Websites for medical and therapeutic practices in Berlin

For a practice the website is not a shop window, it is the reception desk. And it follows rules other trades do not have.

Appointments come first

Patients are not looking for the prettiest practice, they are looking for an appointment. The first three things that belong on the page: whether you are taking new patients, how to get an appointment, and when the phone is answered.

Online booking takes work off reception, but only if it is connected to the real calendar. A form that produces an email somebody has to retype creates more work than the telephone.

What the law forbids

Health professions in Germany fall under the Heilmittelwerbegesetz, the act on advertising in healthcare, and it is stricter than most people expect.

• No before-and-after pictures for surgical cosmetic procedures. § 11 paragraph 1 number 5 HWG.
• No promises of success. Wording such as „pain free" or a success rate in percent is risky.
• Patient testimonials only within narrow limits. Thank-you letters and recommendations are tightly regulated in healthcare advertising.

Then there is data protection: health data is specially protected under Article 9 GDPR. A contact form should ask for a name, how to reach the person and a preferred appointment. Not the symptoms.

What builds trust without breaking the rules

• Who treats, with a picture and a background. People are looking for a person.
• Qualifications and focus areas in plain words, not as a string of abbreviations.
• How a first appointment works. That takes away fear, and fear is the reason appointments do not get made.
• Step-free access, lift, parking. For some of your patients this is the deciding piece of information.