Free NMC compliance check for hospitals and clinics (2026 guidelines)
On 6 October 2026 the National Medical Commission issued its Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners, in force immediately. We review what your hospital or clinic has already published (website, doctor directory, Google Business Profile, social channels, ads, WhatsApp templates and hoardings) against those guidelines and send you a written list of fixes, each tied to the paragraph it touches.
Updated 8 October 2026 to the National Medical Commission's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners (public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, dated 6 October 2026, in force immediately). Paragraph numbers in this article refer to those guidelines. General information, not legal advice.
In short
- The October 2026 guidelines treat almost any promotional communication as advertising, including search, sponsored, platform-based and AI-assisted content (para 3.2), on media that include WhatsApp and Facebook (para 3.5).
- Hospitals may publish factual, objective and verifiable information about themselves: departments, facilities, equipment, services, accreditation status, charges (para 8.3). Superiority claims, cure guarantees, inducements and promotional portrayal of an individual doctor are out.
- Publishing through an agency does not shift responsibility (para 4.4). The check therefore covers everything published in your name, whoever wrote it.
- You receive a written list of fixes: the item, the line, the paragraph and a suggested compliant rewrite. It is general information, not legal advice.
For the full rules, read the complete guide to the NMC advertising guidelines 2026. For what an institution may publish, see hospital and clinic advertising under the NMC guidelines.
Every public channel, mapped to the paragraph that governs it
The guidelines are read with the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002 and the NMC Act 2019 (paras 2.1(f) and 4.2). For hospitals, the Clinical Establishments Act or the State Act prevails where the two cannot be reconciled (para 4.3). The table shows what we look at on each channel and the paragraphs we test it against.
| Channel | What we look for | Paras |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Home, department and service pages limited to factual institutional information. Equipment and technology described factually, with no superiority, guaranteed-accuracy, guaranteed-outcome or comparative claims. Patient-education pages that inform rather than solicit. | 3.2 Expl. I-II, 8.3 |
| Doctor directory | Each entry carries name, recognised qualifications, specialty, registration details and availability. Wherever an RMP is named in a post, the SMR/NMR number and registration status are disclosed. Photographs used for identification, not self-advertisement. | 3.2 Expl. III-IV, 9.1, 9.2 |
| Google Business Profile | Description, posts, photos and Q&A kept factual. Review requests go to all patients, with no incentives and no gating. Review replies disclose no patient information and make no outcome or superiority claims. No bought or manipulated reviews or ratings. | 3.2 Expl. V, 7.4, 8.1(xii) |
| Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn | Testimonials, success stories and before-and-after images. Patient images and consent; consent does not make a prohibited testimonial lawful. Identifying features blurred or cropped. Celebrity, influencer or employee endorsements. Fake followers, likes or comments. | 3.2 Expl. III-V, 6.1-6.4, 8.1(v), 8.1(xi), 8.1(xii) |
| YouTube | Doctor-led videos that educate on public health in the doctor's own name and designation without promoting the employer. Patient-story or testimonial videos. AI-generated footage or voices without a source mark. | 5.1, 7.2, 8.2(iii), 8.1(v) |
| Google Ads and Meta ads | Ad copy, extensions and landing pages. "Best", "No.1", "100% success", "painless" and "top" claims. Discounts, offers, coupons, cashback or free procedures used as inducements. Fear-based messaging that creates unnecessary demand. | 3.2, 8.1(i), 8.1(iii), 8.1(ix), 8.1(x), 8.3 |
| WhatsApp templates | Broadcast and click-to-chat templates, which count as a medium of advertisement. Solicitation, offers and price messaging. Patient details in message flows, and handling under the IT Act and the DPDP Act. | 3.5, 7.4, 7.6, 8.1(ii), 8.1(x) |
| AI-assisted content | Any AI-generated content that is published carries a source mark. No synthetic patients, testimonials or endorsements. No AI-generated promotional campaigns for commercial interest. | 3.2, 7.2 |
| Hoardings and signboards | Public hoardings limited to factual infrastructure and facility information. Signboard and letterhead photographs follow Regulations 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 of the 2002 Regulations. | 5.2, 9.2 |
| Announcements and listings | Formal, factual announcements (opening, change of address, absence, resumption, charges). Healthcare platforms where your doctors are listed: no paid ranking, transparent listings. | 8.2(ii), 9.3, 9.4 |
Para 8.1 lists twelve restrictions on registered medical practitioners. Items (ix), (x) and (xii), on superlative claims, inducements and manipulated reviews or rankings, also bind hospitals. We check all twelve where they apply to what you publish, including (vii) and (viii) on commission, referral or lead-generation fees tied to the referral or procurement of patients, where such arrangements show up in public content such as "refer a friend" schemes.
