A medical practice website is not an ordinary company site, legally speaking. Anyone running a doctor's practice in Germany has to observe two rulebooks on top of the rules that apply to every commercial website: professional medical law and the Heilmittelwerbegesetz, the act governing advertising in the healthcare field. The bakery next door simply does not have to deal with either. At the same time the pressure is rising: 64 percent (Bitkom e. V.) of people in Germany have booked a doctor's appointment online at least once, 25 percent (Bitkom e. V.) of them through the website of a practice or medical facility, for instance via an online form or e-mail. And 27 percent (Bitkom e. V., 2024 survey) even pick a practice specifically according to whether it offers appointment booking over the internet. The widespread worry that „doctors are not allowed to advertise anyway“ often results in a pale, half-hearted site - yet factual information is expressly permitted. This guide shows what may go on a practice website, what may not, and how promotional language becomes permissible factual information. It is general information and does not replace individual legal advice.
Key takeaways
- Factual, profession-related information is expressly permitted for doctors (Section 27(2) MBO-Ä) - the blanket advertising ban of the past was abandoned back in 2002.
- What is prohibited is promotional, misleading or comparative advertising (Section 27(3) MBO-Ä); the overall impression counts, not the single word.
- The practice imprint needs extras: the statutory professional title and the state that conferred it, the competent medical chamber, where applicable the panel doctors' association, and the professional rules including where to find them (Section 5 DDG).
- Health data are special categories of personal data (Art. 9 GDPR) - which is why a contact form that invites patients to describe symptoms is a bad idea.
Three layers of law instead of one: why a practice site is different
For an ordinary business website it is essentially enough to get the imprint and the privacy notice right and not to lie in the marketplace. For a doctor's practice two further layers apply, each with its own yardstick. The first is professional law: the professional codes of the regional medical chambers, which follow the model professional code of the German Medical Association, set out in Section 27 which public presentation is compatible with the medical profession. The second is the Heilmittelwerbegesetz, which imposes specific prohibitions on advertising in the healthcare field. Only underneath those sits general web law with the Digital Services Act, the GDPR and competition law.
These layers interlock. Section 27(3) MBO-Ä expressly states that advertising bans arising from other statutory provisions remain unaffected (German Medical Association, MBO-Ä Section 27). And because the courts classify both the provisions of the Heilmittelwerbegesetz and Section 27(3) MBO-Ä as market conduct rules within the meaning of competition law, a breach of professional law can simultaneously be a competition breach - and therefore attract a warning letter from competitors (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). In practice that means a single careless sentence on the home page can touch three rulebooks at once.
Professional law
Section 27 of the model professional code: factual, profession-related information is permitted, unprofessional advertising is prohibited. The competent body is the regional medical chamber whose code applies (German Medical Association, MBO-Ä Section 27).
Healthcare advertising law
The Heilmittelwerbegesetz prohibits, among other things, certain before-and-after depictions and detailed accounts of case histories that could lead to false self-diagnosis (Heilmittelwerbegesetz, Section 11).
General web law
The imprint duty under Section 5 DDG, data protection under the GDPR and competition law apply on top - just as they do for any other commercially used website (Digital Services Act, Section 5).
What is permitted: more than most practices believe
Until the year 2000 professional law did indeed provide for a general advertising ban, and a doctor's public presentation was limited to a few factual details. Several supreme court rulings, and above all the significance the Federal Constitutional Court attached to the freedom to exercise a profession, changed that; in 2002 the 105th German Medical Assembly adopted today's version of Section 27 MBO-Ä (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). Since then the opposite principle applies: advertising for the purpose of factual information is permitted and prohibited only where it is unprofessional. The fear that „doctors are not allowed to advertise“ has been outdated in that blanket form for over two decades.
Section 27(2) MBO-Ä puts it briefly: on the basis of patient protection, doctors are permitted to give factual, profession-related information (German Medical Association, MBO-Ä Section 27). Subsection 4 lists what may specifically be announced. What the German Medical Association expressly considers permissible is just as noteworthy: image and sympathy advertising by doctors is permitted in principle and not promotional from the outset (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). A friendly team photo, a warm text about the practice philosophy, a tidy modern design - none of that is a legal problem.
- Titles acquired under the continuing education regulations, such as the specialist title, in the permitted form (Section 27(4) no. 1 MBO-Ä)
- Qualifications acquired under other provisions of public law (Section 27(4) no. 2 MBO-Ä)
- Areas of focus marked as such, clearly distinguishable from continuing education titles (Section 27(4) no. 3 MBO-Ä)
- Organisational information such as consultation hours, cover arrangements, directions or parking (Section 27(4) no. 4 MBO-Ä)
- A reference to the conferring medical chamber is permitted (German Medical Association, MBO-Ä Section 27)
- General, verifiable information about the technical equipment of the practice (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit)
An area of focus is not a marketing word
What does not work: promotional, misleading, comparative
The line is drawn by Section 27(3) MBO-Ä: unprofessional advertising is prohibited, and unprofessional means in particular promotional, misleading or comparative advertising (German Medical Association, MBO-Ä Section 27). According to the guidance of the German Medical Association, unprofessionally promotional means a particularly emphatic form of advertising using sensational or market-crier methods that pushes the factual information content into the background - for example exaggerations or superlatives intended to present one's own service suggestively (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). What matters is not an individual word but the overall impression of the site.
