Online Reputation Management for Plastic Surgeons: 9 Review Websites You Need to Know

Plastic surgeons face unique online reputation management challenges, primarily because their patients usually pay out-of-pocket (as opposed to with the support of insurance providers). Additionally, everyone has slightly different standards on what constitutes “good work,” so online reviews depend significantly on personal preference. Consequently, in the overall class of physicians, the online reputation of plastic surgeons is more likely to be attacked by disagreeable patients and rogue negative reviews.

Among the physicians we work with, plastic surgeons exhibit the greatest need for short-term damage control (and also receive the greatest return-on-investment when practicing online reputations management).

All third-party review sites, where rogue patients leave unfair reviews, have two primary flaws:

1. No Reviewer Accountability

Who left the review? Who is filtering for the legitimacy of the reviews? Are these reviews an accurate representation of the skills and qualifications of the physician? Did a competitor leave the review? Why are false negative reviews so tricky to remove? Usually, all of those questions go unanswered, which is why we suggest protecting your online reputation proactively with an online reputation management service.

2. Over-significance of Single Reviews

A single review, often negative and unjustified, represents only the snapshot of a physician’s performance. In the past, you received referrals from satisfied patients, who then told friends and family. That’s a very workable commercial engine. Now, those same referrals first visit the Internet to read unaccountable reviews (see above), dramatically affecting the flow of new patients to your practice. That break in the referral process is another reason we strongly support preemptive online reputation management for plastic surgeons.

To monitor your online reputation, here are 9 review websites in the “must know” category broken down into some key areas you may care about (i.e. is it free to use? Are reviews filtered out? Etc.).

Website	Free for patients?	Can you advertise?	Do they “filter” reviews?	Can you delete negative reviews?
RateMDs.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	Sometimes
Vitals.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	Sometimes
Healthgrades.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
RipOffReports.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	Sometimes
Healthgrades.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
RealSelf.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	Sometimes
Google Reviews	Yes	No	Yes	Sometimes
AngiesList.com	No	Yes	Yes	Sometimes
uCompareHealth.com	Yes	Yes	Yes	No