This quote from Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, The Thank You Economy caught my attention: “Any doctor who isn’t supremely confident that he or she is offering the best care available has no business on Facebook or Yelp, or even Citysearch or Angie’s List.”  The quote comes from a chapter profiling the social media success of San Francisco dentist Dr. Irena Vaksman.

While I understand Gary V’s intent, I’m not sure how I feel about this.

As doctors striving for efficient, cost-effective, service-oriented care, few of us have completely arrived.  And it seems that in modern medicine the destination of ‘best care available’ is a moving target.  We all have room to improve.  It’s okay to open yourself when you’re a work-in-progress.  In fact, I might suggest that there’s ultimately no way to know how you’re doing until you open yourself up to honest criticism.  Of course, you can argue whether the polarized views found on public review sites represent the best metric for a medical practice.

To Gary’s defense, we should strive to offer the best care available.  The possibility of public review should serve as the powerful check on what we do as physicians.  That’s good for patients.

Concerning The Thank You Economy, I would recommend this book for 1) that friend or supervisor who doesn’t ‘get’ social media or 2) motivational support of those of you already on board.  Gary V makes the case for hustle unlike anyone I’ve ever seen.

For a review of Gary Vaynerchuk’s first book, Crush It, see Even Doctors Crush It.

Links to The Thank You Economy are Amazon affiliate links.