You write a treatment page without naming a prescription medicine by describing the concern you treat and what the consultation involves, then leaving product choices to the practitioner. Our Ahpra check marks medicine names as likely problems, so they are the first thing to remove.
This article gives a plain method for rewriting a page, with before-and-after patterns for headings, menus and price lists. I have deliberately not named any medicine here, which is the point.
Why are medicine names a problem on a clinic page?
Because the TGA advertising rules do not allow prescription-only medicines to be advertised to the public, including by brand name. The same rules treat some everyday wording for these treatments, and descriptions of how the medicine works, as a reference to the medicine itself.
That second part catches clinics out. You can remove the brand name and still describe the mechanism in a way that points straight at it. Our check lists both kinds, direct names and indirect ones, as likely problems.
How do you describe a treatment without naming it?
Start from the patient's concern, not the product. Write about frown lines, forehead lines or the lines around the eyes, say that a practitioner will assess them at a consultation, and say what a consultation covers.
- Concern first: name what the patient sees in the mirror, in neutral words.
- Process second: who assesses, what is asked, what is explained.
- Risk and expectations third: 'All procedures carry risks. Your practitioner will explain them at your consultation.'
- Booking last: a consultation, not a product.
That structure is also easier to read. It answers what the patient is asking, not what the supplier wants said.
What do you do with menus, URLs and page titles?
Rename them. A medicine name in a menu item is on every page of the site, because the menu is on every page. Our check suggests names such as Lines and wrinkles or Cosmetic consultations.
Do the same for the page title, the search description and the address of the page. The title and description are public text under your clinic's name. If the address contains a medicine name, set up a redirect to a new address and update your internal links. Ask whoever built your site how to do that without losing the old page's links.
How should price lists change?
Take the medicine name off the price list. Our check's suggestion is to show a consultation fee and give treatment prices at the consultation. A medicine name next to a price is a double problem, because it is both a name and an invitation to buy.
If you want to show prices, price the consultation and the service in neutral terms. You decide how much detail you give, and your adviser can confirm what is acceptable. I will not give you a price format as if it were approved, because I cannot know that for your clinic.
What about fillers and implants?
They are a different case. Fillers and implants are TGA-regulated therapeutic goods, and advertising is expected to describe the procedure and the consultation rather than promote a product brand. Our check marks brand names for these as worth a look rather than likely.
The fix is the same in spirit: name the treatment, not the product. Say breast implants rather than the brand, and leave brand options for the consultation.
What should you not do?
- Do not swap a brand name for a nickname or a slang term. Everyday wording for these treatments can still count.
- Do not explain how the medicine works as a way of naming it without naming it.
- Do not hide the name in an image, a PDF or an alt text and assume nobody reads it.
- Do not leave an old page live because it is not in the menu. It is still public.
Our check reads text on public pages. It cannot see inside images or video, so those are yours to check by hand.
What does a rewritten section look like?
Here is the pattern I use, with the product replaced by the concern. A heading such as 'Lines and wrinkles' sits above two short paragraphs. The first says which areas of the face people most often ask about and that a practitioner will assess them at a consultation. The second says what the consultation covers, that all procedures carry risks, and that results vary from person to person.
Then one link to book a consultation. There is no product name, no description of how anything works inside the body, no price per unit and no deadline. It is shorter than most existing pages, and I think it reads better for it, because the patient's real question is whether this clinic is careful, not which supplier it buys from.
If your practitioners want more detail on a page, ask your adviser what is acceptable before you add it. The detail that feels educational is the detail that most often turns out to be a reference to the medicine.
How do you know you caught everything?
- 1Search your site for the names your suppliers use.
- 2Read titles, search descriptions and social share descriptions on every page.
- 3Run the Ahpra check and read each finding with its page.
- 4Ask your adviser to approve the final wording.
The same rule applies to the messages you send. Conduit's message check looks for medicine names, direct and indirect, in every template before it sends. If you want the full method for the website, read how to check your clinic website for Ahpra problems.