Unprofessionally promotional within the meaning of Section 27 MBO-Ä is a particularly emphatic form of advertising, especially using sensational or market-crier methods, which pushes the factual information content into the background.
Case law offers concrete pointers. The superlative „the best“ used to describe a medical service was held to be unprofessionally promotional where it was made an eye-catcher through font size, colour and styling. Equally objected to were the claim „visual quality and acuity like never before“ alongside a struck-through comparison price, and the repeated, prominent statement of a discount together with the call to „buy now“ (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). Advertising is misleading, in turn, where it can create false ideas about the range of services: a specialist in general medicine who additionally advertises with a designation such as „men's doctor“ without holding a qualification equivalent to specialist training crosses the line. Terms such as „clinic“, „institute“ or „centre“ are likewise misleading if there is no corresponding facility behind them (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit).
The good news: almost every unprofessional phrase can be translated into permissible factual information that works better anyway. Patients are not looking for superlatives, they are looking for answers. Writing how long the practice has existed and which specialist title is held, instead of „the best address“, is both legally safe and more informative. How to write texts like that is covered in our guide to writing good website copy yourself.
| Statement on the website | Problem | Permissible factual information |
|---|---|---|
| „The best address for your health“ | Superlative, promotional (Section 27(3) MBO-Ä) | „Internal medicine practice, in Hildesheim since 2004“ |
| „We will make you beautiful again“ | Promotional and evaluative | „Aesthetic procedures: process, risks and costs at a glance“ |
| „The most modern technology far and wide“ | Comparative and not verifiable | „Digital X-ray with reduced radiation exposure“ |
| „Specialist for back pain“ | Confusable with a continuing education title | „Area of focus: conservative spinal therapy“ |
| Before-and-after photos of cosmetic surgery | Prohibited (Section 11(1) HWG) | Factual description of indication, procedure and aftercare |
| „Our patients are delighted“ | Evaluative, without evidence | „Consultation hours, waiting times and appointments at a glance“ |
Before-and-after photos and the Heilmittelwerbegesetz
Before-and-after photos deserve a closer look, because two half-truths persist here. The first is that before-and-after photos are banned across the board. That is not correct: the 2012 amendment of the Heilmittelwerbegesetz lifted certain advertising restrictions, and since then advertising with before-and-after photos of surgical procedures, for example, is no longer prohibited as a blanket rule (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). The second half-truth is the reverse conclusion that anything goes now. That is not true either.
Because for one clearly defined group the ban remains: for operative plastic surgery procedures to alter the human body without medical necessity, it is prohibited to advertise with a comparative depiction of the bodily condition or appearance before and after the procedure (Heilmittelwerbegesetz, Section 11 in conjunction with Section 1). In plain language: for cosmetic surgery, before-and-after photos are off limits. According to case law such advertising simultaneously breaches competition law and can therefore attract a warning letter (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit). What also remains prohibited is the detailed reproduction of case histories where it could lead to false self-diagnosis (Heilmittelwerbegesetz, Section 11).
The overlooked ban on third-party advertising
The practice imprint: the healthcare profession extras
Every commercially operated website needs an imprint under Section 5 of the Digital Services Act, which replaced the Telemedia Act on 14 May 2024. For regulated professions - and medicine is one - Section 5(1) no. 5 DDG requires additional details: the chamber to which the service provider belongs, the statutory professional title and the state in which it was conferred, and the designation of the professional rules together with information on how those rules can be accessed (Digital Services Act, Section 5). These three points are precisely the ones most often missing in practice.
Professional title and state
The statutory professional title „doctor“ and the state in which it was conferred - as a rule the Federal Republic of Germany (Digital Services Act, Section 5).
Competent medical chamber
The regional medical chamber to which the practice belongs, as the competent chamber and supervisory body (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit).
Panel doctors' association
Where the practice treats patients under the statutory health insurance scheme, the address of the competent Kassenärztliche Vereinigung belongs in the imprint (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit).
Professional code and where to find it
A reference to the healthcare profession or chamber act of the federal state and to the professional code of the regional chamber - including where they can be inspected, usually on the chamber's website (Digital Services Act, Section 5).
Register and VAT ID
For a partnership company, the partnership register and its number; the VAT identification number only where one exists (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit).
Person responsible for content
Anyone publishing editorial content beyond factual details, such as a health advice section, must additionally name a responsible person with name and address (Medienstaatsvertrag, Section 18).
If the details are not presented in full, this can be prosecuted as an administrative offence and fined (German Medical Association, Arzt - Werbung - Öffentlichkeit); in everyday life, however, a warning letter from competitors is the more common risk. The general mandatory details that apply to every website on top of this are broken down in our article on the imprint duty and mandatory details under the DDG.
