Building An Online Presence for Spine Surgeons

Hello, I'm Doctor Abhain Nene, a Spine surgeon from Bombay, India. Uh, I'm here to talk to you about the importance of the presence of a Spine surgeon on the World Wide Web. The pros and cons, traditionally, as Spine surgeons, um, we are rather coy and, um, may I say conceited of uh letting ourselves be seen on Social Media and the internet in general, and, uh, we are here to discuss the nitty-gritty and the details of, um,

What I think is uh good and not so good about being on the internet. Uh, if you see today, uh, in, um, on the internet, uh, everybody in the world is on the internet, and now it's official that, uh, Doctor Google gets cons uh consulted way before, uh, the specialist. So most people intuitively would check their signs and symptoms or even check, counter-check the advice that's been given to them by the top specialists that they've been to.

And hence, uh, whether you like it or not, uh, your practice is now being shared by Doctor Google or Social Media per se, and, um, it's important for you to learn to coexist. When it all started, we were quite, um, uh, we, we looked at Social Media in a derogatory manner. Uh, later we started looking at it as a competition, but today we need to learn to coexist because

Um, uh, the presence of the Social Media is only growing, and, uh, it's going to be hard for us to live, uh, outside the world of Social Media as the years go by, especially, uh, the kicker that it's received in 2020 with the Pandemic and people sitting at home, uh, Social Media, uh, the presence of Social Media has grown exponentially, and, uh, we have data there, um.

The reach of Social Media is almost 100%. Almost everyone, uh, even, uh, in rural settings are using Social Media in some form or the Other. In some countries it's uh WhatsApp, uh, in Other countries it's, uh, Instagram, Facebook, Google.

Uh, but overall there are 2.5 billion users for Social Media worldwide, and what's important here is that Social Media transgresses social and international boundaries. So there is no boundary. Anybody can talk to anyone, anyone can.

of the information available on the Social Media and uh this is something that needs to set into your head cause um this is a completely new form of uh unity and a new target population that's available to you out there on Social Media in a way. Um.

Of course, the ones that uh we typically refer to are uh Google, um, of course, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, uh, Pininterest, LinkedIn. These are the common Social Media. Now, each of them has a different viewer profile, so different types of viewers, uh, you know, uh, access each of these. Luckily, uh, loading and unloading on these, um,

Uh, social, Social Media is quite easy and quite intuitive. It does not take a lot even for a non-millennial Spine surgeon to actually make his presence felt on these media, and, um, uh, the good news is that you can link your posts from one to the Other, so you don't have to make, uh, separate posts on separate media. So that, um, you know, that artificial barrier that's between you and Technology.

Gets broken, uh, you know, within minutes as you, you know, start making friends with your, uh, with, with your favorite Social Media.

Now, uh, what is the scope of Social Media? So where can a Spine surgeon actually, uh, apply, uh, his, um, you know, presence of, of Social Media. So, of course, you can stay in touch with your patients. So especially during this Pandemic, um, when people are sitting at home, it's very easy to reach out to your patients or the patients reaching back to you. Everybody knows where everyone is. Everybody knows what's going on in each other's lives, especially the stuff that you want to share, not necessarily peeking into your privacy. Um.

You can share information, um, you can, uh, you know, dole out information that you think is important. Uh, for example, um, you know, uh, how does, uh, long sitting during the Pandemic or during the lockdown affect your low back or how does use of, um, cellphone affect your neck, and everyone wants to hear what you say.

Um, of course, you can use this to expand your Business cause, um, of a variety of factors which we'll discuss in a bit. You can also use the Social Media to educate your patients. You can upload, uh, you know, uh, what, uh, your point of view on the current controversy, or you can upload an article that you've, uh, or a Research that you've published. Um, you can give, um, you know, share some views about, uh,

About topics that are, uh, you know, ubiquitously, uh, uh, that share a ubiquitous interest. Uh, you can, of course, do this in various ways. You can, you know, type out a post, you can, uh, put out a picture, you can, um, uh, share a document or even actually, uh, you know, share a video like I am right now, and it's, um, you know, everything will have a different, uh, access route to your, um, customer, if you may.

Of course, Social Media facilitates better customer service. Now, uh, when you go to the dentist, what do you do first? You look on, on the internet whether an appointment is available or, uh, even if you were to go to a restaurant, you try to book a spot online. So that's customer service. Gone are the days when you would go, or go to the restaurant and wait in line, you know, wait for your turn to come. So, this kind of uh service setting is, um,

You know, is now being considered as the normal and as expected from most service providers, and if you see more than 50% of the users of Social Media worldwide, uh, use it for customer service. Now we are not talking of, uh, you know, putting ourselves on a lower pedestal to reach out to our, uh, patients because we are not, not in that kind of a Business, but surely, uh, you know, we can use this to our advantage.

