Virginia Board of Medicine advertising: a practice owner's checklist
If you own or run a physician practice in Virginia, every ad, web page, review response and social post carries your license with it. This guide is the checklist we use before a Virginia campaign goes live, written for practice owners and office managers rather than lawyers. For the longer regulatory reference, see our full Virginia Board of Medicine guide.
- Physician advertising in Virginia is overseen by the Virginia Board of Medicine, part of the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
- The core test: advertising must be truthful and not misleading. False or deceptive advertising can be treated as unprofessional conduct.
- The Virginia Consumer Protection Act and the FTC Act apply on top, including the FTC's rules on endorsements and fake reviews.
- Highest-risk areas: credential and specialty claims, testimonials, before-and-after images, outcome claims and "free" or discounted offers.
- Check the current regulation text before relying on any specific provision.
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Who regulates physician advertising in Virginia
The Virginia Board of Medicine licenses and disciplines doctors of medicine and osteopathic medicine in Virginia, along with several other professions, including physician assistants. It is one of the health regulatory boards within the Virginia Department of Health Professions (DHP), which handles complaints and investigations across the boards.
Advertising is not a separate licence or permit. It is part of professional conduct. If an ad, website or social post is false, deceptive or misleading, it can become the subject of a complaint to the Board, and the Board can act against the licensee responsible.
Three other layers usually matter at the same time:
- The Virginia Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits deceptive practices in consumer transactions and is enforced by the Office of the Attorney General.
- The FTC Act, which requires advertising to be truthful and backed by evidence, together with the FTC's Endorsement Guides and its rule against fake and bought reviews.
- HIPAA, which governs how patient information may be used in marketing, including testimonials and website tracking.
If your practice employs nurse practitioners, note that Virginia licenses NPs jointly through the Boards of Nursing and Medicine, so advertising that features them sits under both.
Where the rules live
You do not need to read the whole code, but you should know where to look when a question comes up:
| Source | What it is |
|---|---|
| Code of Virginia, Title 54.1, Chapter 29 | The statute governing medicine and other healing arts, including the Board's powers and the grounds for discipline. |
| Virginia Administrative Code, 18VAC85 | The Board of Medicine's regulations, including the rules for practising medicine and standards of professional conduct. |
| Board guidance documents | Published on the Board's website, and useful for how the Board interprets its rules. |
| Virginia Consumer Protection Act | State law on deceptive consumer practices, enforced by the Attorney General. |
| FTC rules and guides | Federal truth-in-advertising law, the Endorsement Guides, and the rule on consumer reviews and testimonials. |
The core principle: truthful and not misleading
Almost every advertising problem we see comes back to one test: would a reasonable patient come away with a false impression? That includes things that are technically true but leave out something important.
Some examples of how that plays out in practice:
- "Same-day appointments" is fine if they are genuinely available most days. It is misleading if the next opening is usually a week out.
- "Accepting new patients" must be kept current across your website and every Google Business Profile.
- "Pain-free" or "guaranteed results" promise an outcome no physician can promise. Describe what you do, not what the patient will feel.
- Photos of a clinic, team or equipment should show your actual clinic, team and equipment, or be clearly illustrative.
- An insurance list that includes plans you left last year is a misleading claim, and a frequent source of patient frustration.
The FTC adds a second test: substantiation. If you make an objective claim, such as a success rate, a comparison or a statistic, you need evidence for it before you publish. For a small practice the simplest rule is to avoid comparative and statistical claims unless you can document them.
The pre-publication checklist
This is the list we run through before a Virginia physician practice's ad, landing page or post goes live. It is deliberately practical.
Credentials and titles
- Every clinician's name, degree and title is accurate and current.
- "Board certified" appears only where it is true and current, ideally with the certifying board named.
- Specialty words ("pediatrician", "dermatologist", "specialist") are used only for clinicians trained and credentialed in that specialty.
- NPs and PAs are described by their own credentials, and nothing implies they are physicians.
Claims and offers
- No promises of outcomes, cures or "guaranteed" results.
- Any statistic or comparison has documented evidence on file.
- "Free" or discounted offers state clearly what is included, what is not, and any conditions.
- Availability, hours, locations and insurance details match reality on every channel.
Testimonials, reviews and images
- Patient stories and images are used only with written permission (a HIPAA authorization where you are a covered entity).
- Results are not presented as typical unless they are, and incentives are disclosed.
- Before-and-after images are unretouched, taken under comparable conditions, and of your own patients.
- No reviews are written, bought or filtered in a way that misleads, and staff do not post reviews of their own practice.
- Review responses never confirm that the reviewer is a patient or discuss their care.
