Can a Dentist Respond to a Yelp Review? Yes — Here's How to Do It Without Disclosing Patient Information
Yes, a dentist can respond to a Yelp review. The risk is what the reply says, not the fact of replying. Two dental practices paid $10,000 and $23,000 after Yelp replies disclosed patient information. This page is general information, not legal advice.
This page was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed against the sources cited.
Draft your Yelp reply, then run it through the free PlainReply checker. For more wording examples, see negative dental review response examples and positive dental review response examples.
Yes, a dentist can respond to a Yelp review. The risk is what the reply says, not the fact of replying
HIPAA does not ban a dental office from answering a Yelp review. What it limits is disclosing protected health information in that answer. HHS has settled with dental practices after replies on Yelp named patients or described their care. The ADA likewise says a public reply can be a problem if it confirms that the reviewer was a patient. (HHS press release, Elite; HHS press release, New Vision; ADA)
Two dental HHS cases were about Yelp replies
The short versions are below. The sourced case list, including amounts and what was disclosed, is on Dentists fined for replying to online reviews.
2019: Elite Dental Associates, Dallas, $10,000
Elite Dental Associates agreed to pay $10,000. HHS reported that a reply to a social media review disclosed a patient's last name and details of the patient's health condition, and that OCR found protected health information of multiple patients disclosed in responses to patient reviews on the Elite Yelp review page. (HHS press release, also checked against the archive.org copy; HHS case page)
2022: New Vision Dental, California, $23,000
New Vision Dental paid $23,000. The resolution agreement says OCR received a complaint alleging that the practice disclosed protected health information on its Yelp business page when responding to reviews, sometimes giving full names where patients had used only Yelp monikers, and including detailed information about patient visits and insurance. (HHS, Resolution Agreement and Corrective Action Plan; HHS press release; HHS case page)
The same HIPAA limit as on Google: don't confirm the reviewer is a patient
Do not add names, treatment, visits or insurance in a public Yelp reply, and do not write that someone is or is not your patient. The ADA states: "Just because a patient identifies themself in a review, they have NOT waived their right to privacy!" It also warns that even "Thank you for coming in," "We appreciate our patients" or "We love treating your kids" can violate HIPAA. The Privacy Rule's minimum necessary standard still applies to many disclosures; a public review page is not a private conversation with that person. (ADA; HHS, Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule; 45 CFR 164.502(b))
The same limit is explained, for Google reviews, on Is responding to a Google review a HIPAA violation?
A North Carolina dental practice was assessed a $50,000 civil money penalty after it disclosed a patient's information "on a webpage in response to a negative online review," and a New Jersey psychiatric practice, Manasa Health Center, paid $30,000 after replies to negative online reviews — not a dental example. Those cases are listed with sources on the fines page.
How Yelp lets a claimed business reply
Yelp's help article for claimed pages describes three ways to answer a review. The live help page at biz.yelp.com returned 403 when checked on November 13, 2026, so the details below come from the December 1, 2023 archive of that article. Button labels can change; the steps here are written without naming a button.
Yelp requires an approved profile photo and an approved business account name before you can reply. If you have more than one location, choose the right page first. Then, in your Yelp for Business account, open Reviews, find the review, and use the reply/respond option on the review.
A public comment, visible under the review to anyone
Yelp describes a public reply that appears below the review and is visible to anyone looking at the page. That is the HIPAA-risk surface. Keep it generic. Do not discuss someone's care, visits or insurance, and do not confirm that the reviewer is a patient.
Direct Message, and a Thank note on 4- or 5-star reviews
Yelp also describes a Direct Message to the reviewer, and, on 4- or 5-star reviews, a Thank option that sends a note Yelp says is visible only to that reviewer. This page does not call Yelp messages a HIPAA-secure channel; we have no source that they are. For anything about someone's care, invite them to call or email the office instead of discussing it on Yelp.
A safer public Yelp reply
Yelp's generic help advice is to give a "genuine, honest, personalized thanks." That is aimed at businesses in general. It conflicts with the ADA's warning that "Thank you for coming in" can confirm a patient relationship. For a dental office, keep the public comment general, and take any discussion of care off the public page.
These are short examples, not required wording. Longer lists are on the positive and negative example pages.
A short positive template
Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback. If we can help with anything, please call the office.
A short negative template
Thank you for taking the time to write this. We take all feedback seriously. Please call our office so we can talk directly.
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