Pulmonology and respiratory clinic marketing: condition pages, rehab and ads

A pulmonology practice sees patients who are short of breath, coughing for months, or sent over after an abnormal scan. Some arrive on a referral and check your website to see where to go and what to bring. Others search on their own after a bad winter or a talk with a family member. Both groups need pages that explain the condition in plain words, describe the tests and programs you offer, and make the next step easy, without promising results a lung condition does not allow.

This guide covers pulmonology and respiratory clinic marketing: condition pages, symptom content, testing pages, pulmonary rehabilitation, lung cancer screening, free screenings, patient stories and ads. Several neighboring topics already have their own guides, and we link to them instead of repeating them. For sleep apnea, sleep testing and device wording, see our guide to sleep clinic marketing. For home oxygen, nebulizers and other equipment, including referral relationships with suppliers and the Anti-Kickback Statute, see DME supplier marketing. For allergy testing and allergic asthma pages, see ENT and allergy practice marketing. Post-viral clinics have their own guide; see long COVID clinic marketing. Asthma programs for children have their own guide; see pediatric asthma program marketing.

Condition pages that match how patients search

Patients search for the name of what they have been told, or for what they feel: “COPD doctor”, “asthma specialist”, “chronic cough”, “shortness of breath”. A page for each condition you treat, titled in the patient’s words with the clinical term explained once, gives search engines and patients something specific to find. The page should say what the condition is, the symptoms that bring patients in, how your providers evaluate it, the categories of treatment you offer and how to book.

• One page per condition, such as COPD, asthma, chronic cough, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary nodules and pulmonary hypertension, limited to the conditions your providers actually treat.
• One page per test or program, such as spirometry and other lung function tests, bronchoscopy, pulmonary rehabilitation and lung cancer screening, with what to expect before, during and after.
• A referral page for clinicians that explains how to send a patient, what records to include and how quickly you schedule, in your own real terms.

When you cite numbers, quote them exactly and keep the qualifiers. NHLBI, part of the National Institutes of Health, states that in the United States, COPD affects more than 14 million adults, “and many others do not know they have it.” It also states that COPD is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Name the source, link to it and keep the date you checked it. Do not round a figure up, combine it with another source, or turn it into a claim about your own patients.

Symptom pages and online quizzes

A symptom page should lead to an evaluation rather than a verdict. NHLBI says your provider will diagnose COPD based on your symptoms, your medical and family histories, and test results. It describes spirometry as the main test for COPD, a lung function test that measures how much air you breathe out and how fast you can blow air out, and says it can detect COPD before symptoms are recognized.

That gives a symptom page an honest structure: describe the symptoms, explain that a diagnosis needs a history and testing, and describe what testing at your practice involves. A breathing quiz can help someone decide to book, but its result should invite an evaluation, not name a condition. Answers to a symptom quiz are health information, so keep them away from advertising pixels and analytics tags that send page content to third parties.

Treatment pages: describe options, not cures

NHLBI states plainly that there is no cure for COPD, and that treatments and lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking can help people feel better, stay more active and slow the progress of the disease. For asthma, NHLBI says there is no cure, but treatment and an asthma action plan can help manage the condition. Treatment pages that use the same framing stay accurate: they describe what treatment aims to do and avoid words like “reverse”, “cure” or “breathe like new”.

NHLBI notes that a provider will determine a COPD treatment plan based on the person’s symptoms and whether they have mild or severe COPD. Pages can describe categories of treatment your practice provides, such as medicines, pulmonary rehabilitation and oxygen therapy, and explain that the plan depends on the evaluation. Leave out inhaler and drug brand names; they add little for the patient and can pull an ad or page into Google’s prescription drug rules, covered below.

If your practice runs a program to help patients stop smoking or vaping, the USPSTF statements, Medicare counseling coverage, quit claims and quitline wording are covered in our smoking and vaping cessation program marketing guide.

Pulmonary rehabilitation pages and Medicare wording

NHLBI describes pulmonary rehabilitation as a supervised medical program that helps people who have lung diseases live and breathe better, in which people learn exercises and breathing techniques. It says a doctor may recommend it for certain lung conditions such as COPD, asthma, pulmonary hypertension and cystic fibrosis, and that it can help people gain strength, reduce symptoms of anxiety or depression, and make it easier to manage routine activities. Quote those benefits as NHLBI states them; do not add figures about how much patients improve unless you have a source and can show it applies.

