive reviews will outweigh a few negative ones.
• There’s no way to stop unhappy patients from sharing their experiences. If they don’t write about it on one site, they can just go to another one.
• Reviews are like nuclear reactions. You want them managed and under control.
• There’s no getting away from doctor reviews these days, so keeping tabs on your online reputation is the best self-defense.
• Defending yourself in court is impractical. It’s slow, expensive and ineffective.

Word-of-mouth recommendations from satisfied patients are an incredibly effective advertisement for doctors. The internet makes word-of-mouth reach much farther than ever before.

Benefits for the Doctor

• Get a large number of positive reviews in just a short time.
• Attract more patients.
• Raise your credibility. Participating in this system is a sign of transparency and professionalism for doctors and clinics.
• Compete based on the quality of your services rather than price.
• Get objective reviews that will protect your reputation and give you a place to communicate with patients.

Benefits for the patient

• An easy way of choosing a professional, responsible doctor.
• Better communication for the patient in the post-op phase.
• More professional approach on the doctor’s part in handling any complications.

Sample information cards for patients		Transparent Doctor widget on a doctor’s page

Criteria for doctors joining in the program

1. Doctors must inform every patient of the opportunity to leave a review. This information has to be given in written form, such as a card given pre- or post-op, which keeps the reviews objective, since all patients have the opportunity to leave feedback, not only the satisfied ones. Doctors get objective feedback from their patients and show that they care about patient satisfaction. The end result is increased trust between patients and doctors. (The doctor can hand the information card to patients in person or attach them to the other documents the patient receives.)
2. Doctors or clinics must put the widget on their website with a link to the “leave a review” form so that website visitors can write their recommendations. We recommend placing the widget on the homepage or the footer of each page. For clinics with more than one doctor, you can put the widget for a specific doctor on the page with that doctor’s bio and profile.
   The client may not edit the content of the widget.
3. Doctors can respond to negative reviews:
   1. by commenting under the review,
   2. by hiding the review,
   3. by contacting the patient and convincing them to remove the review.
   Doctors receive an email informing them of negative reviews.
4. Doctors have seven days before the negative review is published to communicate with the patient or dispute the review for objective reasons. Doctors receive an email informing them of negative reviews.

Conditions of use for patients

1. Patients must describe in detail the reasons for the score they are leaving: what was good, what was bad, and why. No profanity, personal attacks or unsubstantiated claims are allowed (such as Dr. So-and-so is the worst doctor ever, the best orthopedist, etc. – patients have no way of knowing who is actually the best, since they don’t know every orthopedist in the world and even if they did, they have no way of evaluating them).

2. Patients may be asked to provide before/after pictures, which will be used if the negative review is published on the doctor's profile.

3. If the doctor denies having performed the procedure, we will ask the patient to provide proof of payment or a contract. (These documents will not be shown online.)

4. The doctor has the right to respond to review, if needed response can be completed by before after photographs taken during the procedure and follow-up checks.

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