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If your practice features young patients in photos or videos, you’ll want to understand the legal risks, even if you have parental permission.
You’ve likely seen clinics highlight patient success stories on their websites or social media feeds. Maybe your practice has considered doing the same. However, using a minor’s image in marketing—even with a parent’s permission—comes with legal responsibilities that differ from those for adult patients.
State and federal regulators have long placed limits on how children’s information can be shared, and new laws are adding even more rules to the mix. Some focus on online safety, while others address how children appear in commercial content, including healthcare advertising.
Because your practice handles protected health information, you face additional restrictions beyond those affecting other businesses. The stakes are even higher when the patient is a child.
This article walks you through the most important legal considerations for healthcare practices that use images or personal information from minor patients in promotional materials, and how recent legal trends may shape what is allowed in the future.
What to Know Before Using a Minor’s Image
If you’ve decided that using patient images aligns with your practice’s goals, what comes next?
Start by analyzing HIPAA and your state’s medical privacy laws. In most states, the child’s parent or guardian can consent to the use of medical information or likeness. But local rules vary, especially regarding minors’ rights and photo consent.
If your practice spans multiple states, you’ll need to evaluate each state’s rules before moving forward. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need a dedicated release form—not just your standard consent-to-treat document.
This release should:
- Be specific to photos or video content
- Identify where the images will be used
- Describe how they’ll be stored
- Outline any known risks, including the use of AI or facial recognition technology
Even if you’ve received verbal consent from a parent or guardian, you should not publish or share any identifiable image without written permission. That includes everything from your website and brochures to Instagram and TikTok.
See our related video, “Watch This Before You Post Patients’ Photos on Social Media.”
Illinois recently passed a law aimed at protecting minors who appear in monetized online content. Under this law, if a child under 16 appears in at least 30% of a vlogger’s compensated video content over a 30-day period, the creator must set aside a portion of the earnings in a trust for the child. While the law is focused on video content, not still photography, it reflects a broader trend: states are starting to regulate how children are used in digital media that serves a commercial purpose.
Even if your clinic isn’t earning money from YouTube ads or brand partnerships, your marketing content could still raise legal and ethical considerations. For example, if your website or social media channels use patient stories to attract new clients, or are part of a paid advertising campaign, that content may still be viewed as commercial in nature.
Practices that post photos or videos of minors to highlight a recovery journey, promote a treatment, or showcase outcomes should take note. While laws like Illinois’s influencer rule apply only when minors appear frequently in monetized videos, the broader trend suggests that more regulation could be coming—even for smaller clinics that don’t consider their marketing to be commercialized in the traditional sense.
Most social media use by healthcare practices won’t meet the threshold that triggers these legal obligations. Still, the growing focus on minors in digital content is reason enough to review your consent process and stay informed.
Biometric and AI Considerations
Some states, including Illinois and California, have enacted laws governing the use of biometric data, such as facial features in photographs. If your marketing materials include images that could be scanned or analyzed by AI tools, your release form should specify how that biometric data will be handled and stored.
It’s also worth noting that artificial intelligence makes it easier than ever to repurpose or misappropriate photos online. This raises the stakes for protecting your patients’ identities—even in marketing settings where you believe the risks are low.
When the Patient Already Has a High Profile
What if your patient is a young public figure, such as a teen athlete, performer, or social media influencer?
The rules are the same. Even if the minor is used to posting content online or has a public profile, you still need written permission from a parent or guardian. You’ll also need to confirm that state and federal laws allow the image to be used in your intended format.
A 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision established that colleges could compensate athletes for their name, image, and likeness, and many states expanded rights for younger athletes as well. Some minors now expect to be paid when their image is used in commercial content.
If your practice regularly works with high-level youth athletes, it may be worth exploring whether a formal arrangement—such as a paid partnership—is appropriate. But be cautious: any such arrangement must comply with local advertising and labor laws, including those that protect minors in the workforce.
Get Legal Support
You may already have informed consent forms for clinical care, but those don’t cover the use of a child’s image in marketing. If you plan to feature a minor in promotional materials, you’ll need a separate release—and in some cases, a contract—depending on how the image will be used and whether any compensation is involved.
If your practice is based in one of the states where we have licensed attorneys, we encourage you to schedule a consultation to ensure your release forms and promotional practices comply with current regulations.
This blog is made for educational purposes and is not intended to be specific legal advice to any particular person. It does not create an attorney-client relationship between our firm and the reader. It should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
