This page is for you if you run a medical practice (Ordination) in Austria, as a contract doctor (Kassenarzt), a private doctor (Wahlarzt) or in a group practice. Your patients usually look for three things online: Are you open today? Do you accept my health insurer? How do I get an appointment? That should be easy to find on your website straight away. Then there are rules that don't apply to other sectors. According to the Ärztekammer für Wien (Vienna Medical Chamber) information sheet, your Impressum (legal notice) must include the Ärztekammer of your federal state, your professional title and a reference to the Ärztegesetz (Physicians Act). For your texts, the Verordnung Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014 (regulation on doctors and the public) sets limits: factual information is allowed, loud, sensationalist self-promotion is not. And if you take bookings online, you may be processing health data. Here you'll see which pages a practice needs, what goes in the Impressum, how to describe your services without breaching professional rules and what the Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (Accessibility Act) means for your online booking.
Websites for medical practices: what they need and what's allowed
The pages a medical practice website needs
Home page
- Name with professional title under the Ärztegesetz (e.g. Ärztin für Allgemeinmedizin, Facharzt für …)
- Kassenvertrag (health-insurance contract) or Wahlarzt (private doctor) at a glance
- Today's surgery hours and phone number, tappable on a mobile
- What to do in an emergency outside surgery hours
Surgery hours & holidays
- Weekly schedule with times, split into appointments and open surgery if you offer both
- Holiday and closure periods with cover
- Phone hours, if they differ from surgery hours
Insurers & costs
- Which health insurers (e.g. ÖGK, BVAEB, SVS) or a note that you are a Wahlarzt practice
- For a Wahlarzt: a short explanation of how reimbursement works and whether you send the bill to the insurer yourself
- Private services clearly marked as such; prices, if given, clearly gross or net
Appointments
- Ways to get an appointment: phone, email, online booking
- For online booking: no mandatory fields about complaints, only what you really need
- Data protection notice for the form or booking tool
- What patients should bring (e-card, test results, referral)
Services
- Fields of practice you master through your training and further training, described factually
- No healing promises, no superlatives, no advertising for medicines or medical devices
- Check-ups and vaccinations, with optional reminders for your own patients
Team
- Doctors with professional title and career background
- Practice assistants and other health professionals you work with
- Photos only with the consent of the people shown
Directions & access
- Address, floor, public transport and parking
- Honest information on access: lift, steps, ramp, accessible toilet
- Without consent, show the map only as an image or link, not as an embedded Google map
Impressum (legal notice) & privacy
- Information under § 5 ECG (E-Commerce Act), including Ärztekammer, professional title and reference to the Ärztegesetz 1998
- Disclosure under the Mediengesetz (Media Act)
- Privacy policy that describes appointment booking and embedded services
What a medical practice website looks like in practice
Click through Ordination Dr. Lehner, a demo website (in German) for a made-up business with everything listed above.
- Online-Termin
- Rezeptbestellung
- Gesundheits-Blog
- Schrift größer
Mandatory information for medical practices
Your chamber is not the Wirtschaftskammer (Chamber of Commerce) but the Ärztekammer (Medical Chamber) of the federal state where you practise (§ 68 Ärztegesetz 1998, Physicians Act). The nine state medical chambers come under the umbrella of the Österreichische Ärztekammer (Austrian Medical Chamber). On top of the general imprint (Impressum) details, your website needs:
- Name of the doctor; for a group practice, the company name
- For a group practice: Firmenbuch (company register) number and court
- Chamber membership: Ärztekammer für [federal state] (Medical Chamber)
- Professional title under the Ärztegesetz (e.g. Ärztin für Allgemeinmedizin, Fachärztin für …) and the country in which it was awarded
- Reference to professional regulations: Ärztegesetz 1998 (Physicians Act), available at www.ris.bka.gv.at
- UID number (VAT ID), if you have one
- Disclosure under § 25 Mediengesetz (Media Act): name, business purpose, place of residence or registered office
What else belongs in the imprint depends on your legal form: Impressum (legal notice) for sole traders (EPU) and e.U., Impressum (legal notice) for a GmbH, Impressum (legal notice) for OG and KG, Disclosure under § 25 MedienG and Impressum under § 24 MedienG.
Online booking: Does the Accessibility Act apply?
Whether the Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG, Accessibility Act) applies to a medical practice's online booking has not been clearly settled. The BaFG covers services in electronic commerce aimed at concluding a consumer contract (§ 2 Abs. 2 Z 6 BaFG); according to the WKO, websites with a booking option fall under it. The act doesn't mention health services specifically. Whether booking an appointment with a contract doctor is a consumer contract is answered neither by the act nor by the WKO. What is clear: micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees and no more than €2 million in annual turnover or balance sheet total) are exempt for services (§ 6 Abs. 1 BaFG). That applies to many single-doctor practices. Larger group practices are best advised to get legal advice on this.
