Questions we hear all the time.

Pricing is set on a short call — it depends on your specialty and how many locations you run. There is no setup cost and no minimum term.

No. There is no monthly retainer, no platform fee, and no minimum spend. If zero reviews post in a given month, you owe nothing.

The per-review price is all-in. It covers the outreach engine (SMS plus human-sounding voice calls), EHR integration, reporting, and a real account team for your practice. No hidden fees.

Birdeye is a software platform that sends automated SMS and email review requests you manage yourself. applaud is done-for-you: a warm, human-sounding outreach engine (voice + SMS) contacts every patient after every visit, with a real account team behind you. Birdeye bills a monthly platform fee regardless of results. applaud is priced on outcomes. Birdeye converts around 5% of patients; applaud converts around 30%.

Podium is a messaging-first platform billing a monthly fee per location for generic automated review requests. applaud replaces the generic blast with warm, human-sounding voice + SMS outreach that actually gets a response — converting roughly 6× the rate.

Yes. Every applaud account includes a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Patient data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256). We pull only the minimum necessary data — name, phone, email, visit date, and provider. No diagnoses, notes, or clinical data.

No. applaud contacts all eligible patients equally — we do not filter by predicted sentiment, satisfaction score, or any other signal. Every patient receives the same invitation. We do not gate, suppress, or incentivize reviews in any way.

Most practices see their first new Google reviews within 3–7 days of launch. Review volume compounds over the first 30–60 days as the operation reaches full calling cadence.

Med spas, cosmetic and general dental, orthodontics, dermatology, plastic surgery, hair restoration, IV hydration and wellness clinics, LASIK and vision, audiology, veterinary, and concierge medicine practices.

After a visit syncs from your EHR, applaud reaches out to the patient — a warm SMS first, with a human-sounding voice call when it helps — all warm-branded as your practice, never as applaud. Patients who agree are guided to leave a Google review; anyone unhappy is routed privately to you instead.

Yes. No contract, no minimum term, no cancellation fee. Cancel any month and all outreach stops immediately.

Yes. We offer a free competitive audit that benchmarks your Google review profile against your top 3 local competitors. It ships as a PDF within an hour of requesting it. No credit card, no commitment.

A 3-page report covering your current Google review count, star rating, review velocity, and how you compare to your nearest competitors on all three metrics. It highlights the specific gaps and what closing them would mean for local-pack ranking.

Every review originates from a real patient encounter synced from your EHR. We only contact patients who actually visited your practice. We never incentivize, fabricate, or purchase reviews.

Google Business Profile is the primary target. Google reviews have the highest impact on local search ranking and patient acquisition for healthcare practices.

Yes. applaud integrates with most major EHR and practice-management systems including Epic, Athenahealth, Kareo, Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and others. We also support manual list uploads and CRM integrations.

applaud was founded by Tom North. The company is built specifically for healthcare practices that want more Google reviews without the overhead of managing the outreach themselves.

applaud serves healthcare practices across the United States. The team operates remotely with a focus on the U.S. healthcare market.

Yes. Med spas and aesthetic practices are one of applaud’s core verticals. The outreach is tailored to the medspa visit flow — consultations, treatments, and follow-ups all trigger review requests at the right moment.

Yes. applaud works with both cosmetic and general dental practices. We integrate with Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, and other dental PMS systems. Dental is one of our largest verticals.