Patient emails and the health advertising rules

The rules, in short

AHPRA - the national regulator for psychologists and other registered practitioners - treats almost any communication that could attract someone to a health service as advertising. That explicitly includes recall notices and emails to your existing patients, so patient emails sent through RIFT have to meet the advertising rules in the National Law (section 133) and AHPRA's Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. The core requirements:

• Nothing false or misleading, including about fees or funding
• No inducements - discounts, gifts, or rewards for booking
• No pressure or urgency
• Nothing that encourages using a health service without clinical need

Which RIFT emails the rules cover

Invoice chases and cancellation fee emails are account communications about services your practice has already provided. They are billing, not advertising of a health service, so the advertising rules do not apply to them. Other obligations do - accuracy and a working opt-out - and RIFT enforces both automatically.

Booking prompts invite a future appointment, so they sit inside the advertising rules and are held to the standards above. RIFT's design keeps them on the right side:

• A booking prompt only ever goes to a patient with an active funded plan - a course of sessions their referring doctor has already prescribed - who is partway through it, has sessions remaining, has nothing booked, and has been quiet for a while. That is a clinically indicated reminder, not solicitation
• Figures merge from your own records at send time, so an amount or session count can never be mistyped
• Sequences are capped, and the final email says it is the last one
• Every email carries a working opt-out link, and an opt-out is permanent
• Depending on your mode, you approve each email or set the rules it sends under - and every send is on the record in the Outbox

Email structure and wording

A patient email that stays inside the rules has four parts, in order:

1. Who you are - the practice name the patient knows
2. The fact - their account or plan status, with the real figures ("you have 2 funded sessions remaining under your GP Chronic Condition Management Plan")
3. The invitation - one calm sentence ("if you would like to book, reply to this email or call the practice")
4. The exit - a no-pressure close, and the opt-out link RIFT adds automatically

Inside the rules: "You have 2 funded sessions remaining under your GP Chronic Condition Management Plan. If you would like to book, reply to this email or call us."
A breach: "Don't miss out! Book this week and get 10% off your next session - spots are limited."

Who is responsible

Patient emails go out in your practice's name, so under the National Law your practice is the advertiser and is responsible for what they say. RIFT ships templates that comply with this guidance, and under our Terms of Service (section 13) your practice is responsible for the wording of any template you customise and for the sending modes you configure. The short version: if you edit a template, keep it factual and it stays compliant.

This page is general guidance, not legal advice. The full rules are in AHPRA's advertising hub. Questions - support@rapidintelligence.com.au.