JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is an emerging practice strategy that emphasizes the systematic and proactive monitoring of online reviews relating to one’s professional reputation.

Objective:

We developed this survey project to assess whether radiation oncologists are aware of ORM, and how it is utilized in their practices. We hypothesized that ORM is largely unknown by most practicing radiation oncologists, and that little time is spent actively managing their reputations.

Methods:

An online survey was submitted to 1,222 radiation oncologists using the Qualtrics research platform. Physician emails were gathered from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) member directory. 85 physicians initiated the survey while 76 physicians completed ≥94% (15/16) of the survey questions and were subsequently used in our analyses. The survey consisted of 15 questions querying practice demographics, patient satisfaction determination, ORM understanding, and activities to address ORM and one question for physicians to opt-in to a $50 Amazon card raffle. The survey data was summarized using a frequency table and data was analyzed using Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact test.

Results:

We calculated a 7% (85/1,222) response rate for our survey with a completion rate of 89% (76/85). A majority of respondents (n = 68/76, 89%) endorsed being somewhat or strongly concerned about patient satisfaction (P < .001). However, 58% (n = 44/76) reported spending zero hours per week reviewing or managing their online reputation and 39% (n = 30/76) reported spending <1 hour per week (P < .001). A majority of physicians (n = 43/76, 57%) endorsed no familiarity with ORM (P < .001), and 70% (n = 53/76) did not actively manage their online reputation (P < .001). Although 83% (n = 63/76) of respondents strongly or somewhat believed that patients read online reviews (P < .001), 57% (n = 43/76) of respondents did not check their online reviews (P = .25) and 80% (n = 61/76) endorsed never responding to online reviews (P < .001). 58% (n = 44/76) strongly or somewhat supported the idea of managing their online reputation going forward (P = .0012).

Conclusions:

ORM is presently under recognized in radiation oncology. Although most practitioners are concerned about patient satisfaction, little effort is directed towards the internet on this matter. ORM offers an area of practice improvement for many practicing radiation oncologists.