Getting more positive reviews is a necessary – albeit annoying – part of doing business in 2025. Leaving reviews to chance can result in more negative reviews than positive ones.
Consider your consumer behavior. Most encounters with businesses range from acceptable to excellent. Once it’s over, you likely move on to your next daily task. The only times you consider leaving a review are when the business didn’t meet your expectations or when the service was extraordinary. Both encounters are the exception.
Reviews matter for all businesses, especially in healthcare. A 2020 survey of patients found:
- 90% of patients use online reviews to evaluate physicians
- 71% of surveyed patients use online reviews as their first step in finding a new doctor
This means that while word of mouth remains the most dependable source of new business for most practices and healthcare businesses, an excellent digital introduction to your practice is still essential. Key to that success is reviews.
To get more reviews and mitigate the inevitable negative ones, you’ll need a plan. For healthcare businesses, reviews are complicated by HIPAA privacy laws that restrict your ability to acknowledge when a reviewer is a patient.
Related read: Safeguarding Your Practice: 6 Proactive Ways to Stay HIPAA Compliant
Why you should ask for reviews for your practice
The first step to getting good reviews is excellent service. This goes without saying, but it’s harder to do. It doesn’t matter how attentive you are with patients or clients if you leave them waiting for too long in the waiting room or if your front desk is rude. One bad part of the experience could prompt people to leave a low rating.
Those who have a good experience might never think to leave a review. This is one of the main reasons why you’ll end up with a lower rating if you leave your review pages to chance.
Set up your Google Business page
If you want to receive more positive reviews, your first step is to ensure your review pages are set up and you’re actively monitoring them.
If you have a brick-and-mortar location for your practice, simply claim your Google Business page. This helps your reviews and your SEO.
Having a Google Business page is essential to ensuring the correct address is listed for your practice and that no one else claims your business page for you.
Remain HIPAA compliant when responding to reviews
Once you claim your Google business page, you’ll receive emails when there is a new review. You should respond to these within 24 hours. If it’s positive, thank them! If it’s negative, acknowledge the feedback without going into too much detail or getting defensive. Simply let them know you’re addressing their concerns. Then, fix the problem. You can even follow up with the reviewer and let them know how you handled the issue, which demonstrates that you take feedback seriously and are committed to your customers. If it seems appropriate, you can even ask the newly satisfied patient to consider revising their initial review.
HIPAA laws make responding to online reviews a little trickier for healthcare. When a review is positive or negative, it’s essential to respond without disclosing any personal information, including whether the reviewer is a patient. Even when a patient reveals their personal health information in the online review, you shouldn’t acknowledge them as a patient. What you can do is respond in general terms.
Here’s an example of a good and bad way to respond to a review:
Review: “I was super excited to meet the staff. But the lady hung up on me, and they treated me like I was incompetent. I’ll be finding a new Dr. office. A waste of my time, my daughter’s stomach pain wasn’t even resolved.”
Non-HIPAA Compliant Response: We are sorry to hear about your experience. Our priority is to ensure the safety and health of all of our patients. If you would like to discuss your daughter’s experience, please contact our team at [NUMBER AND EMAIL].
HIPAA Compliant Response: We are sorry to hear this. Our priority is to ensure the safety and health of all of our patients. We appreciate feedback and thank you for taking the time to share it. You can contact our team at [NUMBER AND EMAIL] if you have any further comments or suggestions.
Is it okay to ask employees for reviews for your practice?
Asking your employees for a review is tricky. It’s tempting because it improves your rating to get a bunch of 5-star reviews. However, it can place unfair pressure on employees.
Instead, ask employees if they’d like to leave an honest review about what it’s like to work for your business. This can improve your rating, impress your patients (not to mention prospective employees) and is totally ethical.
Mistakes businesses make when asking for reviews for their practice
NOT asking for a review is the first mistake. But the way you ask for reviews can end up worse than not asking at all.
Here are four things to avoid when trying to build up your reviews.
- Asking too many past patients or clients at once, so reviews come in sudden batches. This looks suspicious to Google.
- Asking employees or friends to leave fake reviews as if they’re customers.
- Offering incentives for positive reviews. Instead, ask for an honest review with no incentive.
- Getting too many reviews on your premises. This looks suspicious because Google will assume you’ve provided an incentive to review you.
Easy ways to get more reviews
Finally, here are two ways to proactively get more healthcare reviews:
Add a link to your email signature:
Once you’ve claimed your Google Business page and are responding to social media reviews and comments as well, go ahead and add links to these pages in your email signature. Here are instructions to find your direct link on Google. Find it on Facebook by going to your page and clicking on “Reviews” in the top bar.
Reach out to customers when they leave your practice or business:
Once a client leaves your practice, follow up with an email or a text thanking them for coming and provide the link to leave a review. You can either automate this or do it manually.
Automate review requests:
A service like Get More Reviews and some EMR systems will send automated texts and emails to patients after an appointment. If you use a service, make sure they’ll sign a HIPAA-compliant BAA agreement because you’ll need to upload patient emails and cell phone numbers into their dashboard. These services also offer recipients the option to write their ANGRY ALL CAPS RANT to you in a private message rather than on a public review.
Manual review requests:
You or someone on your team can send a similar message to a few patients or clients manually over text or email, requesting reviews.
Practices with many good reviews aren’t necessarily doing a better job. It’s more likely they have a consistent plan for how to get reviews. Taking the time to make and implement a reviews strategy can ensure your digital marketing reflects the excellent service you provide.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I get more reviews for my healthcare practice without violating HIPAA? Ask patients to leave honest feedback via email or text after appointments—without mentioning their care details. Respond to reviews in general terms, and never confirm someone is a patient, even if they disclose personal information themselves.
- Is it legal or ethical to ask employees to leave reviews? Yes, if done correctly. You can ask employees to leave honest feedback about their experience working at your practice—but avoid asking them to pose as patients or post fake reviews.
- What review-gathering practices should healthcare businesses avoid? Avoid offering incentives for reviews, asking too many people at once, or getting reviews from your office Wi-Fi. These tactics can trigger Google’s spam filters or violate ethical standards.
CM&F Group offers professional liability insurance to over 200 types of healthcare professionals. All our coverage options are available online, allowing our clients to obtain liability insurance coverage within minutes. Our team is dedicated to helping your healthcare business thrive, including connecting you with compliance resources and more.
