Assessment of united states fertility clinic websites according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)/Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) guidelines

Objective: To evaluate SART-mernber fertility clinic, websites for their compliance with the 2004, ASRM/SART guidelines for advertising (which is deemed Mandatory for clinic membership), to survey the general characteristics of the websites, and to assess differences between academic and private clinic websites. Design: Cross-sectional evaluation. Setting: The Internet. Patients: None. Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measures: Eleven objective criteria based on 2004 ASRM/SART guidelines for advertising and eight objective criteria for general characteristics of fertility clinic websites. Results: All 384 SART-registered clinics were evaluated 289 (75.3%) had functional websites, (211 private 78; academic). Success rates were published on 51% websites (117 private, 31 academic), the majority of which were private clinic (p = .025). The percentage of fertility clinic websites adhering to ASRm/SART guidelines and was low in all categories (ranging from 2.8%-54.5% in private centers 1.3%-37.2% in academic centers). No statistically significant difference was found in the services offered at private versus academic clinic's. Conclusion: A significant proportion of SART-member fertility clinics, both private and academic, that have websites are not following the ASRM/SART guidelines for advertising. Increased dissemination and awareness of the guidelines is warranted.