Is a healthcare professional allowed to advertise?
Short answer: yes, but not in any way you like. The long answer is this page — and it is the reason this company exists.
The European baseline: no absolute ban
For years many clinicians believed advertising was simply forbidden, and stopped there. That is not the position. The Court of Justice of the European Union has held that a general and absolute prohibition on all advertising of healthcare services is incompatible with EU law. States and professional bodies may set limits — and they do — but they may not eliminate a practitioner’s ability to become known.
Case C-339/15 (Vanderborght), Court of Justice of the EU, 2017: national rules imposing a general and absolute prohibition on all advertising of oral and dental care services were held contrary to EU law.
What your own professional body regulates
EU law says you cannot be silenced entirely. Your professional body says how. In Greece the framework comes from the Code of Medical Ethics and the regulations of the local medical and dental associations; in Cyprus from the corresponding pancyprian bodies and their regulations. The differences between specialties are real: what passes for a veterinary practice does not pass for a dental one, and what passes for a dietitian does not pass for a plastic surgeon.
Greece: the Code of Medical Ethics and the medical and dental associations · Cyprus: the Cyprus Medical Association, the Cyprus Dental Association and the corresponding body for each profession.
Before any campaign we verify the current wording of your own body’s rules. Regulations change, and no page on the internet — including this one — replaces a check at the moment the campaign goes live.
What is permitted almost everywhere
- Your name, specialty, qualifications and genuine experience
- Address, opening hours, phone numbers and how to book
- Objective description of the services and equipment you actually have
- Informative and educational content about conditions and treatments
- Photographs of your premises and team, with the consent of those shown
What gets most practices into trouble
- Superiority claims: “the best”, “number one”, “the leading clinic”
- Promises or guarantees of a clinical outcome
- Patient testimonials, especially where solicited or rewarded
- Before/after photographs where the body or the law prohibits them
- Discounts, offers and prize draws attached to clinical procedures
- Publishing patient details, even with consent, without a proper process
How we check it in practice
Map your framework
We identify which rules bind you: country, professional body, specialty, and what is in force right now.
Audit existing material
We run your site, ads, social and Google profile through those rules and flag what is outside or borderline.
Review before publication
Every new piece of copy and creative is checked before it goes out. What does not pass is rewritten, not published “to see”.
Re-check when rules change
If a regulation changes we re-run your live material and tell you what has to change.
FAQ
Can I publish before/after photographs?
It depends on the country, the body and the procedure itself. In several cases — particularly invasive aesthetic procedures — they are expressly prohibited. Even where permitted, conditions apply: a genuine case, identical shooting conditions, written consent, no retouching. Our rule is simple: if it is not clearly permitted, it does not go out.
Can I ask patients for reviews?
Making it easy for a satisfied patient to leave a review is usually acceptable. Asking for specific content, offering anything in return, or filtering who gets asked is not — and in many jurisdictions it also breaches the platform’s own rules.
Are discounts and offers allowed?
On clinical procedures, as a rule no: they are treated as pushing a patient towards a decision on price rather than need. There are exceptions for non-clinical services and for some professions. It is one of the first things we check.
What is the actual risk if something is wrong?
Depending on severity: a warning, disciplinary proceedings, a fine, and for data protection issues a penalty from the supervisory authority. The most common practical cost, though, is different — the campaign comes down mid-flight and the budget is wasted.
This page is informational and is not legal advice. Rules differ by country, professional body and specialty, and they change. Before any campaign we verify the framework that currently applies to you.
Read next
Ready for more patients?
Start with a free compliance and marketing review. We will tell you what is wrong today and what could change — with no commitment.