We can have um people Other than yourself answering so many queries. So normally, um, a doctor is expected to answer the, you know, answer questions uh from his patients, but here if they type out a question, the answer can be typed out by your subordinate or your associate or even your secretary. Uh, many functions can be used using automated software, so you can go, uh, make, you know, do away with the overheads and do away with

A lot of, uh, uh, I mean, uh, you know, utilize a lot of cost cutting and of course you can do this at your convenient time. For example, emails are answered, you know, at, in right at night when you're, you know, sitting in your pajamas and you're, you know, you're chilled after your, uh, you know, after dinner, you can, you know, uh, do this over a glass of beer and no one cares cause, um, it's, uh, it's a private and, uh, a space where, uh, you're sharing only what you need to share.

Of course, through this kind of an of an engagement, uh, patient loyalty improves and um when the doctor is available to the patient on Social Media, not necessarily as an emergent, uh, in an emergent scenario, but, uh, generally available, patients find it extremely, um, you know, dear, and they, um, you know, they love that engagement and, uh, immediately you become the buddy doctor rather than the doctor who, uh, you know, who, uh, is inaccessible.

Now, what is the biggest hurdle, at least what I faced before I, you know, uh, started cracking the code. I think it's the, uh, it's the hurdle of us considering ourselves above the line, and we feel that a medical service is quite different from a shop or from a, um, um, you know, from a, a bicycle.

Seller or from a restaurant and uh you don't want to be seen promoting your Business on Social Media and this is absolutely acceptable and uh there's no doubt that, uh, you know, this kind of feeling uh come in, comes into your mind when you think of, uh, you know, putting out your website out there. Uh.

Now remember that you don't necessarily have to be promoting your Business and in fact, uh, uh, the presence of a Spine surgeon or even a doctor on Social Media has to be very subtle and it has to be more um informative. It has to be, uh, you know, it has to come through as an educational service, as an information provider, as, uh, you know, as something that's doing good to society in general.

General, and uh you obviously don't want to be seen out there saying, come to me for Surgery because my results are the best or I do the fastest microdiscectomy. You want to be, um, you know, uh, putting yourself out there, uh, giving your, uh, uh, you know, giving your background, but actually speaking out things that are of social relevance and are generically useful to everyone.

And uh remember that uh what goes around comes around and then you give out, give out that kind of information, uh, vicariously your standing in society improves because people want to hear what you're saying and uh the vicarious benefits of reaching out without hard selling are significant, as you will know when you, uh, like I said, bite the bullet.

Uh, the reach of Social Media is unimaginable, and if you're truly that, you know, socially committed kind of a guy, if you see the figure on the right, you'll see that, uh, even rural settings or even telephone sometimes is hard to get, uh, especially in countries like India. Uh, even their Social Media is percolated to, um, you know, to a level that would not have been imagined a decade ago. So you can reach out to everybody through apps, uh, you know, there are.

There are doctors who've made um uh apps for prenatal health and postnatal health which go out uh to village folk who, for whom, uh, even Primary health services are not available. So, uh, you can use the Social Media to, the way you like it, and, uh, for me, uh, promoting yourself should, uh, you know, should be, should be below the line and you should not be doing that at all, but you can, uh, definitely use Social Media in a vicariously promotional manner.

Now, uh, there's something that happens that when you post, uh, for example, if I put out a post they're saying that, um, you know, these are the tips for back Pain, uh, during the lockdown. This gets viewed as a selfless, um, effort on the part of a specialist.

Who need not be doing this. So I'm reaching out with no benefits expected in return, and um, uh, people in general have a bias towards such posts and call them unbiased. So you can slip in what you want to say, uh, and still be viewed in a very fair way and people will actually uh commend you and compliment you.

For having put that post out there, especially a person of a high educational standing, uh, if he, if he's reaching out on Social Media, through Social Media, uh, to give, um, you know, the population in general what they want to hear, uh, it definitely gets viewed, uh, viewed as a selfless service. So, um, uh, you know, just don't be shy or coy to put yourself out there and.

People, you know, these are my tips to prevent, uh, radiculopathy or to treat radiculopathy or, uh, you know, the pros and cons of Surgery for, uh, uh, for a lumbar disc prolapse or whatever else it may be, because these are not person-specific, they're not, um, you specific, they're not centered around you, but they're centered around the community in general, and, uh, it's coming from a top-notch, um, you know, resource that is yourself.

Uh, of course, we can then use Social Media slightly, uh, you know, more specifically for Spine Surgery, and, um, you know, to try and, um, um, may I say weed out a, a big bunch of patients from your clinic who tend to come and crowd up, especially the back pains and the neck pains of, uh, non-specific, uh, origin. Uh, as a Spine surgeon, we feel the lack of

For a Spine physician who could have supported us there and uh, a good Social Media post could be the first, uh, stop shop for your patient with back and neck Pain, and you can go through your video about how to deal with back Pain rather than, uh, you know, physically meeting you and, uh, you know, I'll, I'm gonna say this, but clog your time in, uh, in the clinic, uh, when, uh, most of what you want to say is generic.

