While Dave Carroll of Nova Scotia Canada was flying on a United Airlines flight, he looked out the window and saw United baggage handlers literally throwing his guitar into the luggage compartment beneath the plane. Upon landing, his worst fears were realized when he found his guitar badly broken. After repeated attempts to resolve the problem with United - requesting compensation for the  broken guitar - United said they were not responsible for the damage and cited "luggage handling policy" as their "final word" on the matter.

Rather than giving up, Mr. Carroll turned to the Internet's new social media environment and created an entertaining video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo) on YouTube detailing his experience with United Airlines. Shortly after posting it, United tried to compensate Mr. Carroll for his damaged guitar, but by then it was too late. After one week on YouTube, Carroll's video had been viewed by over 5 million people.

Chris Ayres of The Times Online in the U.K. said, "Within four days of Dave Carroll's song going online, the gathering thunderclouds of bad PR caused United stock to plummet, costing United Airlines shareholders $180 million - which incidentally, would have bought Carroll more than 51,000 replacement guitars."

So what are the ramifications of this incident to healthcare providers? In the new social media environment, the new catch-phrase for you is not only BEWARE, but BE AWARE. Beware that you continue to do your best to provide quality care, but don't stick your head in the sand as it relates to social media on the Internet. If you're aware, if you leverage the trend to your advantage, you'll be able to resolve problems before they become detrimental to your image, end up in litigation, or even threaten your career.

Hell hath no fury like a customer scorned. And hell has a new medium - it's called Social Media on the Internet.

If you're a healthcare provider, find out how you can protect yourself from this growing, potentially threatening online trend. checkMD's REP-PROTECT^TM service is an excellent option, but make sure you do your research, find the solution that's right for you and act on it. In this new online environment, doing nothing could prove costly - even for the good guys.

Jon Black is the President and CEO of checkMD, the first inclusive healthcare social network and healthcare reform web site dedicated to fixing our nation's healthcare system. Find Quality Care at www.checkmd.com.