How Does Healthgrades's Rating Actually Work?

That gap matters. The number a visitor sees is drawn from every submitted survey, not just the ones with written text attached — so a calculator built only from the visible written reviews would be estimating off an incomplete input set, not reproducing the actual math. That’s a meaningfully different situation from a platform where every rating comes with visible text.

Every submission — star-only or written — has to clear verification first: the patient provides an email address and agrees to Healthgrades’ User Agreement, Editorial Policy, and Privacy Policy affirming the account is accurate, truthful, and a first-hand experience. Submissions are then screened by automated software around the clock and audited by Healthgrades’ editorial team before anything publishes.

• Patient Satisfaction Survey — multiple 1-to-5 star dimensions per visit (scheduling ease, office environment, staff friendliness, how well the provider explained things, likelihood to recommend), with an optional written comment capped at 500 characters.
• Star-only submissions count — a large share of submitted surveys never include written text, but they move the published rating the moment they’re submitted, so the visible reviews are only part of the picture.
• Identity and authenticity verification — an email address plus agreement to Healthgrades’ User Agreement, Editorial Policy, and Privacy Policy affirming the review reflects a genuine first-hand experience.
• 24/7 automated screening plus human editorial audit before any submission publishes, with an ongoing community flagging system after the fact.
• "Patient Favorite" recognition requires a 4.0+ star rating, a minimum of 6 total reviews, and at least 5 written reviews in the past 5 years — and Healthgrades states providers cannot pay or otherwise influence their way into it.