Six patterns we look for first
These are the issues that come up most often when hospital and clinic content written before October 2026 is read against the new guidelines. None of them refers to a real practitioner or client.
- Testimonials on department or doctor pages. A "What our patients say" block or a patient-story reel. Explanation V and para 8.1(xi) bar testimonials used for promotion, and para 6.2 says consent does not make a prohibited testimonial lawful. See the rules on testimonials and before-after photos.
- Superlatives in bios, ads and GBP descriptions. "One of the best surgeons in the city", "No.1 IVF centre", "most trusted". Para 8.1(ix) allows such claims only if objectively verifiable with a disclosed methodology, and para 8.1(iii) rules out "100% success" and "painless".
- Missing registration details. Posts naming a doctor without the qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR number that Explanations III and IV require.
- Offers and free consultations in ads. "Free first consultation", "20% off this month" or cashback. Para 8.1(x) bars discounts, offers, coupons, cashback and free procedures used as inducements; price disclosure itself must be factual.
- Review replies that sell or disclose. A reply calling a doctor "the top choice for this procedure", or one confirming the reviewer's treatment. The first is a superiority claim; the second discloses patient information (para 7.4). See Google reviews under the NMC guidelines.
- Unsourced outcome figures. A success-rate percentage with no cohort, period or methodology. Para 3.2 Explanation II rules out guaranteed-outcome and comparative claims.
What a fix looks like
Each item on your list comes with a suggested rewrite. The aim is factual, verifiable copy that still tells a patient what they need to know.
"'Dr. [Name] saved my life and is the best surgeon I've ever met.' (Patient testimonial)"
"Dr. [Name], MS (General Surgery), [University]. Department of General Surgery. Registered with [State] Medical Council, Reg. No. [SMR/NMR number]. OPD: Monday to Friday, 10 am to 2 pm."
"No.1 Cardiac Hospital in [City] · 100% Success · Free Consultation"
"Cardiology Department, [Hospital] · Cath lab and 24-hour emergency · [Area], [City]"
"Thank you, Mrs. [Name]! We're glad your knee replacement went well. Dr. [Name] is widely regarded as the top choice for this in the region."
"Thank you for your feedback. For any follow-up questions, please call the hospital front desk on [number]."
"98% success rate, the highest in [city] for this procedure."
"Outcomes depend on the patient's condition and other factors. Your doctor will explain the expected benefits and risks for your case at consultation."
From request to written list of fixes
- You request the check. Use the audit request or book a call. Share your website, Google Business Profile, social handles, and any live ad accounts, WhatsApp templates or hoarding artwork you want included.
- We inventory what is public. Every page, profile, post, ad and template published in the hospital's or clinic's name, whoever wrote it (para 4.4).
- We read each item against the guidelines. Each finding is tied to the specific paragraph it touches, not a generic risk score.
- We order the fixes by visibility. The home page, top department pages, live ads and the main Google Business Profile come before an old post few people see.
- You receive the written list. Item, location, the line or image, the paragraph, and a suggested compliant rewrite or removal. We can walk your team through it on a call.
Who the check is for
Hospitals and medical institutions
Multi-department hospitals and chains with a website, doctor directory, several Google Business Profiles and running ads. Institutional content is checked against paras 8.3 and 9.1, and against the parts of para 8.1 that bind hospitals.
Clinics and day-care centres
Specialty clinics (IVF, dermatology, eye, orthopaedics and others) whose marketing has relied on offers, testimonials or before-and-after images that the guidelines now rule out.
Doctors, for educational content
We can review the educational content a doctor publishes in their own name and designation (paras 5.1 and 8.2(iii)). ICG does not run promotional campaigns for individual RMPs: para 8.1(ii) bars an RMP from engaging a third party to market medical services.
Dental practices are regulated by the Dental Council of India rather than the NMC; see dental clinic advertising (DCI). Dental departments inside a hospital fall under the institutional rules.
