One bad Practo review is killing your clinic: what Mumbai doctors can do about it

A dermatologist in Andheri messages me. She’s been practising for 9 years, and her clinic has a 4.6 on Practo from 140 reviews. Then one patient, angry about a 15-minute wait, leaves a 1-star review with a paragraph-long rant. It says nothing about the treatment, only the wait.

That review is now the first thing people see when they search her name. Her consultation bookings dropped 20% that month.

72% of patients check online reviews before booking a doctor. A single 1-star review sitting at the top of Practo or Google can undo years of clinical reputation. A doctor’s review also carries more weight than a restaurant’s, because people are trusting you with their health.

This is the playbook I walk Mumbai healthcare providers through.

Your clinical skills took a decade to build, and your online reputation can be damaged in 30 seconds. It isn’t fair, but every Mumbai doctor has to manage it.

Where patients actually check before booking

Each platform needs a different approach, so it helps to know who uses which:

Platform	Who checks	Review type	Can you remove a bad review?
Practo	Patients booking through app	Verified (only patients who booked can review)	Only if it violates guidelines (abusive, fake, irrelevant)
Google	Everyone who searches your name	Anyone with a Google account	Only if it violates Google policies
JustDial	Older demographic, phone searchers	Anyone can post	Can request removal through JustDial support
Facebook	Social media users	Anyone who visits the page	Can hide reviews, but not delete
Lybrate	Patients using the platform	Verified patients	Similar to Practo

When someone Googles “dermatologist in Andheri,” they see your Google reviews in the Maps listing, and your Practo profile often shows up on page one too. You need to manage both platforms.

When you get a bad review: the first 24 hours

1. Don’t respond emotionally

Your first instinct will be defensive. “This patient only waited 10 minutes, not 15.” “The treatment was appropriate.” “They’re being unreasonable.”

All of that may be true, and none of it belongs in your public response. A defensive reply from a doctor looks worse than the review itself.

2. Assess the review honestly

Before responding, ask yourself:

• Is there any legitimate feedback here? (Even angry patients sometimes have a point)
• Does the review describe a real experience, or is it made up?
• Does it violate platform guidelines? (Abusive language, naming staff inappropriately, written by someone who never visited)

3. Respond publicly — with empathy, not defence

A template that works for healthcare:

“Thank you for your feedback, [first name]. I’m sorry your experience didn’t meet your expectations. Patient comfort is important to me, and I take this seriously. I’d welcome the opportunity to discuss this directly — please reach out to [clinic phone/email] so I can understand what happened and how we can improve.”

This response:

• Shows future readers that you care about patient experience
• Doesn’t admit fault (important for medical-legal reasons)
• Moves the conversation offline
• Comes across as professional

What NOT to say:

• Don’t discuss the patient’s medical condition (HIPAA/ethics violation)
• Don’t argue about facts publicly (“You only waited 8 minutes, not 15”)
• Don’t blame the patient (“If you had arrived on time…”)
• Don’t say “This has never happened before” (it sounds dismissive)

4. Flag if it violates guidelines

Flag the review if it:

• Contains abusive or threatening language
• Names staff in a defamatory way
• Makes claims that are provably false (e.g., “this clinic doesn’t exist”)
• Comes from someone who never visited (check your patient records)

On Practo: use the “Report” function on the review and provide evidence (appointment records showing no visit, screenshots of abusive content). Practo takes 7–14 days to investigate.

On Google: click the three dots → “Report review” and select the violation. Google takes 5–21 days, and the success rate is lower than Practo’s.

Be realistic: platforms remove maybe 20–30% of flagged reviews. Don’t make removal your strategy. Build volume instead.

The real strategy: bury it with volume

You can’t delete most bad reviews, but you can make them irrelevant by surrounding them with good ones.

The math: with 5 reviews, one of them 1-star, your average is 4.2 and the bad review is prominent. With 80 reviews, three of them 1-star, your average is 4.7 and the bad reviews are buried on page 3.

The review collection system for clinics

Step 1: Create frictionless review paths

• Generate your direct Google review link (one tap to the review form)
• Create a Practo profile link that goes directly to the review section
• Print QR codes for both, one for Google and one for Practo

Step 2: Place QR codes strategically

• Reception desk (patients see it while checking out)
• Consultation room wall (visible during the wait)
• Post-procedure care instruction sheet (printed at the bottom)
• WhatsApp follow-up message (sent 2–4 hours after the appointment)

Step 3: Train your reception team

Your reception team brings in most of the reviews. Train them on this flow:

Patient finishes appointment → reception staff: “How was your visit today, [name]?”

If positive response → “That’s wonderful to hear. If you have 30 seconds, a quick review helps other patients find Dr. [name]. Here’s a QR code — just scan and tap the stars.”

If negative response → “I’m sorry to hear that. Let me get [doctor/manager] so we can address this right now.”

Don’t skip the second path. If you catch an unhappy patient before they leave, you can sort out the problem in person instead of on Practo.

Step 4: Automate the follow-up

Send an automated WhatsApp or SMS 2–4 hours after every appointment:

“Hi [name], thank you for visiting [Clinic Name] today. We hope your experience was good. If you’d like to share your feedback, here’s a quick link: [Google review link]. It helps other patients find us. Thank you!”

Clinics that run this system consistently get 15–25 new Google reviews per month. Within 3–4 months, the bad review is buried.

Platform-specific tactics for Mumbai doctors

Practo

• Complete your profile: qualifications, specialisations, clinic photos, consultation fees, timings
• Respond to every review (Practo’s algorithm favours active profiles)
• Keep your Practo calendar updated. Cancelled slots and wrong timings frustrate patients, and frustrated patients leave bad reviews
• Use Practo’s “Ask a Question” feature to show your expertise in public

Google Business Profile

• Verify your listing with the correct category (“Dermatologist”, not “Doctor”)
• Upload 15+ photos: clinic exterior, reception, consultation room, certifications on the wall, team
• Post health tips weekly via Google Business Posts
• Enable an appointment booking link (to your website or WhatsApp)
• Respond to every review within 24 hours

Your own website

• Create a testimonials page with your best patient feedback (with permission)
• Add schema markup: Physician, MedicalBusiness, AggregateRating
• Include your Practo and Google review links on the contact page
• Write 2–3 blog posts about common conditions in your speciality (these rank for searches like “best treatment for acne scars in Mumbai”)

The long game: reputation as a moat

The Mumbai doctors who dominate local search built a review system years ago and never stopped running it.

A Powai dentist I work with has 340+ Google reviews (4.8 average) and 200+ Practo reviews, and gets 40% of new patients from Google search. His nearest competitor in the Map Pack has 45 reviews. That gap took him 3 years to build, it grows every month, and nobody can close it quickly.

The degree, the clinic decor and the Instagram presence all count for less than a steady stream of genuine patient reviews on the platforms patients check before booking.

One bad review feels like a crisis. Treat it as the push to build the system you should have built three years ago. Start today, run it consistently, and in 6 months that 1-star review will be a footnote.

The review system pairs with your Google presence. The Google Business Profile playbook covers the profile side, and if you’d rather have the whole reputation system set up for you, that’s a fixed-quote local SEO project.