Building trust with patients is essential for every healthcare provider. One of the best ways to build trust is to respond transparently to patient feedback, like replying to negative and positive reviews on Google.
This guide to online review management for healthcare professionals will cover all the basics about responding to patient feedback, including:
- Tips and best practices for replying to doctor reviews
- Examples of real responses to reviews of medical practices
- Modifiable templates your organization can use to respond to patient reviews
- A list of the top eight review sites and platforms that health professionals should be monitoring
- Strategies for requesting and managing Google reviews for doctors effectively
- Answers to FAQs about online patient reviews
Best practices for responding to doctor reviews
Send potential patients the right message by responding professionally, quickly, and with care to your reviews. Here are five tips and best practices for replying to doctor reviews.
Tip #1: Use the reviewer’s name.
- “Hi [ Reviewer Name ], thanks for your feedback!”
Tip #2: Acknowledge the review with gratitude.
- “Thank you for taking a moment to leave a comment about your experience.”
Tip #3: Personalize your response by referencing a detail from the review.
- “We’re so grateful for your kind words about the care your mother received from Erica and the rest of our dedicated nursing team.”
Tip #4: Invite patients to contact you for assistance or information.
- “We encourage you to contact us at [ phone number ] at your earliest convenience so we can work to resolve your insurance matter.”
Tip #5: Respond as quickly as possible, particularly to negative reviews.
- Always aim to reply to reviews in under 24 hours – the sooner, the better.
How to respond to all kinds of Google reviews for doctors
Now that we've discussed some best practices for responding to online reviews, the next step is putting them into action.
Below, we've compiled five good examples of responses to negative and positive Google reviews. We've also included customizable templates for responding to patient feedback.
Example #1
Type of review: Positive review (4 stars)
Response template: “Thanks for taking the time to share your positive feedback with us, [ Patient Name ]! We appreciate your comments about [ review detail here ], and we’ll be sure to let our dedicated care team know about your positive experience. If you have any follow-up questions, or if there’s anything else that our team can assist you with, please contact us directly, and we’ll be glad to help further. On behalf of everyone here at [ Healthcare Provider Name ], we wish the very best for you and your loved ones!”
Example #2
Type of review: Mixed/negative review (1 star)
Response template: “Hi [ Reviewer Name ], thank you for sharing your review. We’re sorry that your [mother/father/spouse/grandparent / etc. ] did not have a completely positive experience during their visit. Your feedback is extremely important to us, and we encourage you to contact our patient representatives at [ phone number ] so that we can ensure your concerns are addressed as swiftly as possible. Thank you again for taking the time to provide us with your comments, which aid us on our continuing mission to deliver exceptional care.”
Example #3
Type of review: Positive review (5 stars)
Response template: “Hi [ Reviewer Name ], thank you for leaving a 5-star review of [ Practice Name ]! We appreciate your kind comments about [ positive detail from the review ], and we’ll be sure to share your generous praise with [ Staff Member ]. Hearing positive feedback from our satisfied patients truly inspires and motivates us as we continue on our mission of providing exceptional care throughout the [ Town / City / County ] region. If there’s anything else we can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to contact our patient representative line at [ phone number ]. Thanks again for rating and reviewing [ Practice Name ], [ Reviewer Name ]!”
Example #4
Type of review: Negative review (1 star)
Response template: “Thank you for your review, [ Reviewer Name ]. We appreciate your comments, and we sincerely apologize for any miscommunication or misunderstanding that might have occurred. Our goal is to ensure that information around pricing and insurance coverage is completely transparent, and our patient representatives would be happy to discuss all of your questions and concerns in detail. We encourage you to contact us at [ phone number ] at your earliest convenience so that we may assist you further. Thanks once again for sharing your review with us, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.”
Example #5
Type of review: Positive review (5 stars)
Response template: “Hi [ Patient Name ], thank you so much for sharing your kind comments and positive feedback with us! We’re delighted to know that you had such a [comfortable/satisfying / positive / etc. ] patient experience at [ Healthcare Provider Name ], where it’s our mission to provide exceptional medical care and support for our patients. Glowing reviews like yours truly inspire and motivate our dedicated team. On behalf of all of us here at [ Healthcare Provider Name ], thanks again for your review, and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any follow-up care or information!”