What is at stake
For registered medical practitioners, para 10.1 sets out graded action that "may be contemplated" by the State Medical Council, from a warning with mandatory ethics training for a first violation up to removal from the register for repeated violations. A show-cause notice comes first and a reasoned order follows, with a right of appeal (paras 10.2, 10.3 and 11). Hospitals and medical institutions are dealt with under the Clinical Establishments Act or the relevant State Act (para 10.1, Explanation).
Most issues are easy to fix once someone has listed them. The check is meant to do that listing before a complaint does.
Ongoing retainer support
A one-time check fixes what's live today. It doesn't catch the testimonial a proud patient's family posts to a Google Business Profile next month, or the superlative a new hire on the marketing team writes into a fresh doctor page without knowing the restriction exists. That's the gap the retainer closes: new content and new doctors joining a group get a compliance pass on an ongoing basis, not a once-a-year scramble.
Annual full review
A yearly re-check across website, doctor directory, Google Business Profile, social, ads and print, timed to catch a year's worth of content drift in one pass.
New-doctor onboarding review
When a doctor joins, their directory entry and any posts naming them get a compliance pass before publication, with registration details in place (para 3.2, Explanations III and IV).
Team training
A working session with the marketing or front-desk team on what the guidelines restrict, since most issues come from a well-meaning team applying general marketing instincts to healthcare content.
Complaint-response support
If a complaint is raised about published content, ICG helps assemble the content record (what was published, when and who approved it) for your advisers.
Retainers from Rs 20,000/month, custom-scoped per engagement. The scope depends on doctor count, the number of marketing surfaces per doctor, and whether the group needs a one-time baseline audit first or ongoing annual review support from the start.
How this integrates with the Search Intelligence Trifecta
Compliance exposure doesn't stay inside a hospital's website. It shows up in Google Business Profile activity, organic social content and video, all of which ICG's Search Intelligence Trifecta already touches for a different reason. That's why the compliance check doesn't run in isolation from SIE, Angryturtle and YODA.
SIE (Search Intelligence Engine) monitors the live search and content footprint continuously, which makes it the surface that catches compliance drift between review cycles: a testimonial added to a doctor page, a superlative slipped into an updated headline, a review reply that crosses the line. Angryturtle, ICG's Google Business Profile management product, is where many review replies and profile posts are published day to day, so its audit dashboard is where the checklist is applied at the moment of posting. YODA, ICG's YouTube AIO product, applies the same checks to educational video scripts, including AI source marks under para 7.2.
How the NMC checklist runs continuously across SIE, Angryturtle and YODA rather than as a once-a-year gate.
Pricing
The first compliance check is free. Ongoing NMC compliance support is priced as an ongoing retainer, not a fixed-fee one-off, because a hospital's public presence keeps growing every month (a new post, a new review reply, a new video) and each addition carries the same exposure the last check found. Retainers start from Rs 20,000/month, custom-scoped per engagement, and the scope is set around doctor count and the number of marketing surfaces each doctor maintains.
Retainers from Rs 20,000/month
Custom-scoped per engagement — no fixed tiers, scoped to doctor count and surface volumeA single clinic with one website and one active social profile sits at the lower end of that range. A multi-doctor hospital group with ten or more named specialists, each listed in the directory and named across Google Business Profile, social channels and video content, needs a wider scope, priced accordingly. Retainers from Rs 20,000/month, custom-scoped per engagement is the starting conversation, not the ceiling — the exact number is set after ICG sees how many doctors and surfaces are in scope during the benchmarking call, never before.
Questions about the free NMC compliance check
What does the free NMC compliance check cover?
We review a hospital's or clinic's website (including the doctor directory), Google Business Profile, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, live Google Ads and Meta ads with their landing pages, WhatsApp message templates, and hoardings or signboards you share with us. Each item is checked against the NMC guidelines of 6 October 2026, mainly paras 3.2, 5.2, 6, 7.2, 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 9.1 to 9.4.
Which NMC rules is the check based on?
The Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication by Hospitals/Medical Institutions and Registered Medical Practitioners, public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics dated 6 October 2026, in force immediately. They are read with the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations 2002 and the NMC Act 2019 (paras 2.1(f) and 4.2). For hospitals, the Clinical Establishments Act or State Act prevails in an irreconcilable conflict (para 4.3).
Who is the check for? Can an individual doctor ask for one?
The check is built for hospitals, clinics and medical institutions. A doctor can ask us to review the educational content they publish in their own name and designation, such as public-health talks (paras 5.1 and 8.2(iii)). ICG does not run promotional campaigns for individual registered medical practitioners, because para 8.1(ii) bars an RMP from engaging a third party to market medical services.
