Health marketing
Reviews for
health clinics.
You can collect reviews, and you don't have to remove reviews on sites you don't control. You can't use reviews about symptoms, treatment or outcomes in your advertising. Replies need care too: the OAIC counts details of a health service someone has had as health information. Reply politely, confirm nothing about their care, and take it offline.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.Which reviews
you can use.
Ahpra's testimonial tool splits reviews in two. Comments about the clinical side (symptoms, diagnosis, treatment or outcome) are testimonials and can't be used to advertise. Comments about the service, like customer service or communication style, aren't testimonials and can be. Praise for a practitioner's skill or experience does count as a testimonial.
So a widget that pulls every five-star Google review onto your website will almost certainly show some you can't use. Pick by hand, or leave the widget off.
What you
don't have to remove.
Ahpra's wording: advertisers do not have to remove or try to remove a review on a site they don't control. Where that site advertises your service, the site owner is responsible for it.
Your own pages are different. Reviews on your website and your own social pages are your responsibility, and you may need to turn reviews off on a page you can't moderate.
Replying to reviews on someone else's site may be considered using a testimonial to advertise. One more reason to keep replies short and about the service.
Replying
without a breach.
The OAIC's guidance is plain: don't expose personal information to pressure someone to change or delete a review. In a case it describes, a business that named a reviewer and disclosed his details in a Google reply was found to have breached privacy law and ordered to apologise. That business was a real estate agency. A clinic has more at stake, because almost anything about a patient is health information.
Ahpra's social media guidance makes the same point: small details posted together can identify a patient.
A safe reply thanks them, says you take feedback seriously, and gives a way to talk privately. No names, no dates, no treatment, no public defence of the clinical decision.
Check a reply
before it goes up.
Paste a draft. It flags the details that most often cause trouble.
Reply checker
Is your reply
safe to post?
Paste the reply you're about to post to a Google review. It flags anything that could disclose health information or read as advertising. A word check, not legal advice.
Flags
0
A safer shape
Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback. We take every comment seriously and would like to talk this through. Please call the practice manager on [number] so we can help.
Asking
every patient.
Google's policy rules out incentives, discouraging bad reviews and asking only the patients who seem happy. Pick one moment, like the follow-up text after a visit, and ask everyone there.
Some reviews will mention treatment. You can't stop patients saying it, and you don't need to. You just can't use those ones in your ads.
What I see most often
What I see
most often.
- 1
Defensive replies
A long public reply explaining the clinical reasoning to an unhappy patient. It reads as an argument and discloses their care.
- 2
Thanking by name and body part
'Thanks Michelle, glad the shoulder's better!' Friendly, and it confirms who was treated for what.
- 3
Page reviews left on, unwatched
Reviews switched on on a Facebook page nobody checks, so clinical testimonials sit on a page the clinic is responsible for.
- 4
Only the happy ones get asked
Staff ask the patients who seem pleased. Google's rules say ask everyone.
The honest bit. Some bad reviews will stay up, and some are unfair. Reply once, politely, then put the effort into the next hundred patients. That's what moves the average.
Questions
people ask.
Can I respond to a bad Google review as a health practitioner?
Yes, carefully. Don't confirm they were a patient or mention any details of their care: the OAIC treats information about a health service someone has had as health information. Offer to talk privately.
Can I put Google reviews on my clinic website?
Only reviews about the service, like friendliness or booking. Reviews about symptoms, diagnosis, treatment or outcomes are testimonials and can't be used in advertising.
Do I have to remove testimonials from Google?
No. Ahpra says advertisers don't have to remove reviews on sites they don't control. Reviews on your own website and social pages are your responsibility.
Can I offer a discount for a review?
No. Google's policy rules out incentives for reviews.
Related
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going.
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