Related Terms
Google Business Profile
Healthcare reputation management
See Also
Review requests are one piece of a wider reputation program. See how practices manage it
Reputation Management
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Category Core: Reputation
Reading time: 1 min
Updated: Nov 2026
Online Patient Reviews
Definition
Online patient reviews are public ratings and comments that patients post about a practice or provider on sites like Google, Healthgrades, Yelp, or Vitals.
Why the distinction matters
Reviews give new patients a sense of what a visit is like before they book: wait times, how staff treats people, whether the doctor listens. A practice with a steady flow of recent reviews looks active. One with six reviews from three years ago leaves patients guessing.
Two rules keep review work ethical. First, ask every patient the same way, rather than only the ones you expect to be happy. Second, never confirm someone is a patient or share care details in a reply. In 2019, the HHS Office for Civil Rights settled with Elite Dental Associates for $10,000 after the practice disclosed patient information in review responses.
Example
A multi-location practice began sending a short survey after every visit, with a link to leave a Google review. Based on Curogram's internal data, the practice reached a 90% five-star rate and added 1,064 new five-star reviews in three months.
Frequently Asked
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Is it okay to ask patients for reviews?
Yes, as long as you ask all patients the same way and don't offer anything in return.
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How should a practice reply to a negative review?
Thank the reviewer, keep it general, and invite them to call the office. Don't confirm they're a patient or mention their care.
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Can a practice pay for reviews?
No. Google's review policy bars incentives, and the FTC's 2024 rule on fake reviews bans buying reviews that express a set opinion.