How doctors can respond to bad online provider reviews

Online reputation management key for healthcare

Clinicians can no longer ignore online reviews. Patients are increasingly likely to search online to find a new doctor, with a 2024 survey from Harmony Healthcare IT and polling firm Prolific saying 46% turn to Google to find a provider.

And while a provider's Google Business profile or another profile related to their practice will likely turn up in that Google search, it's just as likely that their online reviews will.

And patients look at those reviews.

According to the 2022 Healthcare Trends Report, 72% of patients look at online provider reviews when searching for a new clinician, and about three-quarters of patients said they want to pick a provider rated four or five stars.

What's more, patients said it's actually important for providers to respond to critical feedback, with about two-thirds saying as much.

The analysts said this could build brand affinity and ultimately push patients to pick a certain provider or clinic. This is invaluable as healthcare organizations focus on building patient loyalty and respond to trends of healthcare consumerism.

Confronted with the task of supporting an updated and positive online reputation, healthcare providers must identify the best strategies to manage online provider reviews -- including the negative ones.

Do not respond to negative provider reviews immediately

Healthcare professionals who receive negative online reviews might feel compelled to respond to the comment immediately, but they should reconsider that course of action for two key reasons.

First, it will be important to ensure the provider does not respond with an intense or aggressive posture. It is natural for someone to become defensive when faced with critical feedback. However, with the goal of supporting good patient-provider relationships and patient experiences, it is important for healthcare providers to have good online interactions, too.

Healthcare professionals receiving a negative online review should take a moment to breathe, synthesize the comment and respond accordingly.

Second, their organization might have a policy about responding to comments that must be followed. For example, healthcare organizations might have a specialized marketing or patient experience team that is responsible for responding to comments, not the providers. There might also be policies set up to protect legal liability and ensure HIPAA compliance.

Be mindful of HIPAA compliance

Notably, HIPAA doesn't bar healthcare professionals from responding to bad online reviews.

However, healthcare providers are still beholden to HIPAA rules in their responses, and data shows that doesn't always happen.

In a 2025 Chatmeter assessment of 2,400 urgent care provider responses to online reviews, 46% contained HIPAA violations. The most common violations were acknowledging or confirming that the patient received care and acknowledging the commenter by name.

Avoiding HIPAA violations, of course, can be challenging. In many cases, patients who leave online reviews disclose protected health information (PHI) on their own accord and that would not be a HIPAA violation. But even if the PHI is already out there, providers can't repeat it or confirm it, according to the American Medical Association.

"Even if a patient has disclosed their information in an online review, remember that HIPAA prevents a physician from disclosing any information about a patient without the patient’s permission," AMA explained in a 2024 resource. "A patient's own disclosure is not permission for the doctor to disclose anything."

Healthcare providers choosing to respond to online reviews need to keep in mind two key goals. Foremost, they do not want a response to result in a HIPAA violation.

These types of HIPAA violations can come with substantial consequences. For example, in 2023, New Jersey-based Manasa Health Center was fined $30,000 and had to agree to a corrective action plan after the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights concluded it disclosed PHI in a response to a negative online provider review.

But although mitigating legal liability is important, responding to a negative review also carries the weight of reputation management.

Providers might feel compelled to respond to a negative review in order to effectively manage their online reputations. But they should consider key strategies to ensure they can truly address patient concerns and reach a meaningful solution when responding to comments and not simply rush to their own defense.

Consider responding offline or in private

Responding offline and in private is an effective strategy for managing both HIPAA compliance and good patient relationships.

Notably, removing the conversation from the internet rids providers of the risk of disclosing PHI.

This frees the provider to have a meaningful conversation with the patient about how the healthcare encounter fell short and whether the provider can take action to make it better. In many cases, sincere apologies when appropriate can be therapeutic for patients.

"A good approach is to reach out to the patient directly -- in private -- rather than responding in a public forum (that is, if the reviewer isn't 'anonymous')," Concord Medical Group, a company offering provider management services, says in an online resource. "Give the person a chance to discuss the issue directly and at length while expressing your own sympathy and understanding. Being defensive won't help the situation."

There might be cases in which a provider believes an online comment is defamatory or inaccurate. According to the AMA, providers should contact the online review site to request information about their policies.

"Most, if not all, online review sites have openly published community review guidelines or standards," the AMA pointed out. "Physicians and practices do have the option to contact the review sites directly to dispute false or inflammatory reviews, especially if they believe the reviews violate the site’s community standards."

Limit responses to organization policies

Another strategy to avoid a HIPAA violation is to ensure all responses are generalized around organization policies. This means providers should not acknowledge that a commenter is a patient at the clinic or any details about a patient's case. Rather, providers should simply address a clinic or hospital policy on a certain matter, according to the AMA.

"For example, if a patient is upset that they did not receive an antibiotic, a physician could respond, not by mentioning anything about the specific patient, but instead by saying that office policy and standard medical practice is to determine if a patient has a viral or bacterial infection and to only prescribe antibiotics when there a bacterial infection is present," AMA advised.

Legal experts confirm this approach. By declining to confirm anything about a patient's case and focus instead on organization policy and best practice, a provider avoids disclosing PHI online.

Further, rooting responses in science-backed organizational policy and best practice can reaffirm the experience. As it pertains to online reputation management, healthcare providers can demonstrate their organization policies on difficult matters and emphasize that certain situations, such as antibiotic stewardship as referenced in the AMA's example, are not personal.

Apologize when necessary

In some cases, it might be appropriate for the provider or organization to apologize to a patient leaving a bad online review. For example, a patient leaving a bad review because the appointment booking process was negative or they had a poor billing experience might warrant an apology.

Apologies can be extremely therapeutic and often ensure a better relationship moving forward.

However, healthcare professionals should consult their organization's legal counsel when they are unsure of how an apology could complicate their liability. Some patient complaints could be met with a clear, empathetic explanation of hospital policy.

Use negative online reviews as a chance for reflection

Healthcare professionals might reflexively push back on a critical review, or the concept of online reviews in general, the AMA acknowledged. While it can be challenging to face criticism, becoming overly defensive would be a mistake.

"Don't ignore criticism," the AMA advised. "Instead, objectively look at the criticism from the patient's point of view and determine whether there is something you or your office can do differently."

Moreover, healthcare providers should not resist the growing popularity of online provider review websites. Provider search is trending online, and it's important for clinicians and the clinics and hospitals they work for to have a good online reputation. That means providers need to work to cultivate good reviews, too.

"Ask your patients to rate and review you online," the AMA said. "In most cases, reviews are positive. And remember that many positive reviews dilute many negative reviews."

Sara Heath has reported news related to patient engagement and health equity since 2015.