Websites for medical practices: getting surgery hours, appointments and mandatory details right

Which questions must a practice website answer?

• Surgery hours, phone hours and holiday cover – in one place that you can update yourself.
• Whether you are taking on new patients, and what to bring to the first appointment.
• Services and specialisms in plain language, without jargon and without promises of a cure.
• Directions, parking and whether the practice has step-free access.
• How an appointment is made: by phone, by online booking or by requesting a call-back.
• The team with names and roles – patients want to know who will be treating them.

Which mandatory details belong in a medical practice's Impressum?

Besides the general details required by § 5 DDG (the German Digital Services Act) – name, address and a quick way of getting in touch – the healthcare professions have to provide additional information. This usually includes the statutory professional title and the country in which it was awarded, the responsible medical chamber (Ärztekammer), for doctors who treat patients with statutory health insurance the responsible regional association of statutory health insurance physicians (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung), and a reference to the professional regulations and where they can be accessed.

I build the Impressum as a separate page that can be reached from every other page and enter the details that you or your chamber specify. I am a web developer, not a lawyer – please have the legal texts checked by a law firm or your chamber.

What may a medical practice advertise on its website?

Factual information about your practice, your services and your qualifications is permitted and welcome. Promotional or misleading advertising, on the other hand, is prohibited by the professional code for doctors, and the Heilmittelwerbegesetz (the German act governing advertising for medicines and treatments) sets further limits on advertising aimed at patients – for example on promises of success or certain before-and-after images.

For the website, that means clear, sober texts that explain what you offer and for whom. That fits in any case with what Google and AI assistants reward: concrete answers instead of superlatives. Good practice texts answer questions such as ‘What happens at a preventive check-up?’ or ‘How long does the first appointment take?’.

How do forms and online appointments handle health data?

• Health data is one of the special categories of personal data that the GDPR protects particularly strictly. A general contact form should therefore explicitly not ask about symptoms or diagnoses – a short note above the form helps.
• Many practices use specialised providers for online appointments. I embed them so that they only load after a click, and you conclude a data processing agreement with the provider.
• Repeat prescription requests or requests for test results via the website are possible, but they need encrypted transmission and an agreed process in the practice – we plan that separately.
• Without third-party tracking, a practice website can often do without a cookie banner. My own website, for example, measures visits cookie-free on its own server.

Why does accessibility matter so much for practices?

Some of your patients have poor eyesight, use magnification or a screen reader, or are unsure how to use a smartphone. Good contrast, large text, clear headings and the ability to use the site with a keyboard therefore make sense regardless of any legal obligation. Whether your website falls under the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (the German Accessibility Strengthening Act) depends on the services it offers and should be checked.

I measure accessibility with Lighthouse and test keyboard operation. My pages currently score 100 out of 100 there.

How do patients in the area find the practice?

• Specialism and location belong in the page title and the heading – patients search for ‘GP Augsburg-Göggingen’, not ‘Practice of Dr Example’.
• A well-maintained Google Business Profile with the same surgery hours as on the website.
• One page per specialism if your practice covers several areas.
• Structured data with address, opening hours and specialism, so that search engines and AI assistants can attribute the details reliably.

Are there references from medical practices?

To be honest up front: I have not yet completed a client project in this sector that I can show here as a reference. What I can show are the building blocks – service pages, enquiry forms, protected areas and loading times – from my projects for DARMEL and YachtBrokerBid. Important for your planning: practices cannot use the Digitalbonus Bayern, a Bavarian state funding programme for digital projects in small businesses – according to the programme, the liberal professions and healthcare facilities are excluded. More in the guide to the Digitalbonus.

How much does a website for a medical practice cost?

You receive a binding fixed-price offer after the free initial call. All prices are final prices; as a small business under § 19 of the German VAT Act, no VAT is charged. All packages at a glance

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