Three in four patients (75%) will not book a provider rated below 4.0 stars, according to rater8's 2026 Patient Choice Report, a survey of 992 U.S. adults fielded in April 2026. For 44% of them the floor is 4.5 stars, and only 11% say the rating does not factor into the decision.
What star rating do patients require?
Rater8 sells reputation management software to healthcare organizations, and it published the survey on June 3, 2026. Medical Economics reported the same figures on August 13, 2026, along with a comparison from BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey. BrightLocal found that 68% of consumers across all industries will not consider a business below 4.0 stars, and 31% draw the line at 4.5.
The two surveys differ in sample and wording, but the gap is visible. Patients choosing a doctor set the 4.0 line 7 points higher than consumers overall, and the 4.5 line 13 points higher.
| Minimum rating test | Patients (rater8, 992 adults) | All consumers (BrightLocal 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Will not book below 4.0 stars | 75% | 68% |
| Will not go below 4.5 stars | 44% | 31% |
| Rating does not factor in | 11% | Not reported |
Source: rater8, 2026 Patient Choice Report; Medical Economics, August 13, 2026, citing BrightLocal.
A practice rated 4.3 passes the 4.0 test. It still sits below the line for the 44% of patients who want 4.5.
What sends patients to another practice
In the same survey, 55% of patients said they have walked away from at least one doctor because of what they read online. Rater8 put that figure 15 percentage points above its 2025 result. Medical Economics also reported that more than half of respondents had canceled or skipped an appointment for the same reason.
Rater8 asked which review complaints end the search. Rude or unhelpful staff and "the doctor didn't listen" tied at 52%.
| Complaint that rules out a provider | Share of patients |
|---|---|
| Rude or unhelpful staff | 52% |
| Doctor did not listen | 52% |
| Substandard care or errors | 45% |
| Long wait times | 41% |
| Billing issues | 40% |
Source: rater8, 2026 Patient Choice Report, 992 U.S. adults; Medical Economics, August 13, 2026.
Wait times have a measured baseline. In MGMA's 2026 data, nearly 50% of groups reported unchanged new-patient wait times and 28% reported longer waits. The median third-next-available appointment for new patients sat at roughly two weeks across many specialties, according to MGMA's 2026 DataDive Financials and Operations dataset.
Staff conduct, waits and billing arise in the front office and the billing department. Their shares are 52%, 41% and 40%. Clinical complaints, listening and care quality, are 52% and 45%.
Replies and review volume
Rater8 found that 66% of patients say a provider's response to reviews influences their trust. That is up 24 points from 42% in 2025.
Review volume is shifting too. The share of patients who rarely or never leave a review fell from 56% in 2025 to 42% in 2026. And 68% said they would leave a review if asked.
Patients are also mobile. Medical Economics reported that 59% of respondents are actively seeking a new provider or are open to switching. Among those who stay, 39% give continuity as the reason, because the practice knows their medical history.
AI answers add a second rating check
MGMA reported in September 2026 that 47% of rater8's 992 respondents used AI to research or find providers, up from 31% in the survey nine months earlier. Among patients who searched for a doctor in the past year, 36% cited AI tools as an influence. Google search drew 34% and doctor recommendations 32%. Medical Economics also reported that 55% of respondents rate AI search results as equal to or better than standard Google results.
The answers are not always right. Of the 465 respondents who used AI, 66% said they met incorrect provider information, and 60% still trusted the AI summary without checking it elsewhere. TechTarget reported the same rater8 figures in 2026.
Rater8 also asked which part of a Google results page patients trust most. AI Overviews came first at 37%, ahead of organic results at 20%, the local map pack at 13% and sponsored results at 7%.
Practices have little control over which sources the tools draw on. In MGMA's test of 200 independent practices across about 4,950 ChatGPT prompts, none achieved both naming and citation.
What a practice can track each month
Two numbers cover most of the rating question. The first is the current star average on the main review sites, compared with the 4.0 and 4.5 lines that 75% and 44% of patients apply. The second is the share of new reviews that received a reply, since 66% of patients say replies affect trust.
When ratings fall, the complaint shares above point to where to look first: staff conduct at 52%, waits at 41%, billing at 40%. Appointment logs and patient balance reports hold the practice-side data for the last two. A review request sent after a visit reaches the 68% of patients who say they would respond.
Rater8 reported that 42% of patients now rarely or never leave reviews, down 14 points from 56% in 2025.
Sources
- rater8, 2026 Patient Choice Report, June 3, 2026
- Medical Economics, Patients now shop for doctors like consumers, and the bar just got higher, August 13, 2026
- TechTarget, Almost half of patients use AI for online provider search, 2026
- MGMA Stat, Are third-party booking platforms worth it? Measure your capacity before buying demand, September 15, 2026
- MGMA Stat, Can AI find your practice when patients ask?, June 17, 2026
Talk to us
Fifteen minutes about your practice and the systems you run.