Do review texts need their own patient consent?

Treat a text that asks a patient for a review as its own kind of message, with its own consent. The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires a patient's prior consent before a business sends texts to a cell phone from an automated texting system (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii)). Whether consent a patient gave for reminders also covers a review ask depends on how it was worded, so a separate opt-in is the safe default. The FCC's rules at 47 CFR § 64.1200 set out how that consent is given, how a patient takes it back, and how fast you have to listen.

The simplest way to stay inside those rules: ask for review-text consent at intake, as its own line on the form, separate from appointment reminders. Keep the signed record. Stop texting anyone who opts out.

Does a review text need its own consent?

Yes, treat it that way. Most clinics already collect consent for appointment reminders. That consent was given for reminders. A review request is a different message with a different purpose, and the reminder consent may not cover it.

A separate opt-in fixes that on day one. It also gives you a clean answer if anyone ever asks, "Did this patient agree to this text?" You can point to the form, the date, and the line they checked.

Is a review request a marketing text?

It depends on the wording, and that's why the consent bar matters.

The FCC's rules split automated texts into two groups (47 CFR § 64.1200(a)(1)–(2), (f)):

• Informational texts (no advertising, no sales pitch) need the patient's prior express consent. Giving you a cell number for a stated purpose can count.
• Texts that advertise or count as telemarketing need prior express written consent: a signed agreement that clearly authorizes marketing texts to a named number, and says signing isn't a condition of getting care (§ 64.1200(f)(9)).

A plain "How was your visit? Here's our review link" is usually read as informational. Add a coupon, a promotion, or "book your next cleaning" and it can start to look like marketing, and marketing texts need written consent that covers marketing specifically. A review-text opt-in doesn't cover them, so keep review texts free of offers.

Doesn't the FCC's healthcare exemption cover it?

No. The FCC exempts certain healthcare texts from the consent requirement when they're free to the patient, but only for a fixed list of purposes: appointment and exam confirmations and reminders, wellness checkups, hospital pre-registration, pre-operative instructions, lab results, post-discharge follow-up, prescription notifications and home healthcare instructions (§ 64.1200(a)(9)(iv)). Review requests aren't on that list. Those exempt texts also can't include any solicitation or advertising.

So the rules that let you send a reminder without any consent don't carry over to a review ask.

What if a patient replies STOP?

You stop. Under the FCC's current rule, a patient can revoke consent by any reasonable means, and a reply of "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" or "unsubscribe" always counts. You have to honor it within a reasonable time, no more than ten business days (§ 64.1200(a)(10)).

You may send one text confirming the opt-out, as long as it only confirms and contains no marketing. Sent within five minutes, it's presumed fine (§ 64.1200(a)(12)).

A reply in other words ("please don't text me again") still counts if a reasonable person would read it as an opt-out.

What changed in October 2026?

On September 30, 2026, the FCC adopted a new order on opt-outs (FCC 26-67 (PDF), released October 1, 2026). It replaces the "revoke all" rule that had been delayed to January 31, 2027. Under the new order:

• A STOP to an informational text can apply only to that category of texts. A patient who opts out of review requests doesn't have to lose appointment reminders, and the reverse.
• A STOP to a marketing text still stops all marketing texts from that business.
• You can name one or more opt-out methods as the exclusive ones: reply keywords, an automated phone option, or a website or phone number. You have to say so clearly in each text. For texts, including one of the standard words ("Reply STOP to opt out") is enough, as long as you honor all seven.
• The ten-business-day deadline stays.

The new rules take effect 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register. As of October 17, 2026, it hasn't been published yet, so the current rules above still apply.

This is one more reason to keep review texts as their own category with their own consent. When the category rule takes effect, a patient's STOP on a review text has a clear scope.

What does Texas law add?

Texas lets anyone who receives a text that violates the TCPA or the FCC's rules sue in state court for $500 per violation or actual damages, whichever is greater. If the violation was knowing or intentional, the court can raise that to $1,500 per violation or three times actual damages, whichever is greater (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 305.053). Since September 1, 2025, a violation of that chapter is also a deceptive trade practice under Texas law (§ 305.054, added by SB 140).

SB 140 also brought texts under Texas's telephone-solicitation law, which covers messages sent "to induce a person to purchase, rent, claim, or receive an item." A plain review request isn't selling anything. A text that bundles an offer might be.

What does a mistake cost?

Under federal law, a patient can sue for actual losses or $500 per violation, whichever is greater. If it was willful or knowing, a court can increase the award up to three times that amount (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)). Each text can be its own violation, so a single monthly send to a full patient list adds up fast.

The Supreme Court narrowed what counts as an "autodialer" in Facebook v. Duguid (PDF) (2021), and some texting tools may fall outside that definition. Consent at intake is still the cheap, safe default. It's one line on a form you already hand out.

What this means for your clinic

• Add a review-text line to your intake form, separate from the reminder line. Unchecked by default. Plain words about what the patient will get.
• Keep the record. Date, form version, and the number the patient gave.
• Only text patients who said yes. Everyone who opted in gets the same message. Nobody is picked or skipped based on how their visit went.
• Keep the ask plain. No offers, discounts or "book now" lines in a review text.
• Honor every opt-out word, in any form, within ten business days. Sooner is better.
• Train the front desk to explain the opt-in in one sentence and to log a verbal "don't text me."

How Automynds handles it

Review texts get their own consent at intake, separate from appointment reminders. We give your front desk a short script and training on asking for that consent, so it takes under a minute per patient. Texts go out from your clinic, to patients who opted in, with the same message for every one of them.

We give you suggested consent wording for your intake form. Your team or your lawyer approves it before it goes on the form.

Replying STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE, or asking in plain words like "don't text me," stops review texts. The patient gets one confirmation text within five minutes.

An opt-out stops review texts right away. Your appointment reminders run on your own system, so we tell your front desk the same day, and they can stop reminders too if that's what the patient asked.

The consent stays on your intake form, in your practice-management software, and your clinic produces it if asked. We keep a log of every review text we send and every opt-out.

Every review text names your clinic and ends with "Reply STOP to opt out."

One review text per visit, and no follow-up. Texts go out between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. the patient's local time, Monday to Saturday.

Texts come from a number registered for business texting (10DLC), with your clinic as the registered brand.

Questions about how this works for your practice: hello@automynds.com.