The Trend of Threatening Physicians for Personal Gain
(Podcast) The Briefing – Fake Reviews, Real Consequences: Consumer Review Dos and Don’ts
The Briefing – Fake Reviews, Real Consequences: Consumer Review Dos and Don’ts
The FTC’s Proposed Rule Banning Deceptive Reviews and Testimonials
Negative Online Reviews and Reputation Management: Tips for Health Care Practices and Providers
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Advertising & Customer Engagement in the Digital Age - Customer Reviews and Response
How to Find the Identity of an Anonymous Author Online
II-36- Holiday Party Tips, the 2018/2019 Federal Regulatory Agenda, and Noteworthy Cases On Suing and Being Sued
Question: It was recently brought to my attention that a patient posted on the internet false and misleading information regarding treatment I provided to her. The posting also contains false and defamatory descriptions of me...more
Current and potential patients are taking to the internet to share opinions and make decisions about healthcare providers. Good reviews can convert prospective healthcare consumers into patients, while bad reviews,...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that Manasa Health Center in Kendall Park, New Jersey entered into a Resolution Agreement and Corrective Action Plan to...more
Unhappy consumers, including patients, are free to express dissatisfaction with services they receive from providers on popular social media or online review platforms, such as Yelp and Google. At least in the healthcare...more
February 2023 has been a busy couple of months at the Federal Trade Commission. High-profile consumer protection actions and announcements span a broad spectrum of digital advertising and marketing. From “review hijacking,...more
Your practice receives notification that an online review has been posted about you or the medical practice. You immediately check out the review and realize that the patient has left a scathing, negative review, which you...more
I don’t know how to say it any more clearly. Somehow, medical and dental practices continue to get roped into responding to negative patient reviews on Yelp, Google, or elsewhere online, and posting any identifying...more
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently imposed a $50,000 civil monetary penalty on a dental practice that disclosed patient-identifying information in response to a negative online review. The case is a reminder that...more
Health care providers should take heed of the $10,000 settlement announced on October 2, 2019 between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and a small dental practice based on...more
An unsurprisingly large number of medical and dental practices regularly monitor patient reviews or opinions posted on social media in order to, among other things, respond to unfairly negative or even blatantly false patient...more
Elite Dental Associates, Dallas (Elite Dental) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entered into a $10,000 no-fault settlement agreement and two year corrective...more
Healthcare providers face a dilemma when patients post complaints or make other statements on social media. Just because a patient has made certain information public does not mean that the provider can also post protected...more
When healthcare providers are subject to a bad review on Yelp! or similar customer-review websites and apps, it can be difficult to hold back and not provide a response or at least attempt to clarify the situation....more
There is no doubt that social media has its benefits, especially for medical practices that have come to use it for marketing and advertising. However, risks are lurking. On October 2, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health...more
The latest HIPAA resolution agreement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a reminder that healthcare providers must take the high road when responding to unflattering online...more
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services announced it reached a settlement with Elite Dental Associates of Dallas (Elite) to resolve a complaint alleging Elite impermissibly disclosed a...more
On October 2, 2019, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it had reached a $10,000 monetary settlement with a Dallas-based dental practice to settle...more
No business likes to receive bad reviews on Yelp® or anywhere else in social media. When they do, some feel the need to respond to clarify or rebut the reviews, but they must do so carefully....more
ProPublica, a public interest investigative newsroom, recently identified more than 3,500 one-star medical reviews on Yelp in which patients complained about privacy issues. ProPublica determined that “in dozens of instances,...more