Coverage wording needs the same care. Medicare.gov says Part B covers a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program if you are eligible, and lists two groups: people with moderate to very severe COPD, and people who have had confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and experience persistent symptoms including respiratory dysfunction for at least 4 weeks. It says that in a doctor’s office the patient pays 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, that in a hospital outpatient setting the patient also pays the hospital a copayment every session, and that the Part B deductible applies. A page that says “Medicare covers pulmonary rehab” without those conditions and costs overstates the benefit. Our guide to marketing to Medicare patients covers the wider rules for Medicare audiences.

Lung cancer screening pages

If your practice offers low dose CT screening, the Medicare.gov page gives you precise wording. It says Part B covers lung cancer screenings with low dose computed tomography once a year if the person meets all of these conditions: they are between 50 and 77, they do not have signs or symptoms of lung cancer, they are either a current smoker or quit smoking within the last 15 years, they have a tobacco smoking history of at least 20 “pack years”, and they get an order from their health care provider. It also says that before the first screening, the person needs an appointment with their provider to discuss the benefits and risks and decide if a screening is right for them, and that they pay nothing if the provider accepts assignment.

A screening page that lists all of those conditions and describes the shared decision visit is both accurate and useful. A page that says “free lung scans for Medicare patients” is neither. Keep fear out of the headline as well: a page about screening should explain who it is for and what happens after an abnormal result, not suggest that every cough is cancer. For the wider rules on cancer messaging, see our guide to cancer center advertising.

Free spirometry checks, gifts and Medicare patients

Free breathing tests at a community event or a gift for new patients can look like simple goodwill. When Medicare or Medicaid patients are involved, they raise a federal question. Under 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7a(a)(5), offering or transferring remuneration to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary that the person knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier can lead to civil monetary penalties. The statute defines remuneration to include transfers of items or services for free or for other than fair market value, with limited exceptions.

The OIG policy statement dated December 7, 2016 interprets nominal value as a retail value of no more than $15 per item or $75 in the aggregate per patient on an annual basis, and says the items may not be cash or cash equivalents. A free lung function test is a service, not a small gift, so it needs counsel’s review before you promote it to an audience that includes Medicare patients. Our guide to health fairs and free screening events covers screening events in more detail.

Claims, testimonials and patient stories

Pulmonology practices are not selling a product, but the same caution makes sense: the FTC approach generally requires that health-related claims be backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce under 15 U.S.C. 45, and the FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance looks at the net impression of an ad, including claims implied by images and context. On a pulmonology site, implied claims can come from phrases like “breathe freely again”, “get off oxygen” or “heal your lungs”, or from a photo of a patient running a race next to a COPD headline.

Patient stories need two separate checks. Under 16 CFR 255.2(b), an endorsement about a key attribute of a service will likely be read as representing what people will generally achieve, so if a story is not representative, you need to clearly disclose what patients can generally expect. And because a testimonial tells the world that a person was your patient, using it in marketing generally requires a signed HIPAA authorization under 45 CFR 164.508(a)(3). Our guides to patient testimonials and patient photo and video consent cover the process.

Referrals from primary care and other clinicians

When a patient is referred, the website still plays a part: the referring clinician’s staff need a fax number, a referral form and a clear list of what to send, and the patient needs to know where to go. A referral page and a short new patient page answer both. Keep anything of value out of the referral relationship itself; our guide to patient and physician referrals explains the federal limits, and the DME guide linked above covers relationships with equipment suppliers.

Ads and tracking for pulmonology services

Google’s Healthcare and medicines policy allows prescription drug ads only in select locations and from certain advertisers, restricts prescription drug terms in ads, landing pages and keywords, and says advertisers must apply to serve ads for prescription drug services. Check it before any pulmonology ad or landing page names a prescription medicine. Google’s personalized advertising policy also lists Health among its sensitive interest categories and says advertisers promoting products and services in those categories cannot use advertiser-curated audiences, such as remarketing lists.

