West Virginia at a glance
| Rule | West Virginia | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| PSYPACT (psychologists) | Yes | 8 October 2026 |
| Counseling Compact (counselors) | Yes, not live yet | 8 October 2026 |
| Social Work Licensure Compact | Enacted, not issuing licenses yet | 8 October 2026 |
| Health-data or health geofencing law | None | 30 September 2026 |
| Privacy law treating health data as sensitive | None | 30 September 2026 |
West Virginia licensing boards’ advertising rules
Ads, websites and directory profiles all count as advertising to a licensing board. These are the West Virginia rules we check copy against, with links to the official text. Boards update their rules, so read the current version before you rely on a summary.
West Virginia Board of Medicine
- Board of Medicine licensees may not use advertising that is false, deceptive, misleading, sensational or flamboyant, that guarantees satisfaction or a cure, or that offers free services or discounts intended to deceive the public. (W. Va. Code R. 11-1A-12.1.ii)
- A licensee who advertises a free service, free examination or free treatment may not charge any fee for any service rendered within 72 hours of the initial visit. (W. Va. Code R. 11-1A-12.2.e)
West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists
- Psychologists may not include false or misleading information in public statements about the professional services they offer. (W. Va. Code R. 17-6-10.4)
Telehealth across West Virginia's borders
West Virginia is a PSYPACT state. A psychologist whose home license is in West Virginia can apply for PSYPACT's telepsychology authorization and then see clients by telehealth in the other PSYPACT states, so ads can reach clients there too.
West Virginia has enacted the Counseling Compact, but it wasn't live here yet when we checked. Once it is, a licensed professional counselor based here can apply for privileges to practice in other member states instead of a separate license in each.
It has also enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, which isn't issuing multistate licenses yet; the compact's commission expects its licensing system in 2027.
For physicians, psychiatrists included, West Virginia is in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which speeds up getting a license in other member states but doesn't replace it.
Telehealth ads should only reach places where the clinician can legally treat: see PSYPACT and Counseling Compact states.
Practices near a state line often see clients from next door. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky each have their own page.
Health data, tracking and West Virginia law
West Virginia has no comprehensive consumer privacy law or consumer health data law in effect as of 30 September 2026. Federal rules and a practice's own HIPAA duties still apply.
This is not legal advice.
How the states compare: state health-data laws.
What patients search for in West Virginia
Searches a month that name a West Virginia city, with the average cost per click, from Ahrefs (checked between 30 September and 5 October 2026). A dash means too few to measure; “near me” searches aren't counted.
| City | Therapist | Psychiatrist | Ketamine | Functional med. | GI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | 100 $3.50 | 150 $2.50 | 20 | 20 | 150 $3.00 |
| Morgantown | 100 $3.00 | – | – | – | – |
| Huntington | 30 | 50 $2.00 | – | – | 20 $0.70 |
Of the cities measured, Charleston gets the most of these searches. Its biggest single search, “psychiatrist charleston wv”, gets about 150 a month. To turn a cost per click into a cost per booked patient, put your own numbers into the patient acquisition cost calculator.
Across the searches measured here, West Virginia patients look most for therapists (about 230 a month), then psychiatrists (200). Charleston alone accounts for 69% of them. A click on a therapist search here costs about $3.25 on average, below the $4.00 median across the 306 therapist searches measured on our state pages.
Fill The Lobby is a remote US healthcare marketing agency; the ads and pages we write for practices are checked against rules like these. See how we handle compliance.
Sources
- PSYPACT, compact map, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, member map, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, 10 states now offering privileges, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, Pennsylvania becomes the 40th member, checked 8 October 2026
- Social Work Licensure Compact, enacted in 35 states, checked 8 October 2026
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, participating states, checked 14 October 2026
- IAPP, US State Privacy Legislation Tracker, checked 30 September 2026
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, US search volumes and cost per click, checked 30 September 2026
- West Virginia Board of Medicine, checked 5 October 2026
- West Virginia Board of Examiners of Psychologists, checked 5 October 2026