Unhappy consumers, including patients, are free to express dissatisfaction with services they receive from providers on popular social media or online review platforms, such as Yelp and Google. At least in the healthcare industry, providers must be very careful when responding, if they respond at all.

“OCR continues to receive complaints about health care

It can be cathartic responding to a negative online review. It can also backfire, as can failing to cooperate with an OCR investigation as required under HIPAA.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced four enforcement actions, one against a small dental practice that imposed a $50,000 civil monetary penalty under HIPAA. The OCR

No business likes to receive bad reviews on Yelp® or anywhere else in social media. When they do, some feel the need to respond to clarify or rebut the reviews, but they must do so carefully. This is particularly true for HIPAA covered entities, as their responses could include protected health information (PHI). A recent