The ISKD and Me Update

Good Morning. Yesterday I wrote a blog about my personal experience with a relatively new orthopedic implant device called an ISKD. In that blog I referenced a news story that aired on Tuesday, June 29 on our local ABC affiliate WSB-TV. I want to again thank Don McClellan for doing this story. For me, this story is not about my success, but instead an opportunity to highlight this medical advancement so that others in similar circumstances might benefit from it.

I also want to thank Dr. Robert Bruce of Emory Orthopedics, and, Orthofix, the manufacturer of the ISKD implant.

I want to thank my mother, Irene, who cared from me in my early years. She is a strong woman whose courage and perseverance led me through the tough times and made me who I am today.

Lastly, thank you to my wife Donna, who supported me in this decision, and cared for me after the surgery. She turned out to be a pretty good nurse!

Here is the video that appeared on WSB-TV.

The ISKD and Me

Today, I want to share a bit about myself. While I do provide consulting services for medical practices, I am also well experienced as a patient. For those of you who know me well, you may know this story, but not perhaps the whole story.

At the ripe old age of 18 months, I underwent orthopedic surgery to correct the congenital knock knee of my left leg. Sadly, post-operatively, I developed an infection that nearly took my life, and, certainly created more problems with the leg. At the age of 13, and 15 surgeries later, we discovered that the leg was not growing at the same rate as right leg. At age 20, the left leg was 2 inches shorter than the right and I required an orthotic lift to somewhat correct the discrepancy. I wore that lift for about 35 years.

In late 2005, I became interested in lengthening the leg. Though I was doing fine at the time, I wanted to ensure I could continue to do well. I did my homework and reached out to Dr. Robert Bruce, Emory Orthopedics. I met with Dr. Bruce in early January 2006. At this consult, Dr. Bruce introduced me to the ISKD device from Orthofix. My wife and I discussed the procedure, the time element for recovery, and the "nursing" care she would have to provide. In short, we decided to move forward. My surgery was scheduled and performed on January 25, 2006.

Fast forward four and a half years. I am doing fantastic as a result of the leg lengthening procedure. Today, I am completely pain free...no more aspirin...no more Advil! In fact, my wife and I are running the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on July 4th.

Last week, our local NBC affiliate, 11Alive News, and ABC affiliate, WSB-TV, interviewed me and my wife about the surgery I had and my participation in the Road Race. I am personally excited about how this piece of medical technology has changed my life. I want to thank the reporters Jennifer Leslie and Don McClellan for doing the story. There are other folks in our community who could benefit from this technology and medical providers. In my simple way, I am trying to highlight my problem and the success I've had in so that others might benefit.

If you interested in spending another minute and a half, please watch this video from 11Alive.

To Google or Not to Google

How often do you "Google" your name or business? How about your competition? If not, you should. The internet continues to evolve and change the way consumers view business and often times serves as the first contact they have with your business. In my consulting business, we often suggest to business owners to do an internet search of their business to see if the results match their expectations.

My last blog focused on what to do if you see negative reviews of your business; that blog was probably a premature publication. In reality, I should have started this series with the suggestion to do the internet search. Most doctors and business owners or managers rarely do a search, but most will find that the search results are not what they expect. In most cases, the search results include a listing of consumer reviews of the business from sites like Google Reviews, ratemds.com, healthgrades.com, etc. Granted, the reviews are from patients, not medical professionals, but patients can tap into the internet media and write their review of your business.

• The first step in managing your internet presence is to do the search, and, do this search regularly.

• Second, don't take any negative reviews personal. I tend to look at negative critique as a gift - information letting me know what to improve upon.

• Thirdly, get your practice involved in social medial channels. All doctors tell me that word of mouth advertising is the best advertising, and, I agree. As such, give your patients a site they can use to spread their story about your practice.

So take this opportunity to learn about what is being said, or not said, about your practice. You might find that social media represents the most budget friendly marketing and advertising you could ever do!

Managing Poor Internet Reviews

The internet and, in particular, social networking sites and other Web 2.0 technologies, provide ample opportunity for your customers and client to post reviews, good or bad, about your business. I once had a client tell me he let his web site expire because of fear that customer might say something bad about his practice. Other clients object to employing social network sites as legitimate marketing and advertising channels for similar fears. In both cases, these clients fail to understand that customers can post poor reviews whether or not the client is involved with these internet technologies.

There is not question that the internet in some ways is still the wild, wild west and nearly anything goes. So, how do you as a responsible business owner manage poor reviews?

• First, we must recognize that internet review sites are here to stay and customers are using them as never before. If you are not using social network sites as part of your marketing/advertising/communication efforts, you should be.
• Make internet searches for poor reviews part of you routine business management. In other words, you cannot manage what you do not know.
• Don't over react. There is no better offense than a good defense. If you encounter one bad review compared to 10 good ones, your customers can and will recognize the context.
• Just as you ask satisfied clients to refer friends and family to your practice, invite these same clients to post a review about your practice.
• If a review is clearly an exaggeration, or simply not true, contact the review sites administrator. Most review sites are very interested in providing honest and accurate reviews.
• I'll mention once again - get involved!

For more information on how to get started with social networking as part of your marketing and advertising campaign, click here.