Building Digital Trust

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Clinical Summary

• Podiatry practices can strengthen patient acquisition by optimizing Google Business profiles with accurate information, professional photos, and service listings—key to first impressions and “podiatrist near me” searches.

• 61% of patients now value online reviews over personal referrals, and 71% report higher trust when providers respond to reviews, underscoring engagement’s role in patient confidence.

• Video testimonials improve recall (95% vs 10% for written) and boost site ranking; ensure HIPAA-compliant consent, clear authorization, and secure storage when using identifiable patient content.

Transcript

Jennifer Spector, DPM: Welcome back to Podiatry Today Podcasts, where we, as always, bring you the latest in foot and ankle medicine and surgery from leaders in the field. I'm Dr. Jennifer Spector, the assistant editorial director for podiatry today. And in this episode, we are so excited to welcome back, Dr. Jim McDannald, the founder and owner of Podiatry Growth. Today we're going to dive into some topics related to digital trust and managing online presence for podiatric practices. 

So Jim, first of all, welcome back and you've helped so many podiatric practices strengthen their digital presence. When we say digital trust, can you tell us what that means to you and why it matters for podiatrists? 

Jim McDannald, DPM: Yeah, Yeah, sure. Thanks so much for having back, Jennifer. It's always a pleasure to talk with you and kind of help educate our colleagues about all these different digital topics. And when it comes to digital trust, it's really about making it easy for potential patients to feel confident choosing your practice before they even walk through your door. You know, I didn't grow up with a smartphone. Facebook kind of came out after I was already out of college. But, you know, you can't watch how the kind of these days generations are kind of digital natives in a way. And there's, you know, I realized, you know, kind of while I was in practice that it's even some of my colleagues were struggling kind of with their marketing. 

And, you know, the way patients find clinics and choose podiatrists that's kind of fundamentally changed in a way. So, you know, when, you know, when someone's got a heel pain that's affecting their morning run, they're not kind of like sitting around until the clinic is open and kind of calling and making that appointment. You know, they're really kind of pulling up their phone, you know, maybe after work hours, making a search for podiatrist near me, making decisions based on kind of, you know, what they can find online. So a clinic's Google business profile, their website, the reviews, that's kind of the first impression of any clinic. So that's the initial kind of way that people kind of build digital trust. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: That's great to hear and really helpful to understand a little bit better. How does then trust online, in your experience, translate into things like new patient acquisition and patient retention? 

Jim McDannald, DPM: Yeah, it's actually pretty straightforward when you think about the patient journey. You know, let me give you a real example. You know, I worked in a clinic, I worked with a clinic started that had no Google business profile. So when people search for them, you know, what showed up? It was this, you know, the Google street car going by their clinic. You know, it was shot kind of with a parking lot view, a weird angle. That was the first impression a patient had when they kind of pulled up information about a clinic. So not exactly the most kind of confidence-inspiring thing. 

So, you know, we went in and kind of built out their profile properly, added kind of professional photos, you know, listed the specific conditions that they wanted to treat, made sure that the contact information was accurate and up to date. So there's all these little things you could do to help build trust. You know, we connected that with kind of, we kind of connected that to their well-designed website that spoke directly to kind of the types of patients they wanted to see more in their clinic. So that transformation and new patient acquisition has been pretty significant, I'd say. You know, here's why this works. And it's really because when people trust you, they're more willing to take action. 

There's a recent study I came across that said 61% of patients, they now prioritize online reviews over personal referrals from friends and family. And that’s really a negative shift here recently. It tells you that digital trust has become the new kind of word of mouth. A search shows that 71% of patients trust providers more when they respond to reviews, whether they are positive or negative. So there are some really, really important things here. 

You know, as far as good retention, I’d say it’s along the lines of consistency when patients have good experiences and they see that reflected kind of, you know, in your online presence, they can become kind of advocates for your practice. So they'll leave reviews. They'll refer friends. You know, that builds on itself over time. You know, if you're starting at 10 reviews, for example, and you want to get to a thousand, it's going to be, you know, a journey of a thousand steps and a thousand ways as far as getting a workflow work that makes sense. 

So it's important to not disconnect. It's important to provide that great experience, but also make sure that you have those opportunities for your best patients to advocate for you and for your clinic. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: Branching off of that a little bit, there's been so much change in the digital world over recent years, especially with social media and Google reviews. Do you think these things have influenced patient expectations and how those have evolved over time? 

