What a star rating can’t tell you about a hearing clinic

Star ratings are useful. They are quick to read, there are plenty of them, and a clinic with hundreds of good reviews is probably doing a lot right. But a single number leaves out most of what you would want to know before choosing a hearing clinic.

One score for the whole visit

A visit to a hearing clinic has several parts: getting an appointment, the front office, the hearing test, the conversation about treatment, the hearing aids, and the provider. A clinic can be excellent at one and weak at another. A star rating folds all of it into one number, so a wonderful provider with a chaotic front office and a smooth front office with a rushed test can both come out at four stars.

Many ratings look the same

Many clinics sit close to five stars. When several clinics near you are within a tenth of a point of each other, the average does not help you choose between them.

Reviews are often written too early

People tend to leave a review right after an appointment, when the staff were friendly and the experience is fresh. With hearing aids, the real result comes later. It takes weeks to adjust to them, and most people need at least one follow-up visit. A review written on fitting day cannot tell you how things turned out.

You can’t always tell who wrote it

On most review sites, anyone can post. There is usually no check that the reviewer was a patient of the clinic.

People review when they are asked

Clinics often invite reviews, and happy patients are the most likely to respond. That does not make the reviews false. It does mean the average may lean high.

How to read reviews well

• Read the words, not only the stars. Look for specifics about the test, the fitting and the follow-up.
• Sort by newest. Staff and ownership change.
• Look for patterns. One complaint about waiting is a bad day. Five is how the clinic runs.
• Read the three- and four-star reviews. They are often the most balanced.
• See how the clinic replies. A thoughtful reply to a critical review says a lot about how you will be treated if something goes wrong.
• Look for reviews written months after a fitting. They tell you about long-term care.

What Hearsay adds

Hearsay is built to fill these gaps. It is not a replacement for other reviews, and a clinic’s Google rating can appear on its Hearsay profile alongside its survey ratings.

• Patients rate six parts of their care separately, so you can see where a clinic is strong.
• Every survey comes from a patient invited by their own clinic.
• Patients fitted with hearing aids are surveyed about 90 days later, once they know how the hearing aids are working.
• Every rating shows how many patients it comes from.

Read how Hearsay ratings work, or go back to how to choose a hearing clinic.