{"id":6948,"date":"2023-01-23T13:58:21","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T03:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medimark.com.au\/?p=6948"},"modified":"2023-02-23T14:59:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T04:59:39","slug":"what-does-ahpra-really-mean-by-acceptable-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medimark.com.au\/what-does-ahpra-really-mean-by-acceptable-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"What does AHPRA really mean by \u2018acceptable evidence\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing we have come across a lot when working with health practitioners is that many of them are unknowingly breaching the all-important AHPRA Advertising Guidelines. Before we get too carried away about how health practitioners breach them, it\u2019s important to understand what AHPRA is and why they have advertising guidelines.<\/p>\n

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What is AHPRA and what do they do?<\/h2>\n

AHPRA stands for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.<\/p>\n

AHPRA is the national organisation that works in partnership with 15 national health practitioner boards (known as the National Boards) in Australia.<\/p>\n

The core role of the National Boards and AHPRA is to protect the Australian public. One of the ways they do this is through advertising legislation.<\/p>\n

Advertising is an important way health practitioners and providers of regulated health services promote their services to the public. However, advertising can greatly influence consumer decisions. False, misleading and deceptive health claims prevent consumers from making informed decisions about their health and any treatments they may need.<\/p>\n

Advertising legislation has therefore been developed to protect consumers and ensure that any decisions they make regarding their health are made in an informed manner.<\/p>\n

Many health practitioners are unknowingly breaching AHPRA advertising legislation. Continue reading to find out why.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Why do health practitioners breach AHPRA legislation?<\/h2>\n

One of the key areas health practitioners must be aware of is the need to ensure that any health claims, particularly around the benefits of treatment are backed up by \u2018acceptable evidence\u2019.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this is the area where many practitioners unknowingly make misleading and deceptive claims and breach legislation.<\/p>\n

At the heart of many misleading claims is the health practitioner\u2019s genuine desire to help their patients, especially if they know that their treatment has been beneficial to past patients. This can cause practitioners to make claims that are deemed to be misleading and\/or deceptive because they fail to cite AHPRA-approved \u2018acceptable evidence\u2019.<\/p>\n

This brings us to the question\u2026<\/p>\n

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Most health practitioners don\u2019t know what AHPRA deems as \u2018acceptable evidence\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What does AHPRA consider to be acceptable evidence?<\/h2>\n

First of all, it\u2019s important to understand that acceptable evidence for advertising is different from acceptable evidence for clinical decisions.<\/p>\n

When patients have an appointment with a healthcare practitioner, they have an opportunity to consider proposed treatment, risks and benefits and to discuss this in light of their personal circumstances, so they can make informed decisions.<\/p>\n

Advertising doesn\u2019t allow for this opportunity, which is why all claims need to be backed by \u2018acceptable evidence\u2019.<\/p>\n

Being able to substantiate claims is called \u2018acceptable evidence\u2019. This mostly includes data from formal research or systematic studies in the form of peer-reviewed publications.<\/p>\n

What does AHPRA really mean by ‘acceptable evidence’?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Evidence is deemed \u2018acceptable\u2019 if it rates highly against all the following factors:<\/p>\n

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Source<\/h3>\n