As changes to the AHPRA Advertising Guidelines came into effect last week, a social media campaign lead by Health Practitioners was lobbying for changes to the guidelines due to the excessive burden of monitoring unsolicited social media posts In response to the campaign, AHPRA has stated that it will change the guidelines in response to these concerns.
The Guidelines, which took effect on the 17th march, require Health Practitioners to take reasonable steps to remove posts from social media and websites that may be considered testimonials. The issue was whether this meant Health Practitioners were required to remove unsolicited posts in sites and accounts that the Health Practitioner does not host or control. Surgeon, Jill Tomlinson, lead the #AHPRAaction campaign and launched a petition to remove section 6.2.3 from the guidelines.
AHPRA responded to social media discussions and on Wednesday a statement was released by AHPRA site revealing that the Medical Board will be changing the Requirements to provide more clarity around the issue.
“…practitioners are not responsible for removing (or trying to have removed) unsolicited testimonials published on a website or in social media over which they do NOT have control.” the article states.
Until the new changes take place, Health Practitioners are required to adhere to the information outlined in the FAQ document. A link to the Advertising Guidelines FAQ can be found at the bottom of this AHPRA page.
AHPRA will be hosting a Q&A with CEO Martin Fletcher on twitter this Friday at 12pm. The VHPA encourages Health Professionals to participate in the discussion and voice any concerns they may have regarding the changes. To participate use the hash tag #ahpraqanda