A negative review always comes at an inconvenient time. Especially in healthcare, where your team works hard and an online response sometimes only shows a small part of the story.
However, your public response is important. Not because you always have to convince the reviewer, but because future patients are watching. They want to see how your practice deals with criticism.
Short answer
Respond to a negative review briefly, calmly and securely. Acknowledge the experience without sharing medical details, invite the reviewer to contact you directly and show that you take feedback seriously. Do not engage in discussion and try not to get your way online.
First: do not respond immediately
The first reaction is often emotion. Understandable, but rarely useful.
First do this:
- Read the review carefully.
- Check internally to see if you can find out what it is about.
- Discuss with the team what is actually correct and what is not.
- Determine whether the review may violate platform rules.
- Only then write a short comment.
Waiting an hour can prevent a lot of damage.
What you never share online
In healthcare, you must be extra careful. Do not share medical details, no medical history and no internal context that makes someone recognizable.
Avoid sentences such as:
- "You arrived late for your root canal treatment."
- "We have pointed out to you several times your payment arrears."
- "As discussed during last week's inspection..."
Even if it is true, it does not belong in a public review comment.
A good basic reaction
A safe response usually has four parts:
- thank you for sharing
- too bad the experience felt like that for you
- we take this seriously
- contact us so that we can discuss this personally
Example:
Thank you for sharing this with us. It's unfortunate to read that your visit did not go as you had hoped. We take your experience seriously and would like to discuss this personally. Would you like to email us at [email address]? Then we would be happy to look together at what happened.
Kind regards,
Lilly
That is not an admission of guilt. It is professional.
If you think the review is not correct
Even then you stay calm. The temptation is great to fix everything online, but that usually makes it bigger.
For example, use:
We do not fully identify with this picture, but we take your signal seriously. We would like to contact you personally to discuss the situation. Would you like to email us at [email address]? Then we would be happy to discuss this further.
Kind regards,
Tandarts Noord
This way you indicate that there is more context, without stepping into an open public debate.
When do you report a review to Google?
Reporting can be useful if a review is clearly fake, offensive, contains spam, has a conflict of interest or does not relate to your practice.
But don't expect every unjustified review to disappear. A review can be unfriendly or one-sided and still remain. That's why you need a good public response in addition to reporting.
Why negative reviews are not always bad
A profile with only perfect reviews can also raise questions. A single critical review, followed by a calm and professional response, can actually give confidence.
Future patients not only look at the complaint. They look at your attitude:
- are you staying calm?
- Are you taking anyone seriously?
- protect your privacy?
- do you solve things maturely?
That says a lot about your practice.
Prevention is better than cure
Many negative reviews arise because someone did not feel heard. Not always because the care was really bad.
That is why it is helpful to capture feedback earlier:
- ask after an exciting treatment course how someone experienced it
- make it easy to give internal feedback
- respond quickly to signals of doubt
- train counter and treatment team on the same tone
A good review process does more than ask for positive reviews. It also picks up complaints before they escalate online. Read how to collect reviews without pressure.
FAQ
Do I have to respond to every negative review?
Yes, always. A polite response shows future patients that you take feedback seriously.
Can I ask if someone will remove the review?
Only very carefully and only after it has been resolved personally. Never put anyone under pressure. Adjusting the review is also always an option.
What if a review is fake?
Report the review to Google and respond publicly briefly and professionally. Keep your response factual and privacy safe.
