Dental practitioners have specific obligations relating to advertising which are more stringent than those required for other businesses/individuals. Ahpra provides detailed descriptions of what should be considered when advertising a regulated health service such as a dental clinic.
Compliance is non-negotiable because it is a requirement under the National Law (s133). Breaches can result in monetary penalties and disciplinary action.
Summary of Guidelines
If you are advertising a regulated health service, your advertising must not:
- be false, misleading or deceptive, or likely to be misleading or deceptive
- offer a gift, discount or other inducement, unless the terms and conditions of the offer are also stated
- use testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or business
- create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment
- directly or indirectly encourage the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services.
All registered dental practitioners are expected to read and comply with the Guidelines for Advertising a Regulated Health Service. This document outlines in detail how to ensure your advertising is compliant. This document can be found at the Advertising Hub on the Ahpra website, together with fact sheets, FAQs, and examples.
Other legislation also applies:
- TGA – there are particular rules regarding advertising and therapeutic goods (e.g. medicines)
- Australian Consumer Law
- ACCC
Some key points
- Advertising compliance is your individual responsibility (even if it is created by someone else, such as a marketing company).
- Social media and web pages also count as advertising and the rules apply in this space. See Ahpra’s social media guidance
- Testimonials are likely in breach of the Guidelines, especially if they reference clinical treatment. See Ahpra’s Testimonial Hub. Remember that you are responsible for the compliance of any content within your control (e.g. on your webpage or social media pages).
- There are specific rules around the use of protected titles. You cannot state or imply that you are a specialist unless you hold specialist registration. Examples of non-compliance include phrases such as “specialises in”, which may be misleading.
- When offering gifts, discounts or inducements, you need to ensure you are not encouraging more treatment than is clinically necessary, and make clear the terms and conditions.
- You need to manage the expectations of your patients. Consider whether your advertising creates unreasonable expectations of what is clinically possible before your patient walks in the door. Is your advertising accurate and clear? Is it supported by acceptable evidence? Does it include information about risks? See Ahpra’s summary of requirements for more detail.
What About Online Reviews?
Online reviews are posted by others. It can be distressing to receive a poor review, particularly if it appears false or unjustified. What you can do in response is dependent on where the review is located. Although distressing, a poor online review may only be one negative comment amidst a number of positive reviews, and with time it will become less prominent in searches.
- Third party website
Unfortunately, you have no control over the content (e.g. Google reviews). You could certainly ask the company for the review to be removed, but this is not always successful unless it is in violation of the website’s standards.
- Your own web page or your own account on a third party website (e.g. social media)
You have control over the content (e.g. via a password), so you can remove the review. Remember that responding to a review directly online may constitute a testimonial and therefore be non-compliant, particularly if it is about clinical treatment.
If comments are truly defamatory, persistent, and numerous, you could consider engaging a lawyer to send a ‘cease and desist’ letter or take legal action. This could be appropriate when there is significant financial loss to the business as a result of the defamatory behaviour.
If you require more information, please do not hesitate to email Advisory Services at advisory@adansw.com.au or call 8436 9944.
