NAATP Webinar Series Will Cover LegitScript Certification For Treatment Centers

NAATP Webinar Series Will Cover LegitScript Certification for Treatment Centers

On November 29th, a webinar series organized by the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) will cover the Google Ads landscape before and after Google began requiring treatment centers to be certified by LegitScript in April.

As NAATP put it, the webinar “covers previous and current unscrupulous practices within the Google Ad space, how to discern the ethical from the unethical, and best practices for protecting your brand from piracy.”

Where to Register for the Webinar

The webinar will be presented by John McGhee, a managing partner at Webconsuls, LLC. It will run from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. on Thursday, August 29.

McGhee is a certified professional in Google and Bing Ads with quantitative skills that help clients with pay-per-click campaigns and return-on-ad-spend optimization.

The webinar is free, but those interested will need to RSVP. Click here to register.

Google’s Crusade on Fraud in Addiction Treatment Advertising

Google began requiring treatment centers to obtain certification before advertising on AdWords in July, after temporarily halting ads from behavioral health facilities in fall 2017.

Google’s primary goal in requiring centers to certify with LegitScript is to prevent fraudulent or subpar advertisers from advertising treatment services to site visitors. As NAATP executive director Marvin Ventrell put it, “We understand the big picture here is to protect the consumer and keep the bad guys out. That is the primary objective. And to the extent that we can achieve the objective and not overly burden the good provider with standards and an application process that is unduly burdensome, that’s what we’ll do.”

LegitScript created the certification standards with input from NAATP and other industry players. NAATP aimed to make the application as simple as possible while still protecting consumers, scrapping some initial requirements that they considered too demanding of facilities. The application is still quite thorough, however, reviewing each center based on 19 (originally 15) requirements.

The 19 requirements include.

    • Compliance – centers must comply with their state’s legal and regulatory licensing requirements.
    • Privacy – the center must be compliant with all privacy provisions, including HIPAA.
    • Insurance – centers must provide proof of insurance.
    • Qualifications – centers must provide the resumes of their owners and other business leadership professionals, “establishing that the applicant’s staff have expertise and training in addiction treatment.”
  • Medication-assisted treatment – any medications used by the center in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) must be approved by the FDA for that purpose. You can learn more about the revolutionary treatment method here.

In August, we covered a similar policy required by Facebook. Facebook’s policy requires treatment centers to obtain LegitScript certification to advertise on Facebook and its properties, including Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network. Click here to learn more about Facebook’s policy.

AZZLY® is a proud member of NAATP and supports their goal of protecting both consumers and legitimate treatment centers looking to advertise. RSVP here for the webinar on the Google Ads landscape before and after LegitScript certification. To learn more about this Google Ads policy, contact AZZLY today, and follow us on Facebook to keep up with breaking news in the addiction treatment industry, written by AZZLY’s industry experts.