Clinic Reels That Get Views Within DHA Rules: 10 Formats

The standard is DHA/HRS/HPSD/ST-21, the Standards for Medical Advertisement Content on Social Media, and it covers every DHA-licensed facility and healthcare professional, and influencers who promote a facility. Our guide to the DHA social media advertising standards goes through it section by section. Here is the short version every clinic Reel has to pass first.

Five checks before any clinic Reel

• Approval. A Reel that names the clinic or its location is approved by the medical director before it is published (section 5.3).
• Consent. Written consent from everyone whose picture, video or words appear, limited to this use and this period, and a parent's consent for anyone under 18 (sections 6.10, 9.1 and 8.1.12).
• Words. No absolute or exaggerated claims: the standard lists words such as unique, the best, the only, safest, 100% and immediate results (section 6.11).
• Titles. Everyone named and titled exactly as on their DHA licence, in the caption and on screen, and Dr only for physicians, dentists and holders of a recognised PhD (sections 6.1 and 6.2).
• Filming. No promotional filming or live streaming while a patient is undergoing minor or major surgery, under general anaesthesia and in procedure rooms (section 9.7), and the clinic answers for everything filmed on its premises, on a camera or a phone (section 5.5).

LMA Clinic: procedures, explained along a funnel

For LMA Clinic the content followed a funnel, from awareness to consideration to the appointment enquiry. We filmed procedure Reels on botox, fillers and laser, a client's arrival behind the scenes and the clinic's equipment, and the content took the mystery out of the procedures. Three of the formats below come from that work, and two more fit the same funnel.

1. The procedure, explained. Botox, fillers or laser: what it is, who it suits, how long it takes and what the risks are. A claimed result has to be substantiated and the risks stated alongside it (sections 6.6 and 7.1.3).
2. What happens at your appointment. The arrival, the consultation room, the waiting area: the parts a first-time patient worries about, filmed without a patient mid-treatment.
3. The equipment, up close. What the laser or the device does, in plain words. This is where absolute words creep in, and where the section 6.11 list matters most: no safest, no the only, no immediate results.
4. Before and after, by the rules (a format we add). The same person, the same lens, no retouching, and the statement that results vary from one individual to another, with the risks, in the same font size as the rest of the post (section 9.6).
5. Aftercare in three points (a format we add). Useful to people who have just booked, and to people deciding. No urgency: the standard's own examples of unacceptable lines include don't delay (section 8.1.14 and Appendix 1).

Polyclinic.ae: reach first, credibility kept

For Polyclinic.ae the brief was the opposite: grow reach with content people share, without losing medical credibility. We produced trend-driven Reels, built to be saved and sent on, in three formats.

1. Multiple-choice health questions. To make one, put a question on screen with three answers and let the doctor give the right one at the end, an easy Reel to answer in the comments and send on.
2. Pass the phone. A challenge passed from doctor to doctor. Asking each doctor the same question shows the team, which is what patients want to see before they book.
3. Relatable patient scenarios. A situation everyone recognises. Act it out with the team, which keeps any real patient's case off the screen.

Two formats we add in between

1. Doctor Q&A. One general question from the comments, never about the commenter's own health (section 7.1.7), one answer, and the doctor shown under the name and title on their DHA licence.
2. Myth or fact in 15 seconds. A common belief, then the answer. Keep the answer to what can be substantiated, and keep the absolute words out.

Hooks that pass the standard

The first second of a Reel is where clinic Reels most easily break the rules, because the habits of other accounts do not carry over. Fear and urgency are out, and so are promises. A question works better than either, and it needs no claim to land:

• Instead of a countdown to a discount, ask: how long does filler actually last?
• Instead of promising a result, show the question patients ask most often before their first laser session, and let the doctor answer it.
• Instead of before and after with a filter, open on the doctor holding the two frames, taken with the same lens, with the results statement already on screen.

Captions, comments and offers

The Reel is only part of the post. The same standard reaches the caption, the comments and the account around it:

• Comments. Questions about a patient's own health are not discussed on social media, in comments or in messages: the clinic offers a call or a consultation instead (section 7.1.7).
• Prices and offers. Prices are accurate, with their conditions spelled out, and no time-limited discount goes up that cannot be honoured (Appendix 1).
• Logos and symbols. No DHA or other government logo or name without written approval, and no UAE sovereignty symbols without the competent authority's approval (sections 7.2 and 9.4).
• The account. The official account shows its medical advertisement licence number from the Ministry of Health and Prevention (section 5.2), and posts are archived with their edits for DHA audits (section 7.1.13).

Most clinics need both ends: procedure content for people already comparing clinics, and lighter formats that reach people who have not started looking yet. LMA Clinic's procedure Reels reached between 1,000 and 8,000 organic views each. Polyclinic.ae's entertainment-first Reels reached between 1,000 and 5,000, and helped the clinic reach broader UAE audiences.

Filming in the clinic

Clinic content is filmed in the clinic, and the shot list is agreed with the medical director before the day, because the clinic answers for everything filmed on its premises. Doctor portraits, product shots and campaign frames can be done in a studio instead. For a one-off shoot without management, salon and clinic photography covers interiors, treatment sequences and repeatable before and after sets.

How we run clinic accounts month to month, with the DHA check and the medical director's approval built into every post, is on social media management for clinics in Dubai. Salons without a medical licence have more room, and our 30 Reels ideas for beauty salons are written for them.