In an article published in August 2022, international law firm Clayton Utz recently highlighted how practitioners must take care to not breach the National Law or AHPRA guidance on the National Law on the prohibition of the use of testimonials in advertising regulated healthcare services.
Using this guidance, we explain below why Doctify’s site, and publication of reviews on our site, complies with both National Law and AHPRA guidance.
Not advertising
In its own guidance on testimonials AHPRA states:
Doctify does not advertise or promote healthcare providers. It instead forms a service directory with background information about healthcare providers, along with contact details in order to reach the provider, in the form of “Profiles”. Alongside these Profiles, Doctify also publishes reviews by patients, in order to allow prospective patients to gain more information about the same healthcare providers.
In its flow-chart on whether testimonials compliant or not, AHPRA makes it clear that if the testimonials are not being used in advertising a regulated healthcare service, they do not breach the National Law:
No ability to edit reviews
It should also be noted that selectively editing reviews to make them positive, or remove negative aspects is also not allowed if testimonials are used to advertise a regulated health service.
Doctify does not use reviews to advertise a regulated health service
But we at Doctify also take a belt-and-braces approach to compliance. Therefore we do not allow for the selective editing or deletion of reviews. Instead we automatically screen all reviews for breaches of our content policies – for example use of inappropriate language, hate speech, a risk of breaching Australian privacy rules, or other breaches of our Content Policy. We also allow healthcare providers to “flag” reviews which they believe have breached our policies.
The Doctify Clinical Governance Committee cannot and does not permit the selective editing of reviews
Such flagged reviews are then considered by our independent Clinical Governance Committee, which will only authorise the removal of reviews that can be shown to breach our Content Policy. The Doctify Clinical Governance Committee cannot selectively edit reviews – for example, to remove negative or positive aspects) – and will only allow its deletion or publication based on compliance.
Responding to reviews
Both AHPRA and Clayton Utz’s article highlight a risk of responses to reviews by practitioners being found to breach the National Law. They explain that if advertisers choose to engage with reviews on third-party websites, this may be considered using a testimonial to advertise a regulated health service. No formal guidance, however, is provided on what would render responses advertising.
Where a negative review has been received by a healthcare provider, Doctify recommends as a matter of course that providers respond to negative reviews in order to show that the patient’s feedback has been received and understood, or to address any factual inaccuracies (e.g. a patient claims that the price charged was unexpected, but the practitioner clearly displays charges on the practitioner’s own website and/or during the booking process).
Responses that seek to promote the provider or point to other positive reviews should be avoided, and careful consideration given to the wording of responses prior to posting them.
Reposting reviews on your own website and/or social media accounts
If reviews are re-posted on your own website and/or social media accounts, such actions could risk being interpreted as advertising, as highlighted by AHPRA.
If such reposting is done selectively (e.g. choosing only positive reviews to re-post), then this could be further considered as a breach of the prohibition on selectively editing reviews.
Therefore we would suggest that you take formal advice when deciding on whether or how to re-publish reviews.
In conclusion
We have shown how Doctify’s service is fully compliant with AHPRA guidelines as well as the National Law itself – largely, although not exclusively – due to the Doctify platform’s status as a non-advertiser. Further, thanks to extra measures that we have taken, such as Doctify’s independent Clinical Governance Committee’s strict protocols on amendments to reviews, we addressed all main risk areas under the National Law.
Learn more about Doctify
Doctify is a healthcare review platform dedicated to ensuring that no patient is left unheard. We make it easy for doctors, dentists, clinics and hospitals to consistently collect, analyse and transparently publish greater volumes of meaningful, up-to-date patient feedback.
With Doctify, healthcare providers can better understand their patients’ experiences, learn what matters most to them and what they can change to make their experiences better. Do you want to learn more about how you can improve your treatment and patient experiences by leveraging patient feedback?
