DrChrono Blog

Every month over 10,000,000 patients turn to the internet to find a new doctor or evaluate a referral.

While your time as a doctor is best spent treating patients, here are three easy ways to ensure your online presence is accurate and optimized to help you attract the right patients to your practice.

1. Claim and update online directory profiles

Google your name and you’re likely to find dozens of online directories with a profile for your name.

While many of these sites are poorly built and don’t seem worth spending time on, some of them are important hubs where patients turn to find and research doctors.

• John Smith, MD
• Dr. John Smith
• Dr. John Smith, San Jose, CA

As we announced in March, we’re such strong believers in the value of having an optimized online presence that we partnered with BetterDoctor to allow you to sign in to your pre-populated profile using your drchrono login.

Here are the top three ways to get the most value out of doctor search directories:

• Add a unique photo: Not only do most directories prioritize profiles with images, patient surveys have shown they’re far more likely to book an appointment with a doctor they can see.
• Customize your bio: Beyond the basics, use your bio to address the top questions you get from patients. Ideas include your story about why you chose a career in medicine, your treatment philosophy and special skills you have.
• Update your insurance plan data: Not only will this help you appear on more results pages, this will help remove patients who have insurance plans you don’t accept.

2. Update information with state licensing boards

A large amount of the incorrect data found on the various doctor search directories (see above) is taken from publicly available state licensing board records.

We recommend checking your information at least once a year or any time you move/change practices. The National Plan and Provider Enumeration System is a great starting point to check for these most common types of misinformation:

• Cell or home phone number listed instead of business
• Home address listed of practice address
• Incorrect practice address

3. Setup a Google Alert for your name

One of the easiest ways to keep tabs on what’s being published about you online is to setup a free Google Alert for your name, which will email you any time your name is mentioned.

While it may take some trial and error to determine which keywords return the most accurate results, we recommend starting with multiple terms so you don’t miss anything

Bonus: Setup a custom profile for your entire practice

If you’ve done everything listed above, an easy way to further improve your online presence is to setup a custom page for your entire practice. Of all of the options available, we recommend BetterDoctor’s advertisement and competitor-free product which includes a professional photo shoot and interview with a professional copywriter.