In December 2022 the HHS Office for Civil Rights settled with New Vision Dental, a California practice, over patient information disclosed in its responses to online reviews. The practice paid $23,000 and agreed to a corrective action plan, and OCR stated that the practice is illegal under HIPAA.
Earlier, a Dallas dental practice paid $10,000 in 2019 after a reply on its Yelp page included a patient's last name, treatment plan and cost details. In 2023 a New Jersey psychiatric practice paid $30,000 after responding to negative Google reviews.
Our view: plastic surgery practices are held to the same rule. Reply without confirming that the person was a patient, and report reviews that break platform policy instead of arguing them in public.