Jim McDannald, DPM: Yeah, I think because patient expectations have really evolved dramatically, honestly, you know, faster than most podiatrist realize. Patients now expect a lot more transparency. It used to be just kind of like they trust the doctor no matter what they said. But now they want to see real photos at people's clinics. They want to read about real patient experiences and understand exactly what to expect before they even make an appointment. So they're searching you in the same way that, you know, they would search for a restaurant or a hotel. You know, we kind of live in that digital first, kind of immediate gratification world where if I order something on Amazon today, I can get it either today or tomorrow. If I want to watch a movie, I don't have to drive to the theater. I can just watch on Netflix. So it is kind of dramatic how the kind of expectations have changed over time. 

And what we're seeing also is that like some data came across says that patients read at least five to six reviews before feeling confident enough to schedule an appointment with a new provider. So that's five or six reviews. That's significant. So they're really doing their homework before they go out and make an appointment and Google reviews and social media play a part in this. So what's really interesting about social media and reviews is that patients trust both kind of different ways. So Google reviews is kind of where they're actively reaching out and kind of searching for things. But what I found in social media is not necessarily like what's on your wall or the type of content you put out, but there's all these kind of like little groups or little—these different kind of communities within Facebook, maybe in a private groups where people are sharing information about you and your clinic, the services you provide. So these are kind of community based groups—are not necessarily a health care specific, but people are, you know, instead of not necessarily scrolling on Facebook looking for these things, but there are groups in your local community talking about where people get foot and health care, foot and ankle care in your local area. So that's really, really important. 

So the expectation is really shifted also about providers need to be willing to respond to things. You know, obviously we have to do it in a HIPAA-compliant way. We can't kind of go rogue and kind of get into (inaudible) online, but patients want to see that you're engaged, that you're, that you care about feedback, that you're listening. When providers respond thoughtfully to views, it shows accountability. And it demonstrates you're not just kind of an ivory tower. You're listening to the concerns of your local community. 

But there's one thing that that really hasn't changed that patients still want a real person. They want to know there's a skilled podiatrist and a staff that understands their problem and is willing to help them. So digital trust isn't necessarily replacing that human connection. It's about making the connection possible by helping patients find you and feel confident enough to take that first step. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: You said some really great things that I'd love to kind of jump off from too. And, you know, talking about where you can thoughtfully include digital presence and build that digital trust, I'm thinking about video testimonials. And you brought up some great, great questions that I'd love to follow up with. But let’s start by, with your experience, do you feel that video testimonials are more effective than written ones, talking about those reviews that people are reading prior to making an appointment? Are we in a generation now where this is of more value?

Jim McDannald, DPM: Yeah, video testimonial works better for the simple reason that they’re harder to fake when someone has to put their face out there. It’s not someone hiding behind a keyboard in a basement somewhere. They have to create these in their—people can tell when they’re genuine or not when these testimonials are created. Think about it from a patient’s perspective. When you see a written review there’s always that voice in the back of your head wondering, “Is this a real thing? Did the practice write this themselves? Did a family member or a friend of the practice write this?” 

When you watch a video of a real person sitting in, you know, either maybe in the clinic or maybe even they do from their couch in a way, talking about the kind of how heel pain is affecting their life and how they saw this podiatrist and that things really changed can be a very powerful way of connecting with the prospective patients. And the research kind of backs this up. Patient review, patients remember 95% of the information from a video testimonial compared to about 10% from a written review. And that's not a small difference. It's really, it can be a pretty significant difference there. 

So, you know, also what happens to is on the back end, you know, if you have some these testimonials on your website or maybe on your Google business profile, and people spend more time watching, and maybe it's like a 90-second or a two-minute video, everyone's got Google Analytics installed on their websites. And then if you're looking at the video on the Google business profile, that's a signal to Google that people are spending time on your website and you're providing valuable information. If someone just scans a written review—I mean, written reviews are still really important, but it's easier to scan and kind of hunt around and maybe go back to Google or go back to another clinic's website to find another podiatrist in your local area. But those videos can be a lot stickier. 

And like I said, if people are spending more time in your website, it tells Google that people have found what they're looking for. And it's probably going to help you rank higher in Google rankings over time. So, you know, video testimonials can make a huge difference in a practice. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: And so when folks are going to actually start to generate these video testimonials, do you think there's any compliance considerations? It strikes me that, you know, HIPAA could be related to this. And there's certainly, you know, can send your agreement to be recorded. What's your experience here? 

