Aspects of publicizing successful treatment stories: when it is allowed, and when it is illegal

Before placing any information about patient treatment cases on a website, marketing representatives should remember that certain rules apply.

Before placing any information about patient treatment cases on a website, marketing representatives should remember that certain rules apply. The main one – the patient’s written consent, granting the right to place desired photos or describe the course of treatment. The lawyer confirms that photos placed without permission can cost companies thousands.

Patient treatment stories placed on clinics’ websites allow other patients, who are concerned about a particular medical procedure, to see the results. According to Žygimantas Kvartūnas, marketing manager of the integrated marketing agency „Expertmedia“, various medical services or aesthetic procedures are needed quite rarely, so publicly placing information with treatment stages and results helps people decide more easily.

Although before any procedure the most important thing is to listen to the doctor’s recommendations, patients want to see live examples and to be confident that the chosen treatment method is the most appropriate. A clearly visible result of procedures, according to Ž. Kvartūnas, is useful both for patients preparing for procedures, and for marketing specialists preparing an informative clinic website for their clients. This allows patients to better imagine what awaits them and decide whether the procedure is really worth performing. Seeing photos, patients can also evaluate the doctors’ work style, understand the course of the procedure, its stages and complexity.

Naglis Narvidas, lawyer at the professional law firm „Cortex Legal“, says that in all cases, before publicly publishing a patient’s treatment story, it is necessary to obtain a properly executed, written consent from the patient. Although the General Data Protection Regulation does not actually provide for the necessity of written consent, in the event of a dispute with the patient, it may be necessary to prove the fact of consent. The fact and content of a patient’s oral consent are, as a rule, very difficult to prove.

Having obtained the patient’s consent, any data (photos, treatment description, videos) can be placed. However, the lawyer does not recommend distributing particularly sensitive images or other data sensitive to the patient. Although all of the patient’s personal information may be published, certain provisions apply that indicate the most correct ways of presenting it.

Patient treatment stories may be lawfully placed in several ways – by placing example photos of fictitious patients and by placing photos of real patients. When placing photos of fictitious patients, copyright agreements are usually concluded with models who pose for photos and advertise the clinic’s services. In this way, the data are lawfully placed on the website, this is done under the conditions of the concluded contract.

When placing real patient photos or any personal information, it is necessary to decide on the scope of the placed data and the specific way of showing the treatment case – whether a photo will be placed, or a description with personal details, or a video will be shown.

Lawyer N. Narvidas adds that the patient’s written consent must comply with the requirements specified in the General Data Protection Regulation regarding information about personal data processing. Only lawful, written consent gives the clinic the right to place the patient’s personal treatment story.

When obtaining the patient’s consent, accurate information must be provided about the purpose of personal data processing and the amount of data, the duration, how long the placed information will be visible on the website, the exact place of placement, contact details of the healthcare institution and of the institution’s data protection officer.

It is important not to forget that the patient has the right at any time to withdraw consent for the placement of personal data. In such a case, the data must be removed immediately, otherwise the patient may report the clinic to the State Data Protection Inspectorate.

Any personal information about a patient’s treatment, as N. Narvidas affirms, is considered a special category of personal data. Publicizing the information without the patient’s consent violates the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation and may have painful consequences for the clinic.

The State Data Protection Inspectorate evaluates such violations very strictly, so the clinic may have to pay a strict fine. The General Data Protection Regulation allows for fines of up to 4 percent of the clinic’s annual income, in other words up to 20 million euros.