Privacy and tracking
- No advertising pixels on patient portals, booking confirmations or pages where patients enter health information.
- Form contents are not passed to ad or analytics platforms.
- Vendors that handle PHI have signed a Business Associate Agreement.
- Text and call campaigns have TCPA-compliant consent and working opt-outs.
Records
- A dated copy of each ad and landing page is kept, with who approved it and the evidence behind any claim.
Notes for pediatric and primary care practices
Pediatric practices
Your audience is parents, and they read carefully. Keep health content accurate and clinician-reviewed, especially on immunizations, where misinformation spreads quickly. Photos of children need a parent's or guardian's written permission. If you accept Virginia Medicaid and FAMIS, say so clearly: families covered by those programs search specifically for practices that take them. Our work with Opulent Pediatrics in the New River Valley is built on exactly that kind of clarity.
Primary care practices
Primary care is won on availability and insurance clarity. The biggest advertising risk is not an exaggerated claim but stale information: a plan you no longer accept, a physician who has left, or "accepting new patients" when you are not. Keep one source of truth for providers, plans and availability, and update the website and every Google Business Profile from it.
Telehealth across state lines
If you advertise telehealth, be clear about where your clinicians are licensed. As a general rule a physician needs to be licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time of the visit, and ads that suggest you can see patients anywhere can mislead. Check the specific rules with counsel before targeting other states.
Digital channels: Google, reviews and AI search
Most Virginia patients now meet your practice through Google Maps, a search result or an AI assistant's summary before they ever see an ad. The same rules apply to all of them.
- Google Business Profile: the business name must be your real name (no keyword stuffing), categories must match what you actually do, and hours and insurance must be accurate. Google enforces its own rules on top of the Board's.
- Google Ads: Google restricts some healthcare advertising and certifies some categories separately. Ad copy is still your advertising and must meet the same standard.
- Reviews: asking every patient for a review in the same way is fine; selecting only happy patients, or offering incentives, is not.
- AI-written content: have a clinician review anything health-related before it is published. You are responsible for the content, whoever or whatever drafted it.
How we review Virginia campaigns
Four of Ichelon Consulting US's live clients are Virginia practices, so this checklist is part of everyday work rather than a one-off audit. Before anything goes live we check credentials and specialty terms, remove unsupported claims, confirm insurance and availability details, set up tracking so no patient information reaches ad platforms, and keep a record of what was approved and why.
We are a marketing agency, not a law firm. Where a question needs a legal answer, such as a novel offer or a cross-state telehealth campaign, we flag it for your attorney before it runs.
Related Virginia guides: Virginia Board of Dentistry advertising rules · Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act for healthcare marketing · Healthcare marketing in Virginia
Federal guides: HIPAA marketing compliance · TCPA-safe patient outreach · ADA website accessibility · State medical board advertising
Virginia Board of Medicine advertising: common questions
Who regulates physician advertising in Virginia?
The Virginia Board of Medicine, which sits within the Virginia Department of Health Professions. It licenses physicians (MD and DO) and several other professions, and can discipline licensees for unprofessional conduct, which includes false or misleading advertising. The Virginia Consumer Protection Act and federal law, including the FTC Act, apply as well.
Where are the Board of Medicine rules written down?
The governing statute is Title 54.1, Chapter 29 of the Code of Virginia. The Board's regulations are in Title 18 of the Virginia Administrative Code under the Board of Medicine (18VAC85). Rules are amended from time to time, so always check the current text on the Board's website or the Virginia Administrative Code before relying on a specific provision.
Can a Virginia practice use patient testimonials and reviews?
Generally yes, if they are genuine, not misleading, and published with the patient's written permission (a HIPAA authorization where the practice is a covered entity). Results must not be presented as typical if they are not, and any payment or incentive must be disclosed. The FTC also prohibits fake or bought reviews.
Can we say a doctor is "board certified" in our ads?
Only if it is accurate and current, and it is good practice to name the certifying board. Claims that imply a specialty credential the physician does not hold are a common source of complaints. Check the Board of Medicine regulations for any specific rules on specialty and certification claims.
Do these rules apply to nurse practitioners and physician assistants?
Advertising that features NPs or PAs should describe their credentials accurately and never imply they are physicians. In Virginia, nurse practitioners are licensed jointly by the Boards of Nursing and Medicine, and physician assistants are licensed by the Board of Medicine, so both boards' rules can be relevant.
Is this guide legal advice?
No. It is general marketing guidance written by a healthcare marketing agency. Check the current regulation text and consult a Virginia healthcare attorney before making decisions about your practice.