How DCA Can Help Doctors Grow Their Authority among Patients?

Establishing yourself as an authority in your chosen field is very important. It is especially necessary in the medical community, where you need to stand out from your competition to be able to garner attention from prospective patients and grow your medical practice.

Before the advent of the internet, doctors could rely on word-of-mouth referrals to grow their business. That is not the case anymore, as people today rely on the internet to make most of the decisions in their day-to-day life – from what clothes to wear, to which doctor to consult for their health problems. In other words, your prospective patients are very likely to look at online doctor reviews and doctor rating sites before choosing a physician. So, you need to take your online reputation very seriously.

DCA – The Best Way to Establish Your Reputation Online

One of the most effective ways to highlight your credentials and boost your online reputation is to enter the Doctors’ Choice Awards (DCA) program. The program recognizes and honors medical professionals who aspire to set the highest standards in their respective fields.

DCA serves as a platform for peer recognition. You can register as a member on DCA’s website, add your profile, and ask your colleagues and friends from the medical community to comment on your work and nominate you for an award. Depending on the number of positive reviews you get, you could win the All National Award (the best doctor in the country), City Award (the best doctor in the city), or the Top Doctor of the Month Award.

If you receive a minimum of three positive reviews from your peers, you can become an eligible nominee and win a Doctors’ Choice Awards badge, which will be a proud addition to your display as well.

How You Can Benefit from Doctors’ Choice Awards

To understand the importance of DCA for the medical community and to know how it can boost your reputation, you need to first understand the concept of social proof.

Human beings, as you know, are social animals. Our thoughts, actions, and behavior are shaped by what the society considers as normal. More often than not, society’s opinion on what is ‘good’ or ‘valuable’ is also reflected at the individual level. This phenomenon is known as social proof or social influence.

The concept of social proof is now used by marketing experts all over the world to persuade their target consumer base and to turn casual visitors into regular customers. DCA uses the same exact concept to raise your profile and increase your reputation as well.

The Power of Positive Social Proof

Studies show that positive social proof is an excellent persuasion tool and makes a very convincing call-to-action device. When you tell someone that a large number of people are benefiting from a particular product or service, he or she is most likely to buy it or use it.

A Doctors’ Choice Award works in the exact same manner. It tells people that you are recommended by a number of medical professionals and highly respected in your community. It can be more persuasive than run-of-the-mill online doctor reviews and doctor rating sites. People sometimes tend to disregard positive testimonials from anonymous sources as ‘paid reviews’. A recommendation from medical professionals, on the other hand, is about as authentic as it gets and could convince people to choose you over others in your community.

Authority is More Persuasive than Anonymity

Research shows that the average person is more likely to be influenced by the opinion of an authority figure or someone in an influential position, rather than that of a random person. This phenomenon is called the halo effect – people tend to judge a person’s opinion based on the person’s background, achievements, and their societal status.

A Doctors’ Choice Award is basically a positive testimonial from your peers. Nothing could convince a prospective patient like the recommendation from a group of medical professionals, all of whom are highly respected and well known in their own right.

DCA – The Best Form of Social Proof

Social network integration is highly popular these days and many medical professionals have a Facebook page or Twitter account of their own. The only problem is that if you have a small number of ‘likes’, ‘shares’, or ‘retweets’, prospective patients might think that you are not popular or trustworthy.

A Doctors’ Choice Award, on the other hand, is not a metric of your popularity with your patients. It is a sign of approval from other medical professionals, which is very prestigious to say the least. It tells prospective patients that you are trustworthy, highly respected by your peers, and your academic background and credentials are legitimate.

Market Yourself Effectively With DCA

Remember – people are more informed now than they ever were at any point in time thanks to the internet. The proliferation of online doctor reviews and doctor rating sites has made it easier for people to do their research and find out everything about you before they even meet you in person. With this being the case, you need a solid online presence, coupled with a badge of honor and peer recognition, to be able to win over prospective patients. So, enrolling in the DCA program can benefit you immensely and help you build a very successful medical practice in the long run.