Advertising for doctors in Austria: what is allowed in your Ordination, online and on social media

The framework: § 53 ÄrzteG and “Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014”

At its core, advertising law for doctors in Austria sits in a single section. § 53(1) ÄrzteG requires you to refrain from any “unobjective, untrue or reputation-damaging information” in connection with your profession. Subsection 2 contains the ban on commissions, and subsection 3 extends both to group practices and other natural and legal persons. Subsection 4 empowers the Österreichische Ärztekammer (Austrian Medical Chamber) to regulate the details by regulation.

That regulation is “Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014” (“Doctor and the Public”, in force since 1 July 2014, last amended in December 2018). It defines the three prohibitions more precisely:

• Medical information is unobjective if it contradicts scientific knowledge or medical experience.
• Information is untrue if it does not match the facts.
• Information damages the reputation of the medical profession if it disparages colleagues or their methods, claims a medical exclusivity that does not exist, or promotes your own person or services in an intrusive or sensationalist way.

Anyone who breaches these rules commits an administrative offence under § 199(3) ÄrzteG, punishable by a fine of up to €2,180. In addition, the Medical Chamber can bring disciplinary proceedings, and competitors can sue for an injunction under the UWG.

What is allowed and what is not

§ 4 of the regulation lists what is expressly permitted, as long as the content stays factual and true. The prohibitions follow from §§ 2, 3 and 5:

§ 3 contains an important distinction: you may inform about a medicine or a device, but you may not advertise it. “We use a latest-generation ultrasound device in our Ordination” is information. The manufacturer’s logo with a link to its shop is advertising.

Website, Google Ads and social media

The rules do not depend on the medium. Whatever is inadmissible on your website is also inadmissible in a Google ad, an Instagram reel or a newspaper advert. In practice this means:

• Website: services, focus areas, team, opening hours, contracts with the Kassen (statutory health insurers) or Wahlarzt status (private doctor without a Kassen contract) and fees belong on it. What else you must state is explained in the post Mandatory information on your practice website.
• Google Ads: ads are allowed if the text stays factual: specialty, service, location, name of the Ordination. “Best dermatologist in Vienna”, “pain-free guaranteed” or “today only” are off limits. Google also reviews health ads under its own policies.
• Google Business Profile: it is a form of information just like your website. Categories, services and posts must be just as accurate. Tips in the post on the Google profile.
• Social media: educational posts about check-ups or a new service are allowed. But do not answer specific health questions in comments with a diagnosis or treatment, because § 5(3) of the regulation forbids individual diagnoses on request in the media.
• Cooperations with companies: paid product recommendations, discount codes or affiliate links for supplements or cosmetics are advertising for products and therefore inadmissible. A paid post that looks like editorial information is also always misleading under item 11 of the UWG annex.

Stating fees and prices

The regulation does not forbid stating prices. Factual, true information about fees is information, and for Wahlärzt:innen (private doctors without a Kassen contract) it is particularly helpful: patients want to know in advance what the first appointment costs and how much they will get back from ÖGK, BVAEB or SVS (the Austrian health insurers). How to calculate your fee is explained in the post Becoming a Wahlarzt in Austria.

• Good: “First appointment (approx. 40 minutes): €160, follow-up: €90. You will receive an invoice to submit to your health insurer.”
• Risky: “special price”, “-30% this week only” or countdowns. This comes across as sensationalist and puts patients under pressure.
• For aesthetic treatments and operations, § 8(2)(2) ÄsthOpG (Austrian Act on Aesthetic Treatments and Operations) expressly forbids pointing out that a treatment is “particularly inexpensive” and offering free consultations as an advertising tool.

Titles, specialist status, diplomas and specialisations

Your qualifications are the most important factual information you have. Which designations you may use is governed by § 43 ÄrzteG: “Ärztin für Allgemeinmedizin” (general practitioner) or “Facharzt für …” (specialist in …) only once the requirements are met. In addition, § 43(4) allows, among other things, references to training in an Additivfach (additional subject), diplomas of the Austrian Medical Chamber (e.g. ÖÄK diploma in acupuncture or nutritional medicine) and domestic and foreign titles. Since the 2015 training regulation, there are also Spezialisierungen (specialisations) under § 11a ÄrzteG, such as “Spezialisierung in Geriatrie”; their designations are set out in the Medical Chamber’s Spezialisierungsverordnung 2017.