Common mistakes on medical practice websites
- Your Impressum (legal notice) is missing the Ärztekammer of your federal state or the reference to the Ärztegesetz 1998 with a link to the RIS.
- Instead of the professional title under the Ärztegesetz, there's only your academic degree or a self-chosen title such as “specialist in …”.
- Surgery hours on the website are out of date, and holidays and cover are missing.
- Nobody can tell at a glance whether you're a contract doctor or a Wahlarzt. Patients only find out at reception.
- The online form makes complaints a mandatory field. That is health data under Art. 9 GDPR, which you should only collect if you need it.
- Service texts promise cures or advertise in a “loud, sensationalist” way. The Verordnung Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014 (regulation on doctors and the public) prohibits this.
- Photos or reviews naming patients are online without their consent.
How Weblux does it
Weblux works exclusively for businesses, including medical practices. We set up surgery hours, Kassenarzt or Wahlarzt information and directions so they're easy to find, and we embed maps and fonts without third-party services. We write service texts factually; whether they comply with professional rules is for you or your Ärztekammer (Medical Chamber) to decide.
Prices net, excl. VAT I work exclusively for businesses.
Frequently asked questions
What goes in the Impressum of my practice website?
Under § 5 ECG (E-Commerce Act), you need name, address and email address (a phone number is recommended). For a group practice, add the Firmenbuch (company register) number and register court. According to the Ärztekammer für Wien information sheet, it must also include: the Ärztekammer (Medical Chamber) of your federal state, your professional title and the country in which it was awarded, a reference to the Ärztegesetz 1998 (Physicians Act) with a link to the RIS and, if you have one, your UID number (VAT ID). Then there's the disclosure under the Mediengesetz (Media Act).
As a doctor, can I advertise on my website?
Yes, within limits. The Verordnung Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014 of the Österreichische Ärztekammer (Austrian Medical Chamber) expressly allows your own website and information about the fields of practice you master through your training and further training. Prohibited are unobjective or untrue information, disparaging statements about colleagues, false claims of exclusivity and pushy or loud, sensationalist self-promotion. Advertising for medicines and medical devices is also not permitted.
Can I show photos or reviews from patients?
Only with their consent. The Verordnung Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014 only allows publications with patients' names or pictures if they have given you their consent. So get consent in writing and keep it. Also bear data protection in mind: even the information that someone is being treated by you is health data.
What should I write on my website about being a Wahlarzt?
Say clearly that you don't have a contract with the health insurers and that the bill is paid first. According to the ÖGK, the insurer reimburses 80 per cent of the amount it would have paid a contract doctor, but no more than the actual costs. Because Wahlarzt fees are usually higher, patients often get back less than 80 per cent of the bill.
Does my online booking have to be accessible?
That hasn't been clearly settled. The Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (Accessibility Act) applies to consumer services in electronic commerce and, according to the WKO, also to websites with a booking option. It doesn't mention health services specifically. You are exempt as a micro-enterprise with fewer than 10 employees and no more than €2 million in annual turnover or balance sheet total. That applies to many single-doctor practices. An easy-to-read, simple-to-use booking is worth it anyway.
Can the booking form ask about symptoms?
It can, but think about whether you need it. Information about complaints is health data and, under Art. 9 GDPR, belongs to the special categories of personal data. Processing it is permitted for healthcare if it's done by professionals bound by professional secrecy. Still, make the field optional, only ask for what you need to plan the appointment, and describe the booking tool in your privacy policy.
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- § 5 ECG – Allgemeine Informationspflichten (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- § 53 ÄrzteG 1998 – Werbebeschränkung (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- § 68 ÄrzteG 1998 – Kammerangehörige (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- Österreichische Ärztekammer – Verordnung Arzt und Öffentlichkeit 2014 (konsolidierte Fassung) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- Österreichische Ärztekammer – Über die Österreichische Ärztekammer (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- Ärztekammer für Wien – Was muss ich als Arzt bei meiner Homepage beachten? (Mai 2018) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- ÖGK – Wahlärztin/Wahlarzt: Kostenerstattung (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- Art. 9 DSGVO – Besondere Kategorien personenbezogener Daten (JUSLINE) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), BGBl. I Nr. 76/2023 – authentischer Text (RIS) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
- WKO – Barrierefreiheitsgesetz im E-Commerce (FAQ) (retrieved on 14 October 2026)
Last checked on 14 October 2026.