NMC Advertising Guidelines 2026: What Clinics Can and Can't Post Online

On 6 October 2026 the National Medical Commission issued new advertising guidelines for doctors and hospitals. They apply to almost every place a clinic talks to patients: social media, websites, blogs, WhatsApp and Telegram, podcasts, influencer posts, sponsored content and AI-generated material. If your clinic has an Instagram page or a WhatsApp Business account, these NMC guidelines for doctors' social media apply to you.

Most of what the guidelines restrict is already risky for a clinic's reputation, so for most clinics following them means stopping a few habits, not starting again.

What you can post

• Facts about your practice: doctors' qualifications and registration, specialties, services, timings and locations
• Health education: explaining symptoms, procedures and prevention, without promoting your clinic in the same breath
• What a first visit involves and how your fees are worked out
• Participation in health awareness camps and public health campaigns

What to stop doing

• Promising results. Lines like "100% success", "painless treatment" or "guaranteed cure" are the kind of claims the guidelines target.
• Patient testimonials and reviews used to promote you. As reported, the guidelines say a doctor shall not request or share patient testimonials, endorsements or reviews to promote themselves on social media. Fake or paid reviews are barred outright.
• Assuming consent makes it allowed. Using patients' treatment details, photos, videos or records in advertising needs their explicit consent, but consent alone doesn't make a testimonial, a before-and-after image or a promotional patient story acceptable if it is otherwise prohibited.
• Paying for referrals. Payments to agencies or influencers can't be tied to the number of patients they send you.
• Misleading AI content. AI-generated or AI-assisted material can't misrepresent diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, qualifications or patient experiences.

Separately, the DPDP Act 2023 treats patient information as personal data. Any consent you collect should be clear, specific to the purpose and recorded, and patients must be able to withdraw it.

AI-generated content

This is the part clinics ask about most. According to published summaries, the guidelines restrict AI-generated promotional campaigns run for commercial gain, and AI content that is permitted has to carry a mark saying it was AI-generated. In practice:

• AI can help draft a post, but a named person at the clinic should read and approve it before it goes out
• If AI helped make a post, label it as the guidelines require
• Never use AI to create patient stories, testimonials, "patient" videos or doctor avatars

A quick check of what you've already posted

1. Go through your last 20 posts, reels and stories
2. Edit or delete anything that promises a result
3. Take down patient testimonials, review screenshots and before/after posts until you've checked them against the notice
4. Look at any paid collaboration and make sure the payment isn't linked to patient numbers
5. Make sure your website's enquiry form explains how the data will be used and links to your privacy policy
6. Name one person at the clinic who approves everything before it's posted

Working within the rules

Patients trust clinics that explain clearly and promise carefully, so a clinic that markets this way loses very little. At Clinic Stride we plan social content for clinics around education rather than testimonials, and every post goes through an approval step before it's published. See our social media service and branding work, or talk to us about your clinic's content.