Jim McDannald, DPM: Yeah, absolutely. HIPAA compliance is critical when you're dealing with any patient testimonials, but especially video because they're more identifiable, kind of more identifiable information involved there. So, you know, let me be really clear about this. You know, when you have a written authorization from a patient before you use their image, voice, or health information, any of marketing. It's super important. It's not just a generic consent form. It needs to be specific. The authorization form should spell it exactly what you're using it for—photographs, video, their story. It needs to explain where this is going to be used. It's going to be on your website, social media, YouTube, you know, wherever you're planning to post it. And this, it has to give them a clear way to kind of revoke that authorization, even kind of later on down the line. So those are really, really important components because you know, you don't want to kind of have a generic consent form that can lead to problems down the road. 

You know, a few kind of practical tips as far as staying compliant. I would say first, you know, work with the HIPAA compliant authorization form. Like I said, no, don't try to create one yourself. There's probably other ones out there. Don't necessarily rely just on like ChatGPT or an AI to make one for you. Make sure that this has been reviewed by someone that knows it can stand up. 

Second, be careful with what patients share in the video. You obviously want them to talk about their experience in your practice, but, you know, you don't want to make them feel uncomfortable or they're oversharing or sharing something they don't want to do. So make sure that if you see any hesitation at the time of signing a consent or anything, it's just better to not have them do it because you don't want them to feel regretful that they shared their story, you know, if it does get out there, you know, publicly, even if they gave their permission, if they felt like they were under any kind of duress. 

Third, I would say store those authorization forms properly. You know, they’re a legal document so you want to make sure you have backup copies whether they’re scanned PDFs, it’s in the patient’s chart, but they’re in multiple places—make sure you have that. 

But there’s something else that practices, that kind of catch them off-guard at times. Just because you confirm someone as a patient doesn't mean, you know, they can't confirm themselves. So patients can share their own information freely. They're not bound by HIPAA. For example, like you see that all the time, like on, you know, in written reviews, people talk about that they had a bunion surgery, right? We can't, as a physician or a clinic, you can't say that. But if they're willing to share that information out there, like, and they've done it of their own free will, then they can do that. But your job is to make sure that you're not violating HIPAA, but like the patients can violate themselves if they choose to. So those are just some kind of some basic things to be aware of when, whether it's, you know, getting any kind of patient-based content, whether it be videos, photos, and those things that they know, you know, how it's being used. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: So let's move over to talking about those oh-so-important reviews. If people need to see five or six different reviews before they make that appointment. What are some ways that a practice might be able to work towards creating a stream of positive reviews, but still staying compliance, still staying genuine, so it resonates? 

Jim McDannald, DPM: No, absolutely. That's a great point. You want to make sure that they are genuine and they resonate. So the way you go about getting those types of reviews is that the key is to make it easy and natural for satisfied patients to share their experience. You know, you don't want to be pushy. You don't be manipulative. You just, when you see a happy patient, it's an opportunity. 

First, you know, like I said, timing matters. You know, ask for reviews when patients are most satisfied. You know, if someone comes in a lot of pain and you help treat them and they're doing a little bit better, maybe that's not the right time. You know, you want to go right after a successful outcome when they're feeling relief from pain, when they're excited about getting about getting back to activities that they love. Don't wait months, but sometimes you don't want to go too early either. You want to strike kind while that positivity is kind of being shown to you and to your staff. 

You know, here's a simple system that works. Generally, after a positive visitor outcome, you know, have a staff member or you can also send out an automated text message or something like, you know, “We're so glad that you could help you with your foot pain. If you're willing to share your experience, it would mean a lot to other other people in the local area, they're searching for similar care. Here's a link to leave a review on Google.” So just kind of keeping it straightforward with no pressure. 

I really recommend that people don't ask for reviews like in the clinic itself, either with a QR code or with a tablet. It's just going to put people on the spot. You want to do it maybe the night of their appointment. If you can schedule it out to send out these in a bat from, you know, seven to 9 o'clock or 7 to 8 o'clock in the evening when people are winding down and sitting on their couch maybe with their phone and more likely to respond or use it, it can be a good opportunity. It's also important to make it as easy as possible.

