This article was written by Dick Pepper, a medical marketing specialist who blogs at VoxMD.com and can be reached at dick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Your reputation sucks, according to the internet. Or maybe it's great. But unless you manage your reputation and your online presence, it can go either way. Reputation management has jumped to the top of our awareness, and deservedly so. Pew Internet tells us that 44 percent of all patients are researching you, and one in five look at these rating sites. These numbers are too big to ignore. Dr. Hitham Khalil of Valdosta, Ga., says, "It's a trend, just like anything else, whether it's websites, medicine or Amazon. It's ratings, and most people look at them these days. Patients do look at these sites and I've had them tell me they looked me up."

This article was written by Dick Pepper, a medical marketing specialist who blogs at VoxMD.com and can be reached at dick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

First websites, then social media and now you have to make an online video? Although it seems like the list of things on your marketing plate keep growing, video is one that can provide instant measurable returns. Look at the most recent numbers, according to ComScore: more than 450 Billion views of online video in the United States with over 75 million daily unique viewers watching 40 billion videos a month. Netflix, Amazon, and all of the major networks are creating web-only series with high-profile actors. It's not a fad; online video is mainstream and you need to be in it. According to neurosurgeon Tariq Javed, MD, "Watching a video of your surgeon places the patient at ease with the knowledge and skill level of the surgeon. Videos are much more informative than print media since it gets the patients full attention."

This article was written by Dick Pepper, a medical marketing specialist who blogs at VoxMD.com and can be reached at dick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The world is changing rapidly, and your practice marketing has to keep up. If you don't continue to assess the value of your marketing investment, don't be surprised if you see fewer patients. Here are 10 ways you can fail. As always, invest in a medical marketing specialist to drive your marketing strategy for measurable results, or to work with your existing marketing staff to keep them on top of today's trends and technologies. For more information or recommendations, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This article was written by Dick Pepper, a medical marketing specialist who blogs at VoxMD.com and can be reached at dick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

While minimally invasive spine surgery gets a lot of buzz, more and more people are searching for information about artificial discs, disc replacement and alternatives to fusion. "People are asking for artificial discs because more motion now, and later on, is a good thing, and preventing adjacent level disease is something the general public is accepting as common sense. Most patients come in and say they don't want a fusion," says Bobby Bhatti, MD, of Rockdale Orthopedics.

This article was written by Dick Pepper, a medical marketing specialist who blogs at VoxMD.com and can be reached at dick This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery has been getting a lot of well-deserved press lately, and we hear that more and more people are asking for this approach. We also know where these people, aka patients, will turn for information — to the internet! Here are a few tips on how to market yourself if you or your practice performs minimally invasive spine surgery and get your website found:

James Lloyd, MD, of  Brookfield, Wis., had a marketing problem. He needed patients and had built a beautiful, information-filled website with all of the necessary components: bio, patient information and a large education section. It had all the right keywords for search engines to find, and everything appeared to be correct. So why wasn't he showing up on searches for his own name and service line?

The article “10 Tips for Online Orthopedic Practice Marketing,” offers 10 tips for effective marketing via online and interactive means. Here is a "deeper dive" into those 10 tips: