Advertising, Fee Disclosure, and Business Practice Requirements
Advertising
Minnesota requires chiropractic advertising to be truthful and not misleading. Claims must be supportable rather than superlative. Do not promise cures or guaranteed results, do not claim board certification or specialization unless you hold it from a recognized body, and use the D.C. designation accurately. Testimonials and before-and-after images require the patient's written authorization and cannot imply typical results the evidence does not support. A free or discounted examination may be advertised if the terms are disclosed: what is included, the usual fee, whether x-rays are clinically indicated or routine, and whether the offer requires a treatment package. Imaging ordered as a marketing hook rather than a diagnostic decision is both a recordkeeping and an ethics problem.
Fees and business conduct
Disclose fees and payment policies, provide a good-faith estimate on request, and give the patient what is needed to decide before care begins. Fee splitting with unlicensed persons, paying commissions for patient referrals, and billing for services not rendered or not documented are grounds for discipline. Insurance claims must match the record; upcoding and routine waiver of copayments to induce volume create fraud exposure. Clinic ownership should not compromise clinical judgment: professional firms are organized under Minn. Stat. ch. 319B, and lay control over patient-care decisions is a licensure risk.
Worked example
A clinic advertises a 29-dollar new-patient special including x-rays. The ad must state the usual fee, what the examination includes, that imaging is ordered only when clinically indicated, and whether the special obligates the patient to a care plan. If the fine print conditions the price on buying 24 visits, the headline is deceptive.
Traps
Bait-and-switch pricing; unsubstantiated cure-most-conditions language; quoting insurance benefits as though they were the fee; posting patient photographs without written authorization.