Ohio healthcare advertising rules the checker applies

Rules for Ohio

1. CG-OHS-001 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   Ohio lets the State Medical Board discipline a licensee for a false, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading statement in advertising for patients, and defines that to include a statement intended or likely to create false or unjustified expectations of favorable results. Guaranteed-result and miracle-cure wording is the usual form. It applies to licensees and the test turns on the whole statement, so this is a warning.

   Source: Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22(B)(5) ("is intended or is likely to create false or unjustified expectations of favorable results")

   Safer wording: Say what the treatment is and who it is for, give any outcome figure with its source and date, and say results vary by patient.

   Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22 · Needs counsel review

2. CG-OHS-002 · Blocks approval · Citation checked against stored text

   Ohio lets the State Medical Board discipline a licensee for advertising that the licensee will waive all or part of a deductible or copayment that a patient's health plan would otherwise require. Copay-waiver wording in an ad is the plain case.

   Source: Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22(B)(28)(b) ("Advertising that the individual will waive the payment of all or any part of a deductible or copayment")

   Safer wording: Say what the patient will pay and that insurance copays and deductibles may apply. Do not advertise a waiver. Ohio carves out waivers that follow a plan that expressly allows them (division (N)), so have counsel confirm before relying on that.

   Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22 · Needs counsel review

3. CG-OHS-003 · Blocks approval · Citation checked against stored text

   Ohio lets the State Medical Board discipline a licensee for dividing fees for the referral of patients, or receiving a thing of value in return for a specific referral. Offering or advertising a referral fee, bonus or commission for sending patients is the plain case.

   Source: Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22(B)(17) ("engaging in the division of fees for referral of patients")

   Safer wording: Do not offer or advertise payment, commission or other value for referring patients. Marketing that is paid on a flat fee for advertising, not on referrals, should say so and have counsel review it.

   Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22 · Needs counsel review

4. CG-OHS-004 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   Ohio bars a licensed physician from referring a patient for a designated health service to a person with whom the physician or an immediate family member has an ownership or investment interest or a compensation arrangement, and bars arrangements built to assure such referrals. Copy that offers physicians payment for referrals, or ties referrals to ownership, points at that arrangement. The statute has exceptions and the wording is arguable, so this is a warning.

   Source: Ohio Rev. Code 4731.66(A)(2) ("Any compensation arrangement involving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind")

   Safer wording: Do not tie physician compensation or ownership to referrals. Have counsel review any referral relationship against sections 4731.66 to 4731.68 before marketing it.

   Ohio Rev. Code 4731.66 · Needs counsel review

5. CG-OHS-005 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   Ohio treats it as a deceptive act for a supplier to represent that the subject of a consumer transaction has sponsorship, approval, performance characteristics, uses or benefits that it does not have, or that the supplier has a sponsorship, approval or affiliation it does not have. Government-approved and endorsed-by claims are the usual form. The claim is only deceptive if it is untrue, so this is a warning.

   Source: Ohio Rev. Code 1345.02(B)(9) ("That the supplier has a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation that the supplier does not have")

   Safer wording: Name an approval or endorsement only if you hold it, and name the body and the date. FDA approval and Medicare coverage claims also have their own rules.

   Ohio Rev. Code 1345.02 · Needs counsel review

6. CG-OHS-006 · Warns · Citation checked against stored text

   Ohio treats it as a deceptive act to represent that a specific price advantage exists when it does not. Was-now pricing and percent-off-regular-price claims assert a price advantage, so the reference price has to be a real one the supplier actually charged. This rule only flags the claim for a check.

   Source: Ohio Rev. Code 1345.02(B)(8) ("That a specific price advantage exists, if it does not")

   Safer wording: Use a was price only if you actually charged it for a reasonable period, and say how long the sale lasts. Keep records of the earlier price.

   Ohio Rev. Code 1345.02 · Needs counsel review