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Patient reviews for medical practices: how to ask, reply and stay within the rules

A medical practice staff member works at a desk in a bright office

Reviews are often the first thing a new patient reads about your practice, before your website and before they call. This guide is for practice owners and front-desk leads at dental, eye and aesthetic practices: how to ask for reviews as a routine, how to reply without exposing patient information, and which federal and Google rules decide what you may and may not do.

  1. SearchAn adult looks for care near them.
  2. Your pageWhat you treat, who sees them, one way to book.
  3. Call or formThey call or send a request.
  4. Front deskBooks the visit and never guesses a cause.
  5. Clinical teamThe clinician decides the plan.
How a new patient request reaches your practice.

Make asking a routine, not a campaign

Practices that get steady reviews usually ask every patient, at the same point, in the same words. A push once a year produces a burst followed by silence. Google’s tips to get more reviews suggest reminding customers to leave a review with a direct link or a QR code, which your profile can generate.

  1. Pick the moment: after the visit is complete, for example a text or email the same day, sent to every patient who agreed to receive messages from you.
  2. Use one short message: “Thank you for visiting [practice name]. If you have a minute, we would value your review: [link].” No mention of the treatment.
  3. Add a card or QR code at checkout for patients who prefer to do it themselves.
  4. Name an owner: one person checks each week that requests went out and that new reviews have been read.

Ask everyone, not only the patients you expect to be happy. Screening patients first and sending only the satisfied ones to Google gives a picture that does not match reality, and it is risky under the rules below.

What the FTC rule on reviews forbids

The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465, in force since October 21, 2024) applies to practices like any other business. In plain terms, it covers:

  • Fake reviews: reviews from people who were not patients, or that misrepresent their experience.
  • Buying a particular sentiment: offering money, discounts or anything else in exchange for a review that is positive (or negative about a competitor).
  • Insider reviews: reviews written by owners or managers without disclosing their connection, and reviews from staff or relatives that the business asked for without making sure the connection is disclosed.
  • Review suppression: groundless legal threats or intimidation to get a review removed, and showing only the positive reviews on your own site while presenting them as all or most of what you received.

Google’s own rules are stricter on incentives

The FTC rule targets incentives tied to a particular sentiment. Google goes further. Its content policy for Maps reviews says businesses may not offer incentives such as payment, discounts or free services in exchange for posting any review, or for revising or removing a negative one, and it removes reviews posted because of an incentive. It also removes reviews based on a conflict of interest, which includes current or former employees.

For a practice, the safe line is simple: no raffles, gift cards, discounts or free whitening for reviews, and no staff or family reviews. Ask, make it easy, and stop there.

Replying without confirming anyone is a patient

Google recommends replying to reviews, and replies show future patients how you treat people. For a health practice, the reply is also where the biggest risk sits. The HHS Office for Civil Rights settled with New Vision Dental, a California practice, over its use of social media to respond to patient reviews, disclosing protected health information. HHS’s summary of the case says: “This practice is illegal under HIPAA.” The practice paid $23,000 and agreed to a corrective action plan. A patient choosing to post about their own visit does not give the practice permission to discuss it.

  • Never confirm that the reviewer is or was a patient, or mention a date, a treatment, a bill, a result or anything from the chart.
  • Positive review: “Thank you for taking the time to share this. We appreciate it.”
  • Negative review: “We take every concern seriously. Please call our office manager at [phone] so we can talk about this directly.” Then handle it on the phone, not in public.
  • Write replies from a template the owner or compliance lead has approved, and do not reply in anger the same day.

When a review breaks the rules

If a review appears to violate Google’s content policies (for example spam, a conflict of interest such as a competitor, or harassment), you can flag it from your Business Profile, as described on Google’s review management page. A review you simply disagree with is not a violation. Do not threaten the reviewer, and talk to your counsel before any legal step: the FTC rule treats groundless legal threats used to remove a review as review suppression.

Using reviews in your own marketing

Showing a star rating widget is different from quoting a patient by name, or pairing their words with photos, on your website or in ads. Before you feature a patient’s story, get their written permission in a form your counsel has approved, and do not edit it into something they did not say. If your site has a reviews page, do not leave out the critical ones while presenting the page as all your reviews.

A weekly review routine for the front desk

  1. Check that every completed visit got a review request.
  2. Read new reviews on Google and any other sites patients use.
  3. Reply using the approved templates; send anything unusual to the owner first.
  4. Pass recurring complaints (wait times, billing surprises, phones not answered) to whoever can fix them. Reviews are also free feedback.

Reviews work together with the rest of your local presence. Our guide on local SEO for medical practices covers the Business Profile, treatment pages and listings that reviews sit alongside.

Where MediLeadGen fits

Patients who read your reviews still have to reach you. MediLeadGen sends a practice requests from patients who asked for a treatment near them and agreed to be contacted by that practice only, at a fixed price per delivered request. The reviews they find when they look you up help turn that first call into a consultation.

See how it works for practices

Questions practices ask

How do we get more Google reviews for our practice?

Ask every patient after the visit with a short message and a direct review link or QR code from your Business Profile, and make one person responsible for checking that requests go out every week.

Can we offer a gift card or discount for a review?

Not for Google reviews: Google’s policy does not allow incentives for posting any review and removes incentivized reviews. The FTC rule also bans incentives tied to a positive review.

How should we answer a negative review?

Briefly and in general terms, without confirming the person is a patient or mentioning any details, and with an invitation to call the office. Handle the actual concern privately.

Can staff leave reviews for the practice?

No. Google removes reviews based on a conflict of interest, including employees, and the FTC rule restricts undisclosed reviews from owners, managers and staff.

General information for practice teams, not legal or medical advice. Review platform policies change; check the current versions. Last reviewed October 2026.

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