Top 8 websites for doctor reviews in 2024
There are numerous online review websites and apps that health professionals need to be monitoring in 2024. We've covered eight examples below, including Vitals, Healthgrades, and more.
1. Google Business Profile
Google reviews have a powerful influence on a doctor's online reputation, making it crucial to monitor the platform carefully. In fact, patients trust Google for healthcare reviews more than any other platform.
Creating a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) enables you to respond to reviews and edit your business information, which helps new patients find you in local Google search results.
2. Vitals
Approximately 7.8 million patient reviews have been shared on Vitals to date, making this physician directory a must-watch for every healthcare provider.
3. Healthgrades
Patients can use Healthgrades to find doctors and office locations, view a doctor's credentials, and post or browse ratings and reviews.
4. WebMD
WebMD is a website that, along with articles about health and medicine, also features a doctor directory with ratings and reviews.
5. RateMDs
RateMDs receives approximately 15 million monthly visitors in the U.S. alone. In addition to providing health news, this platform also allows users to search for healthcare providers using various filters (such as doctors who offer virtual visits), along with browsing and posting reviews.
6. Yelp
Yelp is one of the leading review platforms across industries and is essential for healthcare providers to monitor. According to Yelp, the platform received roughly 21 million new reviews in 2022 alone. Visitors can sort doctors by category, see top-rated providers, view insurance information and office locations, and more.
7. ZocDoc
Zocdoc is a website where patients can search and compare doctors, book an appointment, or share and read reviews. Zocdoc states that the site receives millions of monthly visitors.
8. RealSelf
RealSelf, dedicated to plastic and cosmetic surgery, helps potential patients gather valuable information, share ratings and reviews, and find the right healthcare provider for their desired procedure.
Ensuring you're active on these eight platforms will enable more people to find and review your practice, helping you gain new patients and boost your online reputation faster.
How to get more reviews from your patients
Research indicates that consumers are more likely to respond to certain methods of requesting reviews than others. For example, using a chatbot is one of the least effective methods of asking for reviews.
Obviously, you don’t want to waste time and effort on review request strategies that won’t provide results. So which strategies are most likely to be successful?
Here are the top six methods to follow, according to the data:
- Email – 34% of consumers would be “more likely to leave an online review” if asked using this method
- In person or during a transaction – 33%
- Invoice or receipt – 32%
- Social media – 31%
- On-location/in-store device – 27%
- Text message/SMS – 23%
Other than using effective review request strategies, another important tip is to automate review generation, which enables you to collect more feedback in less time. Shout About Us helps you reach patients and gather feedback effortlessly with personalized review requests via SMS, email, and in-store campaigns.
With our platform, your organization can:
- Automatically request reviews on Google, Yelp, Zocdoc, WebMD, RateMDs, and 75+ other sites
- Design custom review request and follow-up request templates
- Monitor open rates, click-through rates (CTR), and other metrics to ensure that your review generation campaigns are effective
Learn more about our review generation service for doctors, dentists, and other healthcare providers. If you are a business owner, check out this AI tools for small businesses.
How to navigate your doctor reviews in 2024
Eliminate the hassle of responding to reviews and let our team take care of the writing work for you. ResponseScribe, our done-for-you review response service, delivers personalized replies to your reviewers on 75+ platforms within hours (human-powered) or minutes (AI-generated).
We work with all types of healthcare providers and medical organizations, from hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation centers to dentists, surgeons, nurses, and therapists.
Whether your practice is large or small, we’ll help you create a bespoke review management plan that targets your pain points and perfectly fits your organization's needs.
If you want to stay on top of your review needs you can also try ShoutAboutUs and monitor 75+ review sites, send personalized review requests, and eliminate fake reviews from one centralized platform. ShoutAboutUs also provides white labeling, social posting features, business insight reports, and 24/7 customer support.
Online review management for medical practices and healthcare services
From tracking and responding to patient feedback, to removing and requesting online reviews, ResponseScribe and Shout About Us enable you to fully automate your review management strategy. That means you can spend less time dealing with your online reputation – and more time providing exceptional patient care.
Combine our done-for-you review response service, ResponseScribe, with review generation, removal, and monitoring — or, choose from our services a-la-carte to target your specific needs. We’ll work with you to create a strategy that fits your business.
Discover why 10,000+ brands trust ResponseScribe for review responding and Shout About Us for review management. Start your free trial today.
