What to Do When You Get a Negative Review

We know negative reviews can be frustrating. Here are a few tips for dealing with negative reviews about your practice:

Don’t Worry

A single review is rarely the only information a consumer bases their decision on when choosing a doctor.  Most consumers will see the other positive reviews on your profile as well as learn about you through your Q&A contributions, photo galleries and even your own website. As time passes, the interest in activity on any one review will usually wane.

Leverage the Feedback

Patient reviews are a great way to step back and make improvements to your practice. While you may not agree with all or any of the opinions shared, there is always something to be learned from each patient’s experience to either improve your business for the future or to avoid similar situations.

Be Proactive

Every doctor will eventually have at least one patient who is unhappy with their results. Don’t wait for this negative review to surface and be the only review that represents your practice. Make it part of you and your staff’s regular process to ask every patient to share their story online. The more positive reviews you have, the less important the negative review will be in the bigger picture.

Respond to the Review

At RealSelf we recommend not responding online since a poor response will often add "fuel to the fire." Your response will be seen by a much larger audience than the patient and they will be judging how you respond. In the end, any response you post online is permanent, so choose your words wisely!

If you know who the patient is, consider reaching out to them privately and professionally to resolve the situation.

Finally...

Reviews are the opinions and personal experiences of their respective authors. However, if you feel the review violates RealSelf Terms of Service, you can dispute it here.