Let's face it: Patients are talking about your hospital online. For better or worse, your organization has an online reputation that needs to at least be monitored, if not managed.

Here are four ways to watch it:

1. Use Google Alerts to help cull the Interweb for references to your hospital. Helpful hint: Use it to monitor what your competitors are doing.

2. Be proactive and timely in responding to negative feedback on your hospital's Facebook page or other social media sites. Be personal. And feel free to respond again, just to close the negative feedback loop.

3. Track what's being said about your hospital on social media sites by using SocialMention.com.

4. Take it all in stride. Hospitals are lightning rods for criticism. The Internet provides an endless array of forums where consumers can vent. Don't sweat that one negative review of your hospital on Yelp (out of a total of four). Consider the number of daily interactions your hospital has with consumers, think about the positives, and focus on engaging your online users.