Mid-Atlantic Health Law TOPICS

Doctor reviews on the internet are taking caveat emptor, or "buyer beware," to a new level. Patients are making inquiries about a provider's reputation on the internet, but the information they are finding might, of course, be true or false. Accordingly, health care providers should know what is on the web about themselves, and know their responsibilities for that content.

A. Monitoring

Online conversations about you or your organization are occurring, with or without your sponsorship. But how do you control the message and protect your reputation?

If your website contains a comment feature, you maintain a blog or contribute to social media groups or health related communities, you should regularly monitor all comments. You should also regularly search the internet to ascertain what is being said about you. Google Alerts is an example of an application that will notify you when you are mentioned somewhere on the internet.

Armed with this knowledge, you can engage in discussions as well as provide updates and corrections. Your response to negative comments should be conciliatory rather than defensive. Without divulging anything private or that could personally identify a patient, address each issue raised calmly and factually.

B. Responsibilities

Health care providers also need to know that they are responsible for reviews they sponsor. The American Medical Association's policy on use of social media expects health care providers routinely to monitor their own internet presence to ensure the accuracy of their own posts. The AMA policy also requires that health care providers monitor content posted about them by others to ensure it is appropriate and accurate.

In addition, many bloggers who mention or review products or services have a relationship with the service-provider, or are paid to do so. Health care providers may not know it, but they must comply with the Federal Trade Commission's guidelines on endorsements and testimonials. Moreover, the FTC considers reviews to be deceptive and misleading if the connection or payment is not disclosed.

Health care providers also often engage advertising agencies or others to manage their presence on social media sites. If they permit those agencies to compensate reviewers for favorable endorsements or testimonials without disclosing the relationship, the health care providers are responsible for all posted content, and could face FTC fines of as much as $16,000 for each violation, as well as ongoing FTC monitoring.
In fact, review websites, such as Yelp®, advise people NOT to solicit reviews. If someone is caught trying to purchase favorable reviews, Yelp® prominently posts a "Badge of Shame" alert.

Also, it is possibly illegal to pay for a favorable review even if disclosed. Most states have anti-touting statutes that prohibit doctors from paying others to bring them patients, and there is little law yet on the application of those statutes on paid endorsements.

Two Takeaways: Know what's out there; and Caveat Venditor! While truthful social media reviews might not make a business, bogus or deceptive ones just might break it.