good website, because for the most part, a person may look for you, they're just going to look at your website. Is there a nice picture of you, or is there a little history of where you went to school, what your practice philosophies are? And that's often what they're looking for, because, I'll be very honest, I'm never going to pick a doctor based on a Yelp review, simply because I pick a doctor based on a friend that referred me. Now, I'm not going to say I won't look, but that's not going to make as big a difference, but I think we do have to have a social footprint, if you will, or a media footprint with online access. And so, I'd say, first, what are you looking to gain or what are we looking to do with having the type of website ... Well, one, does it look professional, as you pointed out? Does it give the patients what they're looking for? What is your technique, what is your philosophy, how long have you been in practice? And then, of course, if you can have some testimonials of patients, but I wouldn't really have it accessed where people could then simply comment on it. That would be where you start getting into doing Twitter, and Facebook, and Instagram. Those are such a public forum, now you have to be very careful, because anyone who has an ax to grind can certainly start to do things to you, and I've had doctors in the past essentially blackmailed with types of reviews that you have to be very careful of. Then, of course, we have the whole HIPAA thing. So there's nothing wrong with, I think, having a social media footprint, but doctors have to be much more careful, because unlike someone reviewing a cover for a cellphone, this is now something where it's a healthcare-related field where there could be some very private information that a doctor could potentially lose his license over information that he posts online, and therefore, we want to be very careful with that. I totally agree with you, Sam, all the way through, and my experience in talking to the doctors and seeing what is being put out there, website, we can all agree it's important to maintain a good website. However, in the age of social media, people are going to have Facebook interaction, as well as these other medias. And one of the things that I have addressed, in terms of like Facebook, is that you should have a separate Facebook page for your business, rather than a Facebook page that is your personal page, that you are now engaging your patients, along with the party you went out drinking and have pictures all over Facebook, or your family outing at the lake, or all of these things. People like to mix the business and the pleasure, and sometimes they ought not be mixed, and that can get people into a challenge as well. Oh, I agree. In fact, here's what I would say, as a general rule, I agree that you should have a Facebook profile for your business, but I would also leave it one that's kind of closed, that's moreso where people can look and then you can post updates and newsletters and it's more informational than necessarily interactive, so you can be found, not to say someone couldn't post. And when you have your personal Facebook account, I will implore doctors, "Do not use
Dr. Hoffman:
Dr. Collins:
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