When a Major Medical Event Affects Your Practice
One thing medical schools don't teach is how to run a business, especially in a "when the poop hits the fan" scenario. Say a patient dies on your table or slips into a coma. What now? Sure, you know the medical precautions to take but what about business precautions? Do you keep going as though nothing has changed or close the doors until everything's worked out? If the story goes viral, should you talk to the press? What should you say to other folks who ask about the event? What should you tell your staff?
Medical marketing companies seem to have all the advice in the world when it comes to every other subject, yet we all pretend like serious medical events don't happen. When the worst happens, what's the best way to move forward?
First, Call Your Lawyer
We are online marketers, not lawyers, so the first thing you need to do is contact an attorney. You may not want to have your regular attorney handle this, or at least not entirely. Ideally, you should look for someone who specializes in medical malpractice defense, preferably with experience on the PR side as well as on the legal side. Just any old attorney isn't necessarily going to know how to handle strategy and planning for complex issues like a local news channel picking up your story, a social media storm, the best response to family members, a police investigation, settlement negotiations and so on.
You definitely need to rely on counsel at a time like this, but at the same time, you need to feel good about the moves counsel recommends. Don't just follow orders; ask questions and push back if you don't feel right about any advice received.
Ultimately, make sure you're comfortable with how the situation is being handled. For example, your gut instinct probably says you should apologize to family members immediately, but an attorney is probably going to tell you not to. And yes, okay, attorneys should know how to deal with the aftermath, but it's still your reputation and your business at stake in the end.
Next, Follow These Steps
Once you’ve got legal counsel in your corner, then you can focus on the online reputation management aspect of the situation. We recommend following these 2 simple steps:
1. Keep quiet
2. Get through it
Sorry, did you think there was going to be a magic solution? There really isn't.
Responding directly could make the situation worse, especially legally (again, though, follow your lawyer's advice here, not that of your online marketer). So, resist the urge to defend yourself. Lay low. Wait it out.
The Road to Recovery
So much can happen in this kind of situation it's easy to feel overwhelmed out of the gate. For the moment, keep listening to your attorney, continue business as usual and weather the storm. Over time, you'll move forward, and your business will keep moving forward too.
Talk to Scott Tobin about online reputation management at 888-670-4459 or get in touch with him here.