Be Ready for a Blog Attack

Via Micro Persuasion:

"The Economist this week looks at how bloggers impact corporate reputations... Every company - and I mean every - must have a plan for how they will handle a blog crisis."

The hospitals are not different. It is just a matter of time before a major health institution realizes that is subject to negative blogging by a patient(s) or a doctor.

With sites like RateMDs.com where negative reviews are published, it is likely that soon a "bad publicity" post will make it to the top 10 results on Google. Consumers often Google their health conditions and 10% of visitors to a hospital's website become patients.

A hospital should be prepared for a "blog attack" just like any other company.

References:
The blog in the corporate machine. Feb 9th 2006. The Economist.
Bloggers: an army of irregulars. Paul Reynolds, World Affairs correspondent, BBC News website.
Blogs Will Change Your Business. BusinessWeek.com.
Blogs amplify the power of hospital critics. Kevin, M.D.

Image source: OpenClipart.org (public domain)

1 comment:

  1. Interesting point about hospitals. We developed a site which aggregates patient opinion on hospitals in the UK - http://www.patientopinion.org.uk/

    Plus see http://www.headshift.com/archives/002762.cfm
    for the background blurb, and link
    to us at Headshift.

    ReplyDelete