What is Medical Marketing?
Medical marketing can be summarized as a set of communication and promotional strategies for clinics, hospitals, institutions, and healthcare professionals.
However, unlike traditional marketing, medical marketing is subject to a series of ethical standards and legal regulations governing its application.
Among them is the determination that healthcare professionals or institutions are not authorized to engage in self-promotion in a way that implies superiority over other professionals in the field.
If you are not yet familiar with these issues, take a look at our previous article, in which we explained what Medical Marketing is and what regulations govern its application.
Now, if you already know what Medical Marketing is, in this article you will understand everything that can be done to promote your work and/or institution.
What is possible in medical marketing?
Medical marketing does not aim to persuade or generate impulse purchases; it focuses on strengthening brand positioning, offering greater security and reliability in the relationship between patient and healthcare professional/institution.
Therefore, the following practices are permitted within Medical Marketing:
The publication and use of images and/or audio
This includes the use of photographs and videos detailing the work environment, images of the professional, team members, and other assistants.
This is provided that it does not have characteristics considered sensationalist or generate unfair competition.
To advertise technological devices and resources
The professional is authorized to disclose information, indications, and properties of technological devices and/or resources, provided that they do not attribute privileged capabilities to the device and that it is approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) or authorized by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) for medical use.
Include reference
The professional or institution is free to include references in texts, images, or audio that allow the patient to get in touch, schedule appointments, and obtain information about hours, location, and service procedures.
In this sense, guidance on the characteristics of the environment is also permitted. The institution may offer information about parking, security, privacy, comfort, and location.
In addition to providing details about services such as: plans, health insurance, and procedures performed.
Participate in promotional materials
are observed CFM Resolution No. 2,336/2023.
Also under the regulations of Article 4, participation in promotional materials for health plans and self-managed insurance plans is authorized, provided that the professional provides services to these plans and obtains authorization for the use of their image.
Organization and sale of courses
Organizing courses and working groups of an informative nature for laypeople is permitted, as is the dissemination of their values.
The professional or institution is also authorized to organize and advertise prices for courses, consulting services, or working groups restricted to physicians with the objective of discussing clinical cases and/or updates in Medicine, provided that access is restricted to physicians with an active CRM (Brazilian Medical Council registration number) and verification of this information is carried out by the event organizer, subject to ethical liability penalties.
Authorization for medical students to participate in events
It is permitted to announce the authorization for medical students to participate in courses, consultancies, and working groups for the discussion of clinical cases, provided they are identified and aware of the respect, confidentiality, and general rules of the group. The organizer is responsible for ensuring compliance with these criteria.
To make a generic comment about the practice of the profession
It is well-received to share comments about the enjoyment of practicing medicine, as well as motivational accounts and the generation of positive energy that promotes a good image of medicine.
But care must be taken not to identify patients or third parties and not to adopt an offensive, ironic or pejorative tone that violates the ethical commitment required by Medicine.
Sharing verifiable results
Disclosures of verifiable treatment and procedure results are permitted as long as they do not identify the patients in question.
Announcing the application of prostheses or orthoses
The advertising of the application of prostheses and orthoses, pharmaceuticals and similar products is permitted, provided that the execution of these procedures follows the terms of item III of Article 9, describing the characteristics and properties of the supplies. However, the disclosure of commercial brands or manufacturers is not allowed.
Furthermore, verification and proof of approval by Anvisa and CFM are required.
Use of patient images in databases
With authorization to use the image, its use is permitted for stock photo agencies for the following purposes:
- Preparation of material aimed at the public regarding diseases and procedures in Medicine or related to specialties with the Specialist Qualification Registration (RQE). This use is permitted for the purpose of disseminating symptoms, signs and manifestations that recommend medical evaluation and may describe possible technical solutions.
- Demonstration of the results of techniques and procedures, but only accompanied by educational text that informs about therapeutic issues and factors that influence possible results, and a description of complications reported in the scientific literature and resulting from the intervention.
- Furthermore, both satisfactory and unsatisfactory developments should be included.
- The evolution of the procedure for different age groups and body types, as well as its immediate, intermediate, and late evolution, should also be included, where applicable.
- The capture of images by external teams during procedures is permitted only during childbirth, with the authorization of the mother and/or family members and when there is consent from the physician. This is provided that there is no editing, enhancement, or manipulation of the images, nor any identification of patients, respecting their modesty and privacy.
- The use of images for demonstration and teaching of techniques limited to the medical field is also prohibited.
Self-portraits and reposted testimonials from patients
The sharing of self-portraits and patient responses, as well as the use of testimonials about the healthcare professional's performance, is permitted, except when the testimonial denotes superiority or implies a promise of superiority.
But what can't be done in medical marketing?
To understand what cannot be done in Medical Marketing, as well as the specific restrictions, we have prepared a dedicated article covering everything that cannot be done in Medical Marketing.
Click here to learn more about prohibited practices in medical marketing.
The information used to construct this article was obtained from the Medical Advertising Manual, updated to the date of publication, and is subject to change.