• Use the designation word for word as it appears in the diploma or in the Ärzteliste (the official register of doctors).
• You may name fields of practice if you have mastered them through training and continuing education (§ 4(1) of the regulation). “Focus: diabetes and thyroid” is fine.
• Self-invented titles such as “back pain specialist” or “centre for …” for a single-doctor Ordination can pretend a qualification or size you do not have and are then untrue.
• Foreign titles that could be confused with Austrian ones only in the form approved by the ministry (§ 43(4)(4) ÄrzteG).

Reviews, patient testimonials and Google reviews

Good reviews are the strongest trust signal an Ordination has. These rules apply:

• Names or photos of patients only with the consent they have declared to you (§ 5(4) of the regulation). Get it in writing, because this is health data.
• You may embed genuine reviews from Google or DocFinder (an Austrian doctor directory), unchanged and not selected in a way that creates a false impression.
• Posting fake reviews or commissioning others to do so is always unfair under item 23c of the UWG annex. The same applies under item 23b to claiming that reviews come from real patients if you do not check this reasonably.
• Be careful with replies: your duty of confidentiality (§ 54 ÄrzteG) applies online too. Do not confirm that someone was your patient, and do not give any details.
• Feel free to ask satisfied patients for a review, but without anything in return. Discounts or gifts for reviews make them worthless and violate Google’s policies.

Before-and-after photos and aesthetic medicine

Before-and-after photos are not prohibited per se in Austria. However, you need the patient’s express consent, ideally in writing, and the photos must show a typical result. Presenting an exceptional case as the norm is untrue. Lighting, pose and framing should be the same in both pictures.

For aesthetic treatments and operations (e.g. botulinum toxin, fillers, eyelid lifts, breast augmentation), § 8 ÄsthOpG also applies, and it is stricter:

• Photos altered with image-editing software must be labelled as “altered and not reflecting reality”.
• It is forbidden to advertise with claims that the treatment is medically recommended or tested, with particularly low prices or free consultations, with promotional talks, with measures aimed mainly at minors, and with competitions, games or raffles.
• The rules also apply to brokering platforms and to companies based abroad that advertise procedures in Austria (§ 8(5) and (6)).
• The Medical Chambers and the patient advocacy offices may take violations to court under § 14 UWG (§ 8(7)).

Ban on commissions and responsibility for agencies

Under § 53(2) ÄrzteG, you may not promise, give or accept any payment for referring patients, neither as the referring nor as the receiving doctor. Such agreements are void, and amounts paid can be reclaimed. Fixed fees for software, an advert or a platform profile are common. It becomes problematic when payment is made per patient referred or per appointment booked. Have such models checked by your regional Ärztekammer before signing.

Just as important: under § 5(1) of the regulation, you must take reasonable steps to ensure that third parties, especially the media, do not publish information about you that breaches professional rules. If an agency, a photographer or a social media manager writes for you, you remain responsible.

UWG: when competitors sue

Alongside the Medical Chamber, the Bundesgesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG) (Austrian Act Against Unfair Competition) is the second lever. It prohibits misleading (§ 2) and aggressive (§ 1a) commercial practices and allows comparative advertising only within narrow limits (§ 2a). According to case law, anyone who gains an advantage by breaching the Ärztegesetz can also be pursued under § 1 UWG. Under § 14 UWG, those entitled to sue include competitors, the Austrian Economic Chamber, the Federal Chamber of Labour and the consumer association VKI. An injunction suit from a colleague is usually more expensive than any administrative fine.

Quick check for your copy

Other health professions in Austria have their own laws: read Advertising for physiotherapists, Advertising for psychologists and Advertising for psychotherapists. Our sample websites show what factual, convincing practice websites look like.