Purpose: The aim of this study was to comprehensively explore the hearing healthcare experience of satisfied and dissatisfied consumers as reported on Google reviews.

Method: Using qualitative thematic analysis, open-text responses from Google regarding hearing healthcare clinics across 40 U.S. cities were examined. During the original search 13168 reviews were identified. Purposive sampling led to a total of 8420 5-star reviews and 321 1-star reviews. The sample consisted of 500 5-star (satisfied) and 234 1-star (dissatisfied) reviews, describing experiences with audiology clinics, excluding reviews related to Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) services, other medical specialties, and those not relevant to hearing healthcare.

Results: Satisfied and dissatisfied consumer reviews yielded nuanced dimensions of the hearing healthcare consumer experience, which were grouped into distinct domains, themes, and sub-themes. Six and seven domains were identified from the satisfied and dissatisfied reviews, encompassing 23 and 26 themes respectively. The overall experience domain revealed emotions ranging from contentment and gratitude to dissatisfaction and waning loyalty. The clinical outcomes domain highlights the pivotal contribution of well-being and hearing outcomes to the consumer experience, while the standard of care domain underscores shared expectations for punctuality, person centered care, and efficient communication. Facility quality, professional competence and inclusive care were also highlighted across positive and negative reviews.

Conclusion: Findings emphasize the critical dimensions of satisfied and dissatisfied hearing healthcare consumer experiences, identifying areas for potential service refinement.   These consumer experiences inform more person-centric service-delivery in hearing healthcare.