And it can be handled on, um, uh, on Social Media. So, um, if someone calls in for, uh, acute back Pain, you, you can tell him that, look, I think it's not a good idea for you to maneuver yourself and get yourself to the clinic, but I have this video. I'm sharing this video with you. Go through it and email me, uh, questions that arise from there, you know, once you're better, we'll figure out what to do. So that's one way of stemming the rot.

Of course, uh, in quarantine when, uh, you know, face to face appointments are, uh, not only encouraged, uh, are not only not encouraged, uh, they are potentially dangerous and hazardous to the population in general, and everyone is now going off and, uh, doing takeaway, the, I mean, of, uh, you know, a video consult or, uh, a consult over a Social Media service.

is obviously the way to go and a lot of us who've been resistant to this have now found ways of, uh, you know, coming around this, uh, initial resistance, and we are all doing face, uh, non-face to face consults, uh, on Social Media and people are happy sitting in the comforts of their house in the timing that they prefer, uh, you know, they can consult the doctor and the doctor again, uh, looks more accessible than inaccessible.

Now, there are some Other unreasonable misconceptions in the Spine surgeon's mind. I can tell you they were there in my mind. So, one was that, uh, if I'm so much present on Social Media, uh, is it gonna affect the scope of my work or is it gonna affect the volumes of people coming to me? Why will someone come to me if I've already told them the solution to their back Pain on uh my post on Instagram?

Now, remember that um no patient worth his um IQ is going to slight the importance of a face to face individualized consult. Um, you, by you being there on Instagram, you're only displaying your knowledge and your skill and your uh acumen, um, for the patient to want to come to you. So it's a very subtle signal for the patient to, uh, veer towards you, uh, seeing how you speak and seeing what your, what the depth of your knowledge is, and, uh, they, no one is gonna take, uh, uh, you know, a Facebook video.

Uh, ahead of a face to face consult for his specific problem. I can assure you that your Business will only grow rather than reduce. And of course, there are many fish in the sea. I mean, uh, you know, those who are, like we say, it's, uh, you know, like, uh, it's been famously said that, um, uh, each person is destined to his doctor, so he's going to come to you regardless or he's not going to come to you whether you're there on the Social Media or not, and, uh, you know, back Pain and back problems are the second commonest reason for a doctor consult. So I think all of you know as much as I do that, uh, you know, there's no dearth of patients.

In your practice, so going out on Social Media is certainly not going to be detrimental to your practice. Uh, the Other is a mind blog because most of us were born before the mi millennium turned, and we were not born, uh, learning Social Media and hence it can be a technological, uh, uh, barrier for us. But, um, if it, it takes you less than a few hours to understand how user-friendly, uh, this millennial machine is. Um, I mean, the, the new age of the millennials, uh, don't want fiddle and, uh, these Social Media.

are designed for them and you can upload what you want to, uh, in a, in a GIF you really don't have to struggle, and I think, um, you know, this is easier done than said. Once you do it, you will know how easy it is. Of course, um, uh, the Other misconception is that if I'm there on Facebook every day and, you know, saying something that is, uh, you know, uh, you know, that's, uh, that's trying to give some, um, philosophy, will patients perceive it as, uh, me being free, and I'm, uh, I have too much free time because I have no work and here I am on Facebook.

That's again not so true, but, uh, in a sense, it can be true, and you have to limit, uh, your presence on Social Media, uh, in a manner that it's only short, effective, and, uh, not too regular. So you can't be putting up posts that are non-medical, you can't be putting up posts that are private, and, uh, you can't be doing this on a regular basis. So be succinct and make, make your posts short, relevant, and, uh, not so, uh, often. I mean, keep them, you know, a little rare. So to finish.

Uh, this is the time that, uh, has, uh, you know, that has kind of given us a rap on our knuckles for those who've been sitting outside of Social Media, that it's the time that we reach out. It's the time that, uh, the mountain goes to Muhammed, and, uh, we reach out to Social Media, make friends with Social Media, because, uh, looking forward, uh, uh, I mean, 2020 has been a watershed year and looking forward, uh, for the next two decades or maybe more or for a lifetime, if I may, um, a life without social.

Social Media for a doctor is, um, you know, not gonna be as good as, uh, or as easy as it was before, and, uh, people are expecting you to be out there. So the sooner you bite the bullet, the better it is for you, and, um, uh, with that, I hope I've spurred you on to, uh, you know, to taking up this, uh, taking up this new medal and, uh, you know, putting yourself out there. We'll share some more videos about the nitty gritty and the practical aspects, but bye for now.