The mistake that already cost a practice
In 2019 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that a Dallas dental practice agreed to pay $10,000 and adopt a corrective action plan after it disclosed patients' information while replying to their reviews on Yelp, including a patient's last name and details of their treatment, insurance and cost [1]. The reviews were public; the replies still were not allowed to add patient details.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Your own HIPAA compliance is your practice's responsibility; ask your compliance advisor about your policy for online reviews.
Safe-reply rules for a dental practice
- Never confirm that the reviewer is or was a patient. Reply about your practice in general, not about their visit.
- Never mention treatment, appointments, billing, insurance or anything from the chart, even if the reviewer wrote about it first.
- Never use the reviewer's full name. A neutral "Thank you for your feedback" opening is safest.
- Invite a private conversation only in general terms, and keep phone numbers and links out of the reply.
- Put it in writing: a short policy on who replies to reviews and what they may say.
Example replies (fictional)
Example review (fictional) · ★
"They charged me for a filling my insurance should have covered and the front desk was rude about it."
Example reply (fictional)
Thank you for your feedback. We take every concern about our front desk and billing process seriously, and we want every person who contacts our office to be treated with respect. We've shared this with our team. - Example Family Dental
Example review (fictional) · ★★★★★
"Dr. Lee was so gentle and explained everything. Best cleaning I have had."
Example reply (fictional)
Thank you for taking the time to write this. A calm, unhurried visit where everything is explained is exactly what our team works for, and we appreciate the kind words. - Example Family Dental
Notice what the replies leave out: no "your filling", no "your cleaning", no "your visit on Tuesday". They answer as a practice, not about a patient.
Using a reply service safely
If anyone else writes your replies, a person or a tool, set it so every reply waits for your approval before it posts, and read each one with patient privacy in mind. Answered has a setting for exactly that ("Let me approve every reply first"), and replies about health, injuries or legal threats always wait for you anyway.
Is replying worth it for a practice?
Google says replying shows you value feedback and that reviews are part of how prominent a business is in local results [2]. A calm, privacy-safe reply under a bad review is often what reassures the next person deciding where to book. If a review is fake or breaks Google's rules, you can report it from your Business Profile; Google decides whether it comes down [3].
See it on your own reviews. Paste any review into our free demo and see the reply we'd write, or start a 7-day free trial and have every Google review answered in your voice. Then from $49 a month; card required, cancel anytime.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, "Dental Practice Pays $10,000 to Settle Social Media Disclosures of Patients' Protected Health Information"
- Google Business Profile Help, "Tips to improve your local ranking on Google"
- Google Business Profile Help, "Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile"
Example reviews and replies on this page are made up for illustration. Not legal advice. Updated 2026-10-05.