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What Happens if I Receive a Negative Review?
What Happens if I Receive a Negative Review?

Learn how to deal with negativity in a positive way that minimises the impact of unflattering comments.

Angel Jones avatar
Written by Angel Jones
Updated over a week ago

It is natural to have some concerns about receiving critical feedback. Negative reviews do sometimes happen but how you manage negative feedback says more about your service than a multitude of 5-star reviews.

How to Reply to Reviews on your Profile

Ignoring negative reviews can jeopardise your practice but responding in the wrong manner can leave a lasting effect on future patient opinions. There are a few things to keep in mind when responding;

  • Don't take it personally - It is imperative that you respond in a calm courteous and non-confrontational manner online as prospective patients will be able to view your response.

  • Apologise and acknowledge - Be sure to apologise for the patients' experience and thank them for their feedback.

  • Move it offline - Your response should offer resolution and display empathy. Be sure to offer your business contact details so as the patient can contact you to discuss the matter in a private setting.

The Impact of your Response

Critical reviews offer an opportunity to gain valuable performance feedback and can lead to improvements in healthcare delivery. It is important that you manage this information correctly and evaluate potential changes within your practise that will be beneficial for future patients.

In addition to this, by providing a concise reply which offers both empathy and resolution, you are displaying a high level of patient engagement and self-betterment which is a positive message for future patients. Patients are more likely to disregards negativity that seems exaggerated or unreasonable, they will often overlook negative reviews if handled thoughtfully.

Patients are more critical about reviews than you may think and studies have shown that patients are far more likely to post a positive experience online so please do not be discouraged.

What to Do Next

With the above tips in mind, please do read our article How to Reply to Patient Reviews to find out more about publishing your online response.

Alternatively, please contact hello@doctify.co.uk and a member of our team would be most happy to discuss this with you further and help draft a suitable reply.

If you suspect a review is fake or it does not adhere to Doctify's Terms and Conditions please gather credible evidence and either 'Report' the review from within your Dashboard or contact our team for further discussion.

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