Businesses have been the subject of online reviews for many years, and doctors are no different. For many years, most people have depended on referrals from their doctor, or recommendations from friends and loved ones when choosing a new doctor or specialist.

But, what happens when you need to visit a specialist that friends and family haven’t yet seen? How do you know which doctor to choose? More and more people are turning to online reviews in order to find the doctor that’s right for them.

In 2015, 92% of consumers read online reviews about a local business (which includes reviews about physicians). Moreover, 68% of consumers say that reviews make them trust a local business more. While these numbers aren’t specific to healthcare, they can give you an idea of just how important online reviews are to consumers, and perhaps especially so for those seeking out a new doctor.

Tips for Writing a Useful Doctor Review / Rating

Many people search the web for tips on how to write a good doctor review before actually reviewing or rating a physician themselves. Because we’ve had some experience moderating doctor reviews that have been submitted to MD.com, we wanted to share some best practices and tips on how to make your review the best it can be.

Before Getting Started

First, decide where you’ll submit your review (which website) — if there’s a site that doesn’t have any reviews for your doctor, consider submitting there.

• Read the website’s instructions, tips or FAQ about reviews.
• Read the site’s Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
• Read reviews that others have already left for that doctor on the website you’re submitting to (if any have been published)
  • Not to influence your own review, but to see if there’s anything specific from your experience with the physician that you can contribute that will add additional value (as opposed to reiterating or reaffirming what others have already posted).

The Review, Testimonial and/or Rating Process

Getting Started

Get started by following any on-page directions & prompts to begin answering the questions you’re presented, or writing the content of your review. Look out for any warnings, such as this one that we use on MD.com:

Pictured above: The disclaimer / warning we display on review forms at MD.com.

Writing a Testimonial or Review of Your Doctor

Tips to keep in mind…

If and when it comes time to sit down and write the actual content of a review or testimonial, consider these tips:

• Always provide your honest opinion
• Include anecdotal examples of your experience, or things you took notice of that you feel others would find useful
• Remember that the overarching goal of a great doctor review is to help other potential patients (not to vent your anger or frustration with the office staff, practice or hospital)
• For your own privacy, be mindful of submitting any potential personally-identifiable information; try your best to maintain a healthy balance of anonymity (to protect yourself), and specificity (to add value and help others)
• On most sites, you will be offered a five- or ten-point scale, which you should complete to the best of your ability. Here at MD.com, our rating system asks you (a) if you’d recommend the doctor, and (b) to select from nine different review ‘tags’ based on your experience (see the screenshot below)

Above: The nine “review tags” we use at MD.com (screenshot from a review form)

Questions to ask yourself…

Asking yourself questions like these can help stimulate the writing process and help you come up with what to write in the body of an actual doctor review or testimonial:

• How easy was it to schedule an appointment?
• Was it was easy to get in touch with the doctor by phone?
• Was the doctor on time for your appointment?
• What type of bedside manner did the doctor have?
• What did you like about the overall experience?
• Is there anything the doctor could have improved upon?
• Would you recommend the doctor to a friend or family member?
• Did you have any trouble with billing or insurance?

Minding your style and tone…

When writing the body or content of a review or testimonial, remember to be concise but informative. While every review is going to be subjective by its very nature, try your best to write it from an objective point of view.

• When submitting a positive review (which could be considered or referred to as a “testimonial“), be sure to include more than just “Dr. X is great doctor!!!!!” — explain why you feel they’re a great doctor, or what they did to make you feel that way.
• Alternatively, if you’re submitting a not-so-positive review, refrain from making personal attacks or cast aspersions. Instead, offer some constructive criticism based on your own experience that can help the doctor or office improve the next patient’s experience.Remember: Resorting to name-calling and making allegations that can’t be proven will probably be a waste of your time, as doing so will often prevent your review from being published, depending on the policies or screening process of website you’re submitting to.

Some Final Notes & Pointers

• Personal anecdotes can be very helpful: Prospective patients that are likely to come across your review are usually searching for personal anecdotes or experiences from others that will help them decide whether or not that doctor seems to be a good fit. While the doctor having a “nice office” is good to know, other details that are less obvious may be more helpful.

  For example, if you require wheelchair access and the office has a well-kept ramp and spacious, accommodating waiting room, make mention of it. Similarly, if you’re a new mother and there’s a changing station in the bathroom, consider mentioning that in your review.

• Don’t use swear words or inappropriate language! Including curse words or other inflammatory language will only get you filtered, and your review won’t be published (and it will have been a waste of your time, unfortunately).
• Leave out personally-identifiable information. You can maintain your anonymity while still offering value to other potential patients.

• Cool off before you submit a negative review. If you’ve had a sub-par experience and wish to provide feedback in the form of an online review, take a day or two to cool down before you submit. This is better for all parties involved, as it will help you write a more useful review, filled with constructive criticism — as opposed to simply venting your frustrations.

• Remember: Anything published on the internet has the potential to either stay published, or be publicly available, forever — even if the site shuts down, due to mirror sites and the internet archive — so make sure you’re comfortable with what you’re submitting! You can rarely take things back once they’ve been published.

An example of a very creative review…

Below, see a screenshot of a review for Dr. Gordon Tang, a neurosurgeon in Berkeley, California — it’s one of our favorites. The patient took the time to write and submit this review to the tune of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

While this isn’t the most “helpful” review when it comes to anecdotal value, it’s by far one of the most creative we’ve ever received (and published). The fact that a patient was inspired to come up with such a creative way of reviewing the doctor tells us they must have had a really positive experience with the doctor.

Screenshot of the review published on Dr. Tang’s MD.com site

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Editorial Staff at MD.com

This post was written by a member of the editorial staff at MD.com.

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