Online Reviews for Radiology Practices: A Practical Guide

It's tempting to assume reviews don't matter in radiology because patients arrive with a referral rather than choosing you from scratch. In practice, the opposite is true. In most of Australia, a referral is valid at any provider - the patient decides where to take it.

That decision increasingly happens online. A patient with a referral for a knee MRI will search for clinics nearby, compare a handful of options, and read what other patients have said. On Radly, ratings and reviews sit directly alongside your pricing, hours and photos, so they form part of the same side-by-side comparison.

Reviews also influence referrers indirectly. GPs hear feedback from their patients about where the experience was good, and a clinic with a visibly poor reputation makes the referring doctor look bad by association. A strong review presence supports both channels at once.

Imaging reviews rarely comment on image quality - patients can't assess it. They comment on everything around the scan:

• How they were treated at reception and by the radiographer • Whether they waited long past their appointment time • Whether the cost matched what they were told • How well the procedure was explained, especially for anxious patients • Parking, signage, and how easy the clinic was to find • How quickly results reached their doctor

This is useful intelligence. Your reviews are a free, continuous audit of the non-clinical experience - the part of your service that patients are qualified to judge and that drives their booking decisions. Read them for patterns, not individual grievances: three separate mentions of confusing parking is an operational finding, not bad luck.

There is nothing wrong with asking satisfied patients to leave a review, provided you do it properly.

What's appropriate: • A general ask at the end of the visit - "if you were happy with your experience today, we'd appreciate a review" • An automated follow-up SMS or email after the appointment with a direct link to your Google or Radly profile, sent to all patients rather than a hand-picked subset • Signage at reception with a QR code

What to avoid: • Offering incentives, discounts or prizes in exchange for reviews • Only inviting patients you believe will be positive ("review gating") - selectively soliciting favourable reviews breaches most platforms' policies and can mislead consumers • Writing reviews yourself, or asking staff and family to post as patients

Note that Australian advertising rules for regulated health services restrict the use of testimonials in your own advertising. Reviews patients post on independent platforms are a different matter - but don't republish clinical testimonials in your marketing without checking current Ahpra guidance.

The cardinal rule: never confirm that the reviewer was a patient. Even acknowledging "your appointment last Tuesday" discloses health information and can breach privacy law, regardless of what the reviewer has chosen to share publicly.

A safe response pattern: • Thank them for the feedback in general terms • State your clinic's standards without discussing their case - "we aim for all patients to be seen close to their appointment time" • Invite them to contact the practice manager directly to discuss their experience • Keep it short, calm and professional - you are writing for the hundreds of future patients who will read the exchange, not to win an argument with one reviewer

Never respond angrily, dispute clinical details publicly, or reveal anything about the person's attendance, scan type or results. A measured response to a harsh review often does more for your reputation than another five-star rating.

Google is where most review activity happens, so your Google Business Profile deserves basic housekeeping:

• Claim the profile if you haven't - unclaimed profiles accumulate reviews you can't respond to • Verify your name, address, phone number and hours match your website and your Radly profile exactly • Choose accurate categories (for example, radiologist or medical diagnostic imaging centre) • Add photos - profiles with photos attract more clicks and direction requests • Respond to every review, positive and negative - a simple thank-you to positive reviewers shows future readers the clinic is engaged

Review volume and recency also contribute to how prominently you appear in local search results, which means your review strategy and your local SEO strategy are the same project viewed from two angles.

Review management fails when it's nobody's job. Make it a small, owned, recurring process:

• Assign one person to check Google and Radly reviews weekly and respond within a few business days • Agree on two or three pre-approved response templates for common situations, so responses are consistent and privacy-safe even when the usual person is on leave • Feed recurring themes into your regular practice meeting - reviews mentioning wait times, billing surprises or unclear preparation instructions each point at a fixable process • Track your average rating and review count quarterly alongside your other clinic metrics

Over a year, a clinic that quietly asks every patient and responds to every review will build a review presence that a competitor cannot buy or shortcut. It compounds - which is exactly why it's worth starting now.