For accredited addiction treatment facilities in the United States, LegitScript Certification legitimizes the work you do in service to patients. Certification requires your facility complies with 19 standards and assures that your business does not have any problematic affiliations. Achieving LegitScript Certificationinstills consumer confidence in your digital advertising practices and your business operations in the addiction treatment space.
- Do you know what is required to pass LegitScript Certification?
Certification is a time-intensive, expensive process that you want to get right the first time.
- Do you know why Google and the rest of the digital marketing industry turned to LegitScript?
Let’s get the back story on why your addiction treatment center is required to invest in applying for and maintaining LegitScript Certification.
WhyLegitScript Exists for Addiction Treatment Online Marketing
In 2017, as the opioid epidemic was ravaging lives across the nation, there was rapid growth in the drug treatment industry. Unscrupulous advertisers saw an opportunity to take advantage of people trying to get into treatment and recover their lives. Money was lining pockets and patients were not getting the care they were promised and desperately needed.
Mental health professionals saw what was happening. Google saw it too and banned online ads targeted at rehab treatment keywords. That stealthy move by Google protected consumers from dubious and deceitful online ads, but that move hurt the drug rehab centers that were operating ethically and doing right by patients.
Realizing this, Google updated its healthcare policies to allow drug treatment centers to launch online ads, only if the facility achieved certification through LegitScript.
LegitScript Certification is intentionally designed to protect consumers while they are searching online for addiction treatment options.
Google Requires LegitScript Certification for Addiction Treatment Advertising
Today, LegitScript is the only certification and monitoring service for addiction treatment that is relied upon by
Google, Bing, Microsoft, and Facebook. LegitScript helps ensure drug rehab facilities in the United States maintain ethical ad campaigns and paid-advertising practices. This includes Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ad campaigns.
LegitScript Certification Process for the U.S. Drug Rehab Industry
The first step is to pay the application fee that sets-up your account and begins the validation process for your addiction treatment center. Oh, only accredited addiction treatment services and providers can apply. Once you pass the certification, you also will pay an annual subscription fee.
The LegitScript process aims to verify that an addiction treatment facility is legitimate, trustworthy, and ethical. Certification ensures …
- a treatment facility is staffed with properly trained professionals
- the facility operates in compliance with local laws
- honesty and transparency in advertising targeted toward people seeking addiction treatment
Once your account with LegitScript is set up, you’ll complete a questionnaire and will have to have all of your documents and an elaborate set of data about your company, services, and staff ready to go. The amount of information requested can be overwhelming; it’s easy to miss things. This is why CTRL Digital Marketing CEO Tim Francis personally assists you with applying for LegitScript Certification. He’s done this so many times, he can practically do it in his sleep! Not to worry, he usually starts bright and early—and dedicates an entire day (or two) to the process. (We did mention how time intensive this is, right?)
What Documentation Does LegitScript Require From Addiction Treatment Centers?
We won’t gloss over this…you have to provide a lot of data, documentation, and details about your business operations, finances, online marketing, staffing, and services. Remember at the beginning of this article we mentioned 19 standards that LegitScript verifies?
Here’s the abbreviated version of the 19 areas of operations and business practices that you will be asked to provide evidence of:
Business Registration – The applicant must have a business registration, as a legal person or a corporation.
Domain Name Registration – Domain name must be registered and accurate. If you have more than one facility, you need to provide all of the domain names registered.
Licensure Compliance – Must comply with the regulatory licensing requirements for addiction treatment facilities to be considered for the certification.
Facility SOPs – Must provide a detailed policy and procedure for effective recovery and aftercare. List all the treatments and services offered by your facility including FDA-approved medications to increase your chances of getting approved for the certification.
Website Content – Site content will be meticulously studied.
Facility Location – Private-owned residences aren’t eligible for the LegitScript Certification. You must provide a lease agreement to the organization to be considered.
Qualifications – Provide resumes of all staff and business owners to establish their credibility and expertise.
Background and History – You and the key staff will need to disclose any civil or criminal violations and submit to criminal background checks. Disclose all litigation commenced albeit resolved or not. You may be disqualified if you or a key staff have prior offenses.
Professional Setting – Your facility must have a professional or business setting.
HIPPA– You need to comply with the applicable laws and regulations and HIPAA.
Facility Disclosure – If you have more than one facility, include this in the application and these treatment centers must also adhere to the standards set by LegitScript.
Proof of Insurance – Provide proof of your insurance policy to be considered for the certification.
Incentives – Disclose all incentives that you offer to clients or patients. Offering to pay for travel will get you denied.
Business Practices – Ensure that all of your practices are in your client’s best interests. You shouldn’t, in any way, defraud or deceive patients.
Medication-Assisted Treatment – Drugs in use by your facility are approved by the US FDA or other regulatory authorities. Make sure that you never use unapproved drugs, so you don’t get denied.
Co-Ownership – Don’t affiliate with a lead generator so you don’t get denied.
Transparency – Be sure to provide accurate and full information as requested. Otherwise, you may be denied.
On-Site Inspections – You agree to allow LegitScript to visit your facility for an unrestricted inspection.
Unapproved Advertising – You will be denied if you advertise on Google or Facebook without the certification. Please wait until you are fully certified to avoid problems.
It was tiring to write that list…how’d you do you feel reading it? Now, think about the time and energy needed to compile in-depth information on each one of those categories. Not something you want to do on your own. Afterall, you’ve got a business to run, staff to support, and patients to help through recovery from addiction.
Just remember: You can’t reach the people you want to help in recovery without online advertising. So, you need to get your LegitScriptCertifcation done ASAP.
CTRL Digital Marketing is ready to support your team through the LegitScript Certification process.
Is Your Addiction Treatment Center Ready for LegitScript Certification?
Save Time with Our Stress-Free LegitScript Process
CTRL Digital Marketing offers white-glove LegitScript Consulting. CEO Tim Francis will personally support your senior leadership team through the application process. You’ll avoid costly mistakes in the process and be able to get your paid ads running online sooner, rather than later.
