Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
With search engines adding automatic directory listings for health practitioners, some dentists may unknowingly be breaching industry advertising rules. Here’s what you need to know. By Lynne Testoni
The internet can be a confusing, constantly evolving space. With algorithms regularly changing, continual software updates, and the growing use of AI in many business settings, it can be very difficult as a business owner to keep up with what’s happening on the net.
Health professionals like dentists face even more challenges because of their need to adhere to industry rules and regulations. Unbeknown to many practitioners, Google, Microsoft, and Apple create business directory listings for their practices without their input or permission. The problem is these automatically generated listings can bring compliance issues.
Carl Jones is a product specialist at localmanager.com.au and says the challenge is that most business owners don’t even know about these listings, or that they might have a problem.
Localmanager.com.au works with small businesses to manage the listings and keep them up to date and Jones says it can be tough to keep on top of all the changes, especially with the growth of AI.
“Some people see Google as the business that just takes information from their websites and republishes it,” he explains. “What a lot of people don’t understand is that these business listings—and it’s the same for Google, Microsoft and Apple—are something that people have to claim themselves.
“They need to create a Google account or an Apple or Microsoft account, go into the program, claim their listing and keep that listing up to date.”
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) states that online listings are considered to be advertising. Section 133 of the National Law applies to all advertising of regulated health services in Australia, and dentists must follow government guidelines when it comes to the information contained, including the overview of the services offered and any claims made.
“Most of our clients are people who are all over this sort of thing, such as real estate agents and mortgage brokers, but health practitioners are often not as aware of the issues,” says Jones. “That’s why we started working with Ahpra, because they’ve identified that it’s a problem and medical health practitioners are literally misrepresenting themselves.
“One of the problems that health practitioners face is that they’re terrified of doing the wrong thing,” he adds. “A lot of them believe, incorrectly, that these listings are social media listings. And so they’re looking at the social media guidelines provided by Ahpra, instead of the advertising guidelines.”
A spokesperson for Ahpra says that, “where online content meets the definition of advertising, then practitioners should take reasonable steps to ensure that information about them online is accurate and meets the requirements of the law and the guidelines for advertising a regulated health service”.
AHPRA’s Advertising Hub provides a lot of useful information for dentists wishing to educate themselves about the guidelines.
Among other requirements, practitioners must ensure their advertising does not:
- directly or indirectly encourage the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of a regulated health service,
- provide information that is false, misleading or deceptive or likely to be misleading or deceptive.
Possible breaches
According to Ahpra, some of the common concerns relate to the use of specialist titles. Dental practitioners are not permitted to call themselves a specialist or state that they specialise in a specific field or service unless they hold specialist registration in a relevant specialty. It therefore would be considered false and misleading to make the general claim that a dentist offers services ‘specialising’ in reconstructive dentistry or ‘specialising’ in cosmetic dentistry.
Promotions and specials being advertised without terms and conditions are other issues of concern.
Dentists also need to be very cautious and ensure they comply with the advertising requirements under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, in force in each state and territory, and the Dental Board’s guidelines for advertising a regulated health service, and when promoting compassionate release of superannuation to fund dental treatment.
Advertising that has potential to exploit the vulnerability or lack of knowledge of patients when providing or recommending services, such as promoting access to treatment through taking on debt (for example, personal loans) or accessing superannuation, may also breach professional obligations under the code of conduct.
Seeing is not believing
Google has the largest audience via its search engine and maps app. Microsoft Bing has a strong B2B, government and healthcare audience. Apple has a high-income audience predominantly using iPhone services such as Apple Maps and Siri. The services all look very similar, and users often assume that they are using Google when they are actually seeing information from Microsoft or Apple. Providers must manage all three—not just Google—which collectively account for over 99 per cent of the Australian search engine market.
“The data in the listings is more than just basic name, address and phone number information,” explains Carl Jones. “Google has 65 data elements that need to be kept accurate, Bing 33 and Apple 40. The data supplied by the business is ‘enhanced’ by user suggestions. The platforms or any member of the public may ‘suggest an edit’, adding incorrect information or even close the listing. You must revert the changes if they are incorrect or misleading.”
Managing your listing
Here are some steps to effectively manage your online directory listings:
1. Claim your listings:
Start by creating an account and claiming your listings on the following three platforms:
– Google Business Profile > business.google.com
– Microsoft Bing Places for Business > bingplaces.com
– Apple Business Connect > businessconnect.apple.com
2. Check and update data:
Ensure that the data accurately represents your business. Be authentic and complete every data field. Continue to frequently check your listings for accuracy.
