Standard
The physiotherapist advertises in a manner that is truthful, accurate, verifiable, not misleading to the public, and in compliance with regulatory requirements.
Expected outcome
Clients can expect that advertising of physiotherapy services and products is not misleading, enables them to make informed choices, and that promotional activities do not unduly influence physiotherapy-related decisions.
Performance expectations
The physiotherapist:
- Makes reasonable efforts to confirm that all advertising of physiotherapy services and products is truthful, accurate, and verifiable.
- Refrains from using advertising that:
- Promotes unnecessary services.
- Provides unsubstantiated claims or guarantees of successful results.
- Makes comparative or superlative statements about service quality, health providers, and products and/or endorses products for financial gain.
- Questions or diminishes the skills of other providers or the services of other clinics or facilities.
- Offers free services.*
- Offers discounted services that vary from the clinic’s fee schedule.
- Offers client incentives or other inducements including but not limited to discount coupons, gift certificates, time-limited pricing for services or products, or prizes or gifts of a service or product.
- Advertises only the physiotherapy services that he/she is competent to perform.
* Free services may be offered for the purposes of:
- Providing general education or health promotion.
- Informing the public about physiotherapy services offered.
- Rendering an opinion about the propriety of physiotherapy services for an individual patient.
No paid physiotherapy services can occur on the same day as the free services. When providing free services, physiotherapists must comply with all of the Standards of Practice.