Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb recently signed a bill designed to improve transparency for patients by banning medical title misappropriation in advertisements.
Beginning Jan. 1, certain Indiana practitioners will be subject to disciplinary sanctions if they disseminate an ad to the public that "includes deceptive or misleading information or does not prominently state the profession or license held by the practitioner."
To avoid patient confusion, the law requires identification based on license type, such as physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
The law, passed March 15 by the Indiana General Assembly, also limits the use of medical specialty designations to specialists who are also physicians, avoiding misleading terms such as nurse anesthesiologist.