No. Online reviews are treated as promotional material and are covered by federal and state laws and regulations prohibiting deceptive advertising. Federal Trade Commission Endorsement Guidelines state that it is a deceptive practice to provide an endorsement for a product or service that fails to disclose material connections between the endorser and the sponsoring advertiser. Health care providers must be especially careful, because advertising violations also may subject their licenses to discipline under the state Medical Practice Act and other consumer fraud laws.
Regulators would consider a compensated positive endorsement to be misleading unless it contained clear language stating that the endorser had been paid for the positive review. In addition, it is deceptive to seek or post an endorsement from an individual who has not visited the health care provider and has no personal experience with the provider’s services.
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