Health data: why the contact form looks different
The second big difference from an ordinary company website lies in data protection. Under Art. 9(1) GDPR health data belong to the special categories of personal data whose processing is prohibited in principle - permitted only where an exception applies, such as explicit consent under Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation, Art. 9). Even the information that someone is a patient of a particular specialist practice can be health data. That has immediate consequences for the design of the website.
The form should not invite storytelling
- Ask sparingly: name, contact route, preferred appointment - no fields that invite descriptions of symptoms
- Transport encryption for the entire site, not just for the form
- Hosting in Germany, so that processing on behalf and server location remain easy to document
- Sparing use of third parties: every external font, map or video embed is an additional data transfer
- No access to end devices without consent, unless strictly necessary to operate the site
- Document the record of processing activities and the data processing agreement with the host from the start
None of this is a special route for practices; it is the consistent application of the general rules to particularly sensitive data. The foundations - legal bases, consent, processing on behalf - are explained in our overview of the GDPR basics for a small website. Anyone who additionally wants to connect genuine online appointment booking will find the data protection and organisational considerations in our article on online booking on your own website - for a plain practice website it is an option, not an obligation.
Accessibility and readability: the audience is older
A practice website has visitors who are older on average and who more often arrive with impaired vision, motor skills or concentration. What looks elegant on an agency monitor - light grey thin type on a white background, 13 pixels tall - is simply unreadable for a 78-year-old patient. The contrast yardstick of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines requires at least 4.5:1 for normal body text and 3:1 for large type (W3C, WCAG 2.2). That is not an argument about aesthetics but the line between legible and illegible.
Contrast and type size
Body text from 16 pixels, sufficient line spacing and a contrast of at least 4.5:1 for normal text (W3C, WCAG 2.2).
Large targets on mobile
The phone number as a tappable link, generous buttons, no forced zooming - many patients arrive on the move or from the waiting room.
Plain language
Short sentences, no unnecessary jargon, foreign terms explained. Writing „contraindication“ where „reason not to use“ is meant loses readers.
Accessibility has long since stopped being a matter of mere courtesy: for certain services in electronic commerce the requirements of the German Accessibility Strengthening Act have applied since June 2025, with exemptions for micro-enterprises. Whether and when a practice is affected depends on the specific offering; our article on the accessible website under the BFSG provides the overview. Regardless of the legal position, a page that older patients can read without effort simply does its job better.
The five things patients actually look for
Anyone who watches practice websites sees the same imbalance again and again: plenty of room for the practice philosophy, little for the questions that actually bring people to the site. Yet the list is short and has been stable for years. Whoever answers these five points prominently, keeps them current and makes them legible on a phone has done the larger part of the job - and needs not a single phrase that is delicate under professional law.
- Consultation hours - current, including holiday and public holiday arrangements. The single most frequent question of all, and the detail that is most often out of date.
- Directions and on-site accessibility - address, parking, public transport, lift, steps, wheelchair access. The last of these is rarely stated and often searched for.
- Range of services - described factually, with the specialist title and areas of focus marked as such (Section 27(4) MBO-Ä).
- Cover and emergencies - who covers during absences, what applies outside consultation hours, when the out-of-hours medical service or the emergency number is the right call.
- Contact route - the phone number as a tappable link, availability times and a lean form for an appointment request or call-back.
Only once this foundation is in place is it worth looking at further stages. Genuine online appointment booking is the most obvious one: after all, 27 percent (Bitkom e. V., 2024 survey) pick practices specifically according to whether they offer appointment booking over the internet, and 84 percent (Bitkom e. V.) of those who book online or could imagine doing so value being able to avoid lengthy phone calls with the practice. Anyone caring for many international patients will find sober decision guidance in our article on when a second language on your website pays off. And that the underlying principles are similar across sectors is shown by a comparison with a very different case: the website for restaurants that wins guests.
What a legally sound practice website costs
The effort involved in a practice website rarely lies in the technology. It lies in phrasing the content so that it holds up under professional law, and in extending the imprint by the healthcare profession details. Both are a one-off exercise in care, not a permanent building site. A lean, complete practice website with consultation hours, directions, range of services, cover arrangements and contact details is available from us as a fixed-price starter website from 390 euros - including imprint, privacy page and hosting in Germany. What is included in which scope is shown in our overview of website packages and prices.
For practices, however, maintenance matters more than the starting price. Consultation hours change, holiday cover rotates, a new colleague joins the team - and those are precisely the details that bring patients to the site in the first place. A website whose consultation hours have been wrong for two years does more harm than no website at all. That is why ongoing website maintenance from 49 euros a month is usually the more important item for practices: changes to consultation hours and cover arrangements are entered promptly, without anyone in the practice having to operate a content management system.
The pragmatic route to sign-off
On balance, a practice website is less a legal minefield than a field with clearly marked paths. Factual, verifiable information is permitted and expressly welcome; what is prohibited is essentially what stands out unpleasantly outside medicine too: market crying, superlatives and promises nobody can keep. Anyone who answers patients' questions soberly, puts the healthcare profession details in the imprint and does not collect health data through a free-text field has got the larger part right - and, incidentally, has a site that genuinely helps older patients. What that looks like specifically for your practice is shown on our page about the website for doctors and practices.