Testimonials in a Regulated Profession

Praise that may not be allowed

A practice receives a thank-you card from a patient who says the treatment changed her life. It seems natural to put it on the website.

Soon there is a testimonials page, a quote on the home page and a run of before-and-after photographs, often added by a designer used to working with shops and restaurants.

In many businesses that would be good marketing. In some regulated professions it can break the rules the practitioner is licensed under.

Your regulator, or a lawyer, can confirm what those rules mean for your practice; this post is not legal advice. The point is to check your own profession's rules before publishing, rather than guessing at them.

What the rules commonly cover

• Testimonials from patients or clients, in any form.
• Before-and-after photographs and the claims made with them.
• Promises of results, cures or painless treatment.
• Comparisons with other practitioners, such as best or leading.
• Titles, including who may call themselves a specialist.
• Offers and gifts tied to referrals or reviews.

The first is the one that surprises people most. Several health professions in Canada do not allow testimonials in their members' advertising at all, however genuine and however enthusiastic.

Why the rules exist

Regulators reason that people choosing care are often anxious, in pain or unwell, and more easily swayed by another person's story than by facts.

A testimonial describes one result. Readers take it as the likely result, which it may not be.

There is also the patient's position. Asking someone in your care for public praise puts them in an awkward spot, and naming them reveals that they were treated at all.

Whatever you think of the reasoning, it is the reasoning your regulator applies.

The website counts

Advertising rules are rarely limited to newspapers and flyers. Most regulators treat a website, a Facebook page, a directory listing and an email newsletter as advertising.

The practitioner is usually responsible for all of it, including words written by a designer, a marketing company or the front desk.

A page added long ago by a former employee is still your page. It is the first place a complaint would point to.

Reviews on other sites

Reviews that patients choose to leave on Google or Yelp are generally a different matter, since the practice did not write or place them.

Copying those reviews onto your own site, quoting them in an ad or sharing them from your page can turn them into testimonials you are using. Some regulators say so explicitly.

The same caution applies to asking for reviews in exchange for a discount or a prize draw, which many review platforms also forbid.

Replying needs care as well, since a public answer that confirms someone was treated reveals more than the reviewer may have intended.

A worked example

A hair restoration clinic run by one physician, with two technicians and a coordinator, occupies a suite in a downtown medical building.

Its website had been built by a designer who mostly worked with salons. It had a patient stories page of quotes with first names and ages, a home page banner promising life-changing results, and before-and-after photographs on every treatment page.

The physician read her regulator's advertising rules while renewing her licence. They covered testimonials, promised results and before-and-after photographs, none of which the designer had thought to check, and they treated the website as advertising.

The stories page, the banner and the photographs came down that week. In their place went pages on what the procedure involves, recovery, who is not a good candidate, fees and her training.

The photographs went back up later: only those with written consent for that use, each checked against the rules first.

Before-and-after photographs

Before-and-after images are the most persuasive material a practice has, which is why many rules treat them carefully.

Common conditions include written consent for that specific use, no retouching, the same lighting and angle in both images, and no suggestion that the result is typical or guaranteed.

Patients can withdraw consent, so keep a record of what each one agreed to and be ready to remove a photograph quickly.

Where to find your own rules

Look on your regulator's website for its bylaws, code of conduct or a standard on advertising and marketing. Some publish plain-language guidance with examples.

Your professional association, which is separate from the regulator, may offer advice, but the regulator's text is what counts.

If the wording leaves you unsure, ask the regulator directly and keep the reply. Rules change, so check again when your licence renews.

Consent and the patient's information

Even where testimonials are allowed, a patient's name, photograph and story are personal information, and health details are among the most sensitive kinds.

Get consent in writing for the specific use, say where it will appear, and record it in the patient's file.

If a patient later asks what you hold about them, the testimonial and the photographs are part of the answer.

What to say instead

Facts do much of the work testimonials were meant to do. Qualifications, years in practice, what a first appointment involves, fees, direct billing, hours and how to book all reassure without claiming anything.

Describe each treatment honestly, including who it does not suit and what recovery involves. A practice that says when it would turn someone away reads as one that can be trusted.

A short page for each practitioner, with a photograph and their training, builds more trust than a quote from a stranger.

The counter-case

Most businesses face no such rules. A trade, a shop or a restaurant can publish genuine testimonials freely, subject to the general requirement that they be real and not misleading.

Some regulated professions allow testimonials with conditions, and rules are revised from time to time, so a blanket assumption in either direction can be wrong.

That is the reason to read rather than guess. Check your own profession's current rules before publishing any client or patient praise.

Before publishing praise

1. Find your regulator's advertising rules and read them.
2. List every testimonial on your site and pages.
3. Check before-and-after photographs against the conditions.
4. Remove promises of results and superlatives.
5. Confirm written consent for every patient image.
6. Tell your designer and front desk the rules.
7. Ask the regulator when wording is unclear.

Step six matters most over time. Most testimonials on professional sites were added by someone other than the practitioner, in good faith, without knowing the rules existed.

Knowing what you hold about each patient is covered in when a customer asks what you have on file.

Frequently asked questions

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