Social Media and Dentistry

KEEPING UP WITH THE LATEST TRENDS...

More often, we are seeing how much social media is becoming the norm in our day to day lives.  Facebook is used regularly by many to keep in touch with family and friends, Skype is used in place of long distance calling and allows for "face-to-face" conversations across the country, and many businesses are marketing using Groupon and other group coupon sites to promote their products and services.

I have often seen "dental" related offers that are available through these group coupon sites and thought I would look into the ethical use of these sites for such purposes.  When visiting the site for the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia, here is what I found...

Group Coupons contrary to Code of Ethics...

"A new way of advertising for new patients has emerged recently that involves offering group discounts through a website, usually offering a “deal of the day” (for example, “Groupon”). The savings are group focused: if enough people sign up for the offer, everyone gets the deal.

If there aren't enough people, no one gets it.  For example, a coffee company might offer a deal of "$10 for $20 worth of coffee."  provided that 500 people sign up.  the web company collects the payment and passes it on, minus their fee, to the business.

CDSBC has been asked whether it is acceptable for a dentist to use this approach to gain new patients.  The simple answer is no.  The way the system works is that the company operating the website takes up to 50% of any money that is paid.  This effectively means the dentist is paying the company a commission for the referral.  Any scheme that includes paying a third party a fee for the referral is explicitly contrary to the Code of Ethics, and is therefore not permitted."

So, in keeping with the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia and their Code of Ethics, you will not see Acreview Dental Clinic posting any "too good to be true" deals for dental treatment on your local Group Coupon site.

We do, however, sometimes post a deal or check-in offer through Yelp or Google+ so you may wish to check these sites occasionally to see what is new.  You can also find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AcreviewDental and on the web at http://www.acreviewdental.com/ .  When visiting any of these sites, please take a moment to add a review or leave a comment to let others know about your experience with us.  We appreciate your feedback.

If ever you have dental questions or concerns, please give us a call at 250-338-9085 and someone from our team will be happy to assist you.