Federal and State Regulations for Healthcare Marketing
Some of the most powerful marketing campaigns are creative and unique. Think of the Red Bull Stratos campaign that allowed Felix Baumgartner to set the world record for the highest freefall skydive while live streams broadcasted it across the internet. Innovative ideas like that are designed to grab attention, reaching far more than just a small niche market. Unfortunately, companies like Red Bull have a lot more freedom than those tackling healthcare marketing.
There are federal regulations designed to protect consumers and patients when healthcare companies are marketing their products. While you have the right to strengthen your brand and get your name out in your local area, you don’t have the freedom to do so through deceptive practices or while violating the rights of your current, past and future patients. There are also state regulations that may apply to businesses in your local area.
When creating your website and implementing your comprehensive marketing plan with ServLocal™, it’s important to keep all federal and state regulations in mind. We can help by providing compliant digital marketing services created just for healthcare companies. It’s still important to know some of the regulations that apply to your business, so take a moment to learn about a few of the most basic federal regulations that could lead to penalties and lawsuits when violated.
HIPAA-Compliant Web Forms
You’re likely well aware of the HIPAA privacy and security regulations as you implement HIPAA-compliant practices with patients inside your offices and through your database. Those rules apply to everything your business does, including your marketing campaigns.
Your website should contain forms that allow you to collect information from current or potential patients, but some of the information you collect may fall within HIPAA’s regulations. Any information that you would fully protect in the office or through your office database must remain private and secure when entered into a form on your website.
That means making sure you have the correct security mechanisms enabled on your website. It also helps if you minimize the amount of HIPAA-protected information that you ask for through your website forms. That requires some technical knowledge, but ServLocal™ can help.
Our websites are 100% HIPAA compliant. We leverage encryption and third-party data storage so that your website and marketing databases never contain any individually identifiable health information. We improve the effectiveness of your marketing strategies while ensuring you’re always HIPAA compliant.
Truthful Advertising Practices
The Truth in Healthcare Marketing Act of 2017 was enacted to protect consumers from deceptive and potentially misleading marketing practices by any business in the healthcare industry. The act covers all communications between patients and healthcare providers, including:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Physicians
- Physician assistants
- Other care providers
The act extends to the marketing campaigns that are implemented on behalf of your healthcare business. It prohibits you from any practice that isn’t fair, truthful and backed by evidence. If you can’t guarantee as fact and truth any of the information currently on your website or released through any of your social media accounts or directory listings, you’re potentially making a mistake that could cost you financially while tainting your reputation in the future.
It doesn’t matter if you outsource blog posts to writers who aren’t familiar with HIPAA and or the truth-in-advertising regulations. If you violate those rules, you may eventually be held accountable to those mistakes. That’s why working with a healthcare-focused marketing program like ServLocal™ is critical to your success online and in the professional world.
HIPAA-Compliant Social Media Marketing
One of the best ways to stand out in the frenzied clutter of social media in 2020 is to present endorsements, feedback and reviews from current or past patients. The problem is that information is protected by HIPAA. You need written permission from each patient before you can present a video testimonial or written review with and personal photo.
Ensuring that each patient is fully aware of exactly what your posting before they give permission is also important. You also want to make sure that any personal health information that would be protected in your medical office is fully protected in social media as well. If you’re ever not certain whether something qualifies as protected health information, it’s best to get written permission first.
Compliant Healthcare Marketing Techniques
Take a look at this list of well-known statutes that limit the marketing efforts of healthcare providers. Have you heard of them all? Do you know exactly what they say and want regulations they present for your business? We’ll give you a bit of information as a reminder just in case.
- Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) – Healthcare providers are prohibited from exchanging anything of value for referrals to any product or service that is payable under federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
- Ethics in Patient Referrals Act (Stark) – Healthcare providers are prohibited from making referrals to other providers with whom they have a financial relationship. Any shared financial interest that sparks a referral could fall under this law.
- Civil Monetary Penalties Law (CMPL) – Healthcare providers are prohibited from committing a variety of healthcare frauds and abuses. Specifically, enticing consumers with kickback offers from a physician is penalized heavily under this law.
- State-level self-referral laws – Many states prohibit medical providers from making referrals based on financial arrangements that benefit them personally, especially for programs that fall under Medicare or Medicaid programs.
- Fee-splitting laws – Healthcare providers cannot split fees with other providers in exchange for patient referrals.
- Patient brokering laws – Many states refer to buying referrals in any way as patient brokering. These laws are similar to fee-slitting laws, but various forms of compensation may be involved in a brokering deal.
How do you know if any of these laws are violated through your digital marketing strategy? It’s difficult to know, which is yet another reason to place your marketing campaign in the hands of a professional service with expertise in compliant marketing practices for healthcare providers.
Compliant Healthcare Marketing Techniques
Take a look at this list of well-known statutes that limit the marketing efforts of healthcare providers. Have you heard of them all? Do you know exactly what they say and want regulations they present for your business? We’ll give you a bit of information as a reminder just in case.
How ServLocal™ Can Help Protect Your Business
ServLocal™ for Healthcare was designed just for healthcare practices like yours. If you’re interested in generating local consumer leads without violating any state or federal rules or regulations, we can design a comprehensive digital marketing solution that may include any or all of the following:
- Website
- Paid search campaigns
- Paid social advertising
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- Online directories with reviews
- Reputation management services
We offer full-agency strategy services that guide your business toward campaigns that stand out without breaking regulations. We can help you improve year-over-year revenue while building a reputable brand with a strong online presence that generates leads consistently.