Like I said, sometimes utilizing, you know, having a specific workflow, like I said, does the doctor ask, does the staff member ask? What is the information, kind of how is that information between staff members, you know, kind of identifying that happy patient. And then, you know, do you have a piece of software that either, you know, you basically fill in their name and they get it later in that day, or are you utilizing a different type of software than he does it in a more automated fashion? 

So, you know, from a compliance standpoint, like I said, I think it's important to ask for the reviews. If you're giving every person that comes into your clinic an opportunity to review you, you're going to probably have more negatives as well, which is not necessarily the worst thing, but I think if ask in a human way and you ask in a kind way, they're much more likely to basically give you those reviews. Like I said, people want to see you responding to them. So having a system to respond reviews is hugely important. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: No, it definitely is. And I think that's one of the more intimidating aspects of all of this. So we've gotten a lot of information here that I think is some great food for thought for our audience. But let's think a little more long term. How can practices, in your opinion, maintain digital trust over time by using these tools and concepts? I know some of our audience might be starting from scratch. So in these cases, what do you think the first best step could be for them? 

Jim McDannald, DPM: Yeah, for maintaining digital trust long term, you know, consistency is everything. Digital trust isn't something you build once and forget about. It requires ongoing attention. Think about your online presence, you know, like patient care. Like it needs regular checkups, right? You need to monitor the Google business profile, respond to reviews as they come in, keep your website content current. And make sure the contact information is accurate and everywhere online. You know, if your hours change and Google still shows your old schedule that erodes a little bit of trust. 

So one thing I recommend is scheduling a monthly kind of an audit, whether they're doing this yourself or you're working with a marketing provider. But that person needs to spend, you know, 30 minutes checking the Google business profile, reading recent reviews, making sure that everything is accurate. It's not a massive time commitment, but it keeps things kind of from falling through the cracks. 

For practices starting from scratch, here's my advice. Like you don't need to like necessarily hire someone to do this, but it's something that could be beneficial for you. So, I would say number one, don't try to do everything at once, you know, focus on this kind of foundational layout here first and foremost. Number one, I would say step one would be claim and fully optimize your Google business profile. This is a non-negotiable. You know, when someone searches “podiatrist near me” or your clinic name or your name, this is what they see. So add your best photos, not stock images, but real photos of your clinic, your team, your equipment, list as kind of all the specific conditions you treat. Make sure your hours, phone number, address are correct and write compelling kind of business description that speaks to kind of your ideal patients. 

Step two would be build a simple professional website. You know, it doesn't need to be crazy fancy, but it needs to be functional. You know, clear information about what you do, who you serve, and how to contact you. It's kind of the bare bones. If you specialize in treating runners for example with sports injuries, say that. If you focus on diabetic foot care make that obvious. Don't make people guess.

Step three would be start collecting reviews organically. Like I said, pick a few patients who have had great outcomes. Ask if they be willing to share their experience. If you're just waiting for reviews to show up you're going to get kind of a lot of five three or five stars, not really many people like leaving stuff. You really have to ask people for these to really kind of go up the ranks and kind of grow your Google review count. Get a handful of genuine reviews, then build from there with a system that I mentioned earlier. 

Everything else, social media, paid advertising, advanced SEO, those can wait initially. Those three things I mentioned are kind of your foundation, and they'll give you the best kind of return on your time and investment to start off with. 

You know, here's what I tell podiatrist that I feel overwhelmed is that marketing is about investing in yourself and your practice. Now, when you take consistent efforts, even small ones, the benefits compound over time. Just like investing in your education as you did, going to podiatry school and residency, your skills improved over time. Investing in your website and your digital presence improves your ability to reach the patients who need your care. 

So I'd say remember you don't have to become a marketing expert. You just need to understand the fundamentals and either implement them yourself or work with someone else who gets it. So the goal isn't to be, you know, everywhere online. Sometimes there's a lot of bright shiny objects in the digital marketing world. The real goal is to be found by the right patients in the right places at the right time. 

Jennifer Spector, DPM: Great. Well, thank you so, so much for chatting with us about this today. I think we've learned a lot and have a lot of things that we can apply in our practices tomorrow. We hope to have you back for another episode really soon and we hope the audience will join us as well. Thank you so much for joining us at Podiatry Today Podcasts where you can find this and other episodes on Podiatrytoday.com, SoundCloud, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platforms. 

Jim McDannald, DPM: Thank you.