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Can your doctor call themselves the "No. 1 specialist"? Can a hospital post a patient's success story on Instagram? And what about influencer promotions or AI-generated advertisements? Under the National Medical Commission's new guidelines, the answer could be no.
The NMC has introduced detailed rules governing how doctors, hospitals, and medical institutions can advertise and promote their services, both online and through conventional media. These rules have a major impact on the way healthcare professionals use Instagram, YouTube, and other digital platforms.
What Has Changed?
Hereon, doctors and hospitals cannot use patients, celebrities, influencers, employees, or other third parties to promote their medical services through testimonials, endorsements, or recommendations.
No Celebrity Endorsements
Doctors are also not supposed to ask patients to provide testimonials, reviews, or recommendations specifically for professional promotion on social media.
No Misleading or Miracle Claims
The NMC has also taken a strict position on misleading and exaggerated claims. So phrases such as "No. 1 doctor," "best specialist," "leading doctor," "100% success," "guaranteed cure," "miracle treatment," or "painless treatment" cannot be used unless the claim is objectively verifiable.
Restrictions on Advertising
Doctors also cannot advertise their personal achievements, success rates, or number of patients treated in a way that creates an exaggerated impression of professional success.
Thumbs Down to Fake Engagement
The guidelines also address something increasingly common on social media-fake engagement. Doctors and hospitals cannot manipulate or procure fake followers, likes, views, comments, reviews, or ratings, or manipulate search rankings and algorithms to create a misleading impression of their professional standing.
Eye on AI
The guidelines specifically cover AI-generated and AI-assisted promotional communication when it has a promotional character. There are also restrictions on the way treatment outcomes and patient cases can be presented.
No Before-and-After Photos
Doctors and hospitals cannot use before-and-after photographs, surgical results, celebrity patients, or personal success stories for promotional purposes.
Unproven Therapy? Don't Sell It
The guidelines also prohibit:
- Promotion of unproven therapies, secret remedies, or treatments whose safety, efficacy, or scientific basis has not been adequately established.
- Fear-based marketing, creating unnecessary demand for procedures or diagnostics, and promotional offers such as discounts, coupons, cashbacks, gifts, referral benefits, or free procedures when these amount to patient solicitation or could encourage unnecessary treatment.
- Doctors are also prohibited from offering or receiving commissions, rebates, referral fees, bonuses, or other benefits linked to the promotion of medical services.
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What Can Doctors Do?
- Health Education: They can continue to share health-awareness information, educational content, academic discussions, and government health campaigns. But the content should remain factual, accurate, transparent, and verifiable.
- Formal Announcements: Doctors can also make certain formal professional announcements, such as starting a practice, changing their practice address, temporarily being absent from practice, or resuming practice.
- Infrastructure Advertising: Hospitals and medical institutions can also use authorised public hoardings to provide factual information about their infrastructure and facilities, but not to make unverifiable promotional claims.
Penalties?
Depending on the nature of the violation, disciplinary or corrective measures can include censure, directions for corrective compliance or ethics sensitisation, restriction or suspension of registration, and other penalties.
Doctors or institutions facing action can also appeal to the Ethics and Medical Registration Board of the NMC within 60 days, as provided in the guidelines.
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.