Ø Guidelines that prohibit medical practice advertisment(The Medical Practice Act 1994, Section 64)[1]
n is or is intended to be false, misleading or deceptive (Trades Practices Act 1974 also agrees with this); or
n offers a discount, gift or other inducement to attract patients to a medical practitioner unless the advertisement also sets out the terms and conditions of that offer; or
n refers to uses or quotes from testimonials or purported testimonials; or
n creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment.
Ø More specifically
n No before and after (visual) comparisons
n Gifts as incentives
Ø The guideline is set to
n Reduce risks of receiving false medical services and their harmful consequences
n Stop unrealistic expections about the benefits
Ø Consequences of breaching the guideline
n Prosecution by Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and a financial penalty
n May be required to receive counselling, further education, restrictions or suspension of the practitioner’s registration
Ø Advantages and disadvantages
n Pro
u “In the decision making process, the role of advertising was to create initial awareness about the kinds of procedures that existed and to prompt further investigation.” [2]
u Competitive advantage over other businesses that provide the health services
u Promote new therapies that are potentially more effective
l The patient plays the role of the “salesperson”
n Cons
u False advertising (with modified imagery, testimonies…)
u Lost of trust from patients with any medical treatment if the result does not satisfy the expections they have set
No comments:
Post a Comment