Online reputation management, often called ORM, is the ongoing process of generating patient reviews, monitoring what's being said about a practice and its providers, and responding to feedback across the platforms patients actually check. For healthcare specifically, it also means handling all of this without ever exposing patient information in a public response.

Review generation typically works through automated SMS and email campaigns sent to patients shortly after their visit, when the experience is still fresh. Timing and consistency matter more than any single tactic, a request sent the same day tends to convert far better than one sent a week later or not sent at all. 

Google carries the most weight for local visibility, but patients researching a specific provider often also check Healthgrades, Vitals, WebMD Care, Zocdoc, Yelp, Facebook, and RateMDs. A strong Google profile with a thin or negative presence everywhere else still leaves a gap a patient can find. 

Yes, but it requires care. A compliant response never confirms someone was a patient, never references treatment details, and never shares information that could identify them, even indirectly. A generic, empathetic response almost always protects the practice better than a defensive or detailed one. 

Significantly. A referral gets a patient to consider a provider, but the patient almost always looks that provider up before booking. Strong, well-managed reviews protect the trust a referral already built. A poor or unmanaged online reputation can undo a referral relationship a practice spent years earning, and it makes every future referral from that source a little less reliable.