Search campaigns built around condition and test keywords, sent to matching condition and test pages, fit those limits. Keep advertising pixels off booking forms, symptom quizzes and condition pages, so a visit to your COPD page is not sent to ad platforms. Our guide to tracking pixels on practice websites explains why, and the Google Ads for practices page describes how we set up campaigns.

Illustration: reworking a COPD landing page

Illustration. A pulmonology practice runs an ad that says “Breathe like you used to. COPD treatment that works”. It leads to a page with a breathing quiz that ends with “Your answers suggest COPD”, a patient quote saying they stopped using oxygen after joining the rehab program, a line saying “Medicare covers pulmonary rehab” and an offer of a free spirometry check for new patients. A remarketing tag on the page builds an audience of visitors.

1. Ad and headline. The ad now names the conditions the practice treats and invites people with breathing problems to get evaluated. The page states, citing NHLBI, that there is no cure for COPD and describes what treatment aims to do.
2. Quiz. The result now says that a diagnosis needs a history and testing such as spirometry, and offers an appointment.
3. Patient quote. The practice confirms it has a signed authorization. The oxygen result is not representative, so the practice removes the quote.
4. Medicare line. The rehab page now lists the Medicare.gov eligibility groups and costs, with the date checked.
5. Free check. Counsel reviews the offer under 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7a(a)(5). The practice withdraws it for Medicare and Medicaid patients or drops it entirely, as counsel advises.
6. Tracking. The remarketing tag comes off, the audience is removed and the campaign runs on search keywords that match the condition page.

Checklist

• One page per condition, test and program, in patient words, with clinical terms explained once.
• NHLBI and CDC figures quoted exactly, with their qualifiers, the source named and linked.
• Symptom pages and quizzes that invite an evaluation and never present a result as a diagnosis.
• Treatment pages that describe options and aims, with no cure or reversal language for COPD or asthma.
• No inhaler or drug brand names on pages or ads.
• Pulmonary rehab pages that quote Medicare.gov eligibility and costs, not a bare “Medicare covers it”.
• Lung cancer screening pages with every Medicare.gov condition and the shared decision visit.
• Free tests and gifts for Medicare or Medicaid patients reviewed by counsel against 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7a(a)(5).
• Signed authorizations for every patient story, and a clear statement of typical experience when a story is not representative.
• No remarketing lists for health topics, and no ad pixels on condition pages, quizzes or booking forms.
• Sleep, equipment and allergy content checked against the guides linked above.

A COPD program has its own guide: flare and 911 lines, “reverse your COPD” and stem cell claims, quit support, home oxygen suppliers and referrals are covered in our guide to COPD program marketing.

How we help

We build websites, local search, Google Ads and AI front desk tools for independent practices. For a pulmonology practice, that means condition, test and program pages written in plain language from your own clinical protocols, symptom content that leads to an evaluation instead of a verdict, a referral page for clinicians, and campaigns set up without remarketing on health topics. Clinical content is reviewed and approved by your providers before it goes live. Our work is built with HIPAA in mind. We confirm in writing what a BAA covers before any patient information flows through a tool, and if it is not covered, we do not route patient information through it.

Sources

• NHLBI: What Is COPD? (last updated November 8, 2024)
• NHLBI: COPD Diagnosis (last updated October 4, 2024)
• NHLBI: COPD Treatment (last updated October 6, 2024)
• NHLBI: What Is Asthma? (last updated April 17, 2024)
• NHLBI: Pulmonary Rehabilitation (last updated March 24, 2022)
• Medicare.gov: Pulmonary rehabilitation programs
• Medicare.gov: Lung cancer screenings
• 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7a: Civil monetary penalties
• OIG: Policy Statement Regarding Gifts of Nominal Value to Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries (December 7, 2016)
• FTC: Health Products Compliance Guidance (December 2022)
• 15 U.S.C. 45: Unfair methods of competition unlawful
• 16 CFR 255.2: Consumer endorsements
• 45 CFR 164.508: Uses and disclosures for which an authorization is required
• Google Ads: Healthcare and medicines policy
• Google Ads: Restricted targeting in Personalized advertising

More in Physician specialty marketing