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Internet ResourcesRacking up Facebook likes

Background.—Social networks such as Facebook, You-Tube, Twitter, Googleþ, and Pinterest compete for ourattention during personalmoments but they can also enhancehow businesses interact and communicate with their cus-tomers. For adental practice, social networking is used tobuilda community and a following with consistent engagementthrough dialogue between the practice and the patient. Thereareways to use socialmedia, specifically Facebook, to drive upyour ‘‘likes’’ and grow the practice’s online presence.

Ways to Increase ‘‘Likes’’.—If you already have a Face-book page, you should know that the default Facebook webaddress for that page is a long string of randomly assignednumbers and letters. Once you have 25 likes on yourpage, you are qualified to set up a unique web address(URL) for your Facebook page (a vanity URL). A short URLis more memorable and easier for your community to useto access your page. To see if you have a vanity URL, youcan go to your Facebook page and look at the address bar.If the address is www.facebook.com/yourusername, youare set. If not, you can go to www.facebook.com/usernameand follow the instructions.

All marketing efforts should be linked to your Facebookpage. Each page of your practice web site should carrya Facebook link. It should also be added to all your market-ing pieces, including business cards, letterhead, televisionads, newspaper articles, radio ads, electronic communica-tions, and digital signs.

Quick Response (QR) codes should be added to all yourpractice-branded give-away items, such as postcards andflossers. These barcodes are readable by smartphonesand can link to your Facebook page.

E-mail communications should also carry a link to yourFacebook page. Patients prefer to receive their appointmentreminders by e-mail rather than phone by 3-1. E-mail ap-pointment reminders that include a link to your Facebookpage can promote your practice to this captive audience.A patient communication system can be used to send e-mail to each patient with a specific message asking thatthey like the practice on Facebook. A link to Facebook canbe included with your signature line for e-mails.

Making a donation to a charity can spread the wordabout your practice. For each like you get on Facebook,you can offer to donate a dollar to a community charity. Peo-ple can then support a good cause and help grow your prac-tice. The program can be promoted through press releases,office announcements, and the Facebook page itself. Thecharity chosen should offer a considerable presence, whichwill help spread the word.

For just a few dollars each, you can design a simple pagewith a Facebook logo, print copies, and place them in pictureframes in highly visible areas of your office. Stickers can alsobe placed in your window promoting your Facebook page.

Having an iPad or iPod touch chairside can encouragepatients to like your Facebook page. One doctor grew hispractice’s Facebook likes by 1000 in a single month by al-lowing patients to use the device after they first liked thepractice’s Facebook page.

You can also have a contest on Facebook. It is importantto be sure you remain in compliance with Facebook’s rules,which can be accessed at www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php. There are also services that help managesuch contests and ensure that guidelines are met. Throughcontests, your patients can recruit their friends and familyto vote or enter, expanding your likes.

You can also set up a contest within the practice itself.The goal is to increase Facebook likes by a certain amounteach month. The practice may contribute $1 to a pool foreach like, then split the pool between the dental staff atthe end of each month. Sometimes the incentive is a pizzaparty. A poster or sign can be prominently displayed to trackthe results of the contest and create more interest. Havinga goal with a specific target and timeline helps to get every-one talking.

Clinical Significance.—Content is essential tohaving a successful Facebook marketing strat-egy. Just as important, however, is having strat-egies for increasing your Facebook likes and

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growing your practice’s online presence. Thetips offered here should help to achieve thatgoal.

2 Dental Abstracts

Mele R: 10 tips for more Facebook ‘‘likes.’’ Dentaltown June 2012, pp68-69

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Patient CommunicationSaying ‘‘I’m sorry’’

Background.—Legal and ethical experts may counselthat when a potentially iatrogenically induced poor out-comes occur, the practitioner should apologize to the patientor family. However, an apology can be considered ill-advisedfrom the standpoint ofmalpractice insurance carriers. The is-sue deserves consideration from an ethical perspective.

Case Report.—Susan, 12, just had diagnostic progressfilms taken. The dentist treated her a few years previouslyto close the diastemata between her maxillary incisors asher parents requested. The current films show over 50%root resorption of the maxillary lateral incisors, and thedentist believes that contact between the lateral incisor api-ces and the crowns of the permanent caninesmay have con-tributed to the severe resorption. It is, in fact, likely that thetreatment led to root loss. A treatment planning conferenceis planned for 1 week from now. Should the dentist informthe family about the possibly treatment-induced findings?Should the dentist apologize to the family?

Merits of Apologizing.—There may be merit in offeringan apology when patients have been harmed by treatment.Patients expect someone to take responsibility for the situ-ation and want to feel that patients in the future will not ex-perience the same results. An apology helps the healing ofboth parties in several ways:

� It restores the patient’s self-respect by ameliorating thehumiliation that injured patients often perceive.

� It reaffirms the trust between patient and health careprovider.

� It reassures the patient that he or she was not at fault forthe outcome.

� It confirms for the patient that it is safe to continue in theprovider’s care.

Injuries that result from therapy are more traumatic forpatients than normal injuries because they are produced bypeople the patient trusted and may still be seeing for

treatment. This causes feelings of fear, loss of trust, and iso-lation for the patient. The provider experiences a complexfeeling of embarrassment, ego violation, confidence, andfear of legal retribution. Apologizing can help both partiesmove beyond these emotional responses. Although the apol-ogy cannotundo theharmdone, it canminimize thenegativeeffects of the physical harm. This psychological remunera-tion is especially valuable to the health care provider.

Legal Issues.—Apologies by physicians, rather than in-creasing the provider’s vulnerability to malpractice suits,tend to decrease the monetary losses that result from litiga-tion. Often apologies result in more timely settlements anddiminished financial remuneration for injured parties. Inaddition, ‘‘I’m sorry’’ policies, which involve the investiga-tion of untoward occurrences, offers of financial retribu-tion, and apologies as appropriate, have been enactedinto law in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Theselaws exclude an apology as admissible evidence in malprac-tice trials in order to encourage physicians to apologizewhen appropriate.

Clinical Significance.—The best way to han-dle the case raised would be to disclose the pos-sible iatrogenic cause for the resorption. It isalso wise to promptly contact a malpractice car-rier. An apology and remuneration would be anappropriate strategy for handling this difficultsituation.

Greco PM: When to say ‘‘I’m sorry.’’ Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop141:674-675, 2012

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