What Your Practice Can (and Can't) Say Online

Marketing a medical or dental practice comes with rules that a restaurant or a law firm never has to think about. Most of them are reasonable once you know them, and almost all of them come down to three ideas: protect patient information, don't promise outcomes, and be honest about who is saying what.

This is the practical version. It isn't legal advice, and your state board and your own counsel have the final word. But it will keep you out of the situations that actually cause trouble.

1. Patient information is protected, even when it's flattering

A patient's name, face, voice, or the fact that they were seen at your practice is protected health information. That includes the happy patient who would love to be in your photos. Using it in marketing requires a written HIPAA authorization that names the specific use: the website, social media, a printed brochure. A general consent-to-treat form doesn't cover it, and neither does a verbal yes.

The place practices slip most is online reviews. Replying "Thanks, Sarah, glad the crown is feeling better" confirms that Sarah is a patient and what she had done. Reply warmly, but generically: thank people for their kind words and for their trust, and never mention treatment, even when they mentioned it first.

The same applies to staff sharing on their personal accounts, to photos of the waiting room that catch a patient in the background, and to "look who visited today" posts. When in doubt, the rule is simple: if a stranger could tell that a specific person received care from you, you need that person's written permission.

2. Don't promise results

Advertising claims have to be truthful and backed by evidence, and healthcare claims get a harder look than most. Words like "painless", "permanent", "guaranteed", and "the best in the city" are the ones that invite complaints. So are specific outcome numbers that come from a brochure rather than from your own results.

Before-and-after photos deserve special care. They need the patient's written authorization, they should show typical results rather than the single best case, and they should not be retouched. Several state dental and medical boards have specific rules about them, and some restrict them entirely. Check yours before publishing a single pair.

Titles matter too. Most dental boards limit the word "specialist" to recognized specialties with completed training, and describing a general practice as specializing in something can be treated as misleading. Describe what you do and how you do it. Let the descriptions carry the weight instead of superlatives.

3. Endorsements have to be honest

Testimonials and reviews are governed by consumer-protection rules as well as privacy rules. A testimonial has to be real and typical, or it needs a clear statement that results vary. Anyone with a connection to the practice, including employees and family members, has to disclose it if they write a review. And offering something of value for a review, without disclosing that, is off the table.

The safe posture is the simple one: ask for honest reviews, don't pay for them, don't screen who you ask, and don't edit what people said.

What this looks like in practice

• One authorization form for marketing use, kept on file, signed before any photo, name, or story is used. Note what it covers and for how long.

• A review-reply habit that thanks people for their trust without mentioning care. Write two or three versions once and reuse them.

• A claims check before anything publishes: is every statement something the practice can back up? Would you say it to a patient in the chair? If a sentence describes an outcome, can it describe the process instead?

• A board check once a year on before-and-after photos, specialist language, and any new advertising rules. Boards do update them.

None of this limits good marketing. It limits the kind that gets a practice a letter from the board. The practices with the strongest presence online are usually the ones that describe their work plainly, show their real people with permission, and let honest reviews speak for themselves.

At DoctorBrand, these guardrails are built into how we write and approve every piece of content, so a practice never has to be the one catching it. But the rules are worth knowing regardless of who does the work.