What do we receive at the end?
A written list of fixes. Each entry names the page, post, ad or template, quotes the line or describes the image, gives the paragraph of the guidelines it touches, and suggests a compliant rewrite or removal. Items are ordered by how visible they are to the public. You decide what to change; the list is general information, not legal advice.
If our agency published the content, is the hospital still responsible?
Yes. Para 4.4 says that publishing through an agency, platform or influencer does not absolve the RMP or institution of content it authorised, commissioned, sponsored, adopted or knowingly permitted. That is why the check covers everything published in your name, whoever wrote it, including ads and posts run by outside vendors.
Can a hospital website still list its doctors?
Yes. Para 9.1 treats a hospital website's doctor directory, listing names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability for patient information, as materially distinct from paid promotion. Posts that name an RMP must disclose the name, qualifications, registration status and SMR/NMR number (3.2, Explanations III and IV). What is not allowed is promotional portrayal of an individual RMP (para 8.3).
Are Google Ads, Meta ads and WhatsApp messages covered by the guidelines?
Yes. Para 3.2 counts search-engine, sponsored, targeted and platform-based promotional communication as advertisement, and para 3.5 names WhatsApp and Facebook as media of advertisement. Ads may carry factual institutional information (para 8.3) but no 'best', 'No.1' or 'painless' claims, and no discounts, offers, coupons, cashback or free procedures used as inducements (paras 8.1(iii), 8.1(ix) and 8.1(x)).
How much does ongoing NMC compliance support cost?
The compliance check itself is free. For ongoing support, retainers start from Rs 20,000/month and are custom-scoped per engagement, based on doctor count, the number of marketing surfaces per doctor, and whether the group needs a one-time baseline audit or ongoing annual review support.
How ICG works within these guidelines
ICG is a healthcare marketing agency. Our clients are hospitals, clinics and medical institutions, which may publish factual, objective and verifiable information about themselves (paras 8.3 and 9.1). For individual doctors, ICG supports only genuinely educational content in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)). For doctors and their practices, we run patient-education-driven campaigns: awareness content that helps patients understand their condition and their options, published in the doctor's own name and designation (para 8.2(iii)) and kept free of the self-promotion that para 8.1(ii) bars.
The work is education-first and runs across six channels:
- Awareness content on YouTube. Doctor-led educational videos on public health and disease awareness, in the doctor's own name and designation, without promoting the employer organisation (para 8.2(iii)). See YODA and YouTube marketing for healthcare.
- Research articles and blogs that help patients understand their options: information shared in the normal course, not promotion (para 3.2, Explanation I). See healthcare content marketing, ICG research reports and healthcare SEO.
- Expert answers on Reddit and Quora from named, disclosed accounts. No anonymous or fake posts, no undisclosed commercial relationships and no manufactured engagement (paras 8.1(xi) and 8.1(xii)). See Reddit and Quora programmes.
- Awareness campaigns on Meta, run from the hospital's or clinic's own page, with no discounts, offers, free procedures or other inducements (paras 8.1(x) and 8.3). See Meta advertising for hospitals and clinics.
- NMC-compliant Google Ads landing pages: factual departments, services and facilities, with no "best", "No.1", "100% success", "painless" or "guaranteed" claims (paras 8.1(iii) and 8.1(ix)). See Google Ads for hospitals and clinics.
- "Learn More" instead of "Book Now" on patient-facing pages, so that a page informs rather than solicits (paras 8.1(ii) and 8.3(ii)).
All six rest on three kinds of content: scientific (evidence-based, checked by a qualified clinician), persona-based (written for the questions a specific patient group asks) and consumer-based (built from how people search, compare and decide). AI-assisted drafts go through human medical review, and AI-generated content that is published carries an AI source mark (para 7.2). We do not publish patient testimonials, before-and-after images or superiority claims, and we never buy, incentivise or gate reviews.
Free NMC compliance check. We review a hospital's or clinic's website, Google Business Profile and social channels against the October 2026 guidelines and send back a written list of fixes.
See what the check covers · Request the check · Book a 30-minute call
General information, not legal advice. Source: NMC public notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics, 6 October 2026.
Request your free NMC compliance check
Tell us which website, profiles, ads and templates to include. You will receive a written list of fixes, each tied to the paragraph of the October 2026 guidelines it touches.
