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Name, Image, and Likeness Agreements in Healthcare

Client Alert
November 14, 2025

Have you worked hard to cultivate your brand as a healthcare provider? If so, executing a Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) agreement may be of interest to you. NIL agreements are contracts that allow an individual to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Specifically, these agreements protect an individual’s brand by defining how others can utilize their name, image, and likeness in advertisements, sponsorships, and endorsements, and the compensation the individual will receive as a result. NIL agreements are typically used in the context of athletics, such as enabling student-athletes to profit from their personal brand. However, NIL agreements have recently proved to be useful in other areas. For example, some healthcare providers have begun to utilize NIL agreements to promote the brand they have created through their healthcare practice.  Most recently, we have seen the most healthcare NIL activity with longevity and wellness providers, as well as orthopedics.  

Depending on who wishes to contract with a provider for NIL rights, there can be regulatory concerns.  Remember, healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the United States!  If there is the potential to generate referrals for services that will be paid by a government health plan, NIL agreements must comply with applicable regulations that limit when and how a healthcare provider can accept payment for certain referrals, such as the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law. Conversely, if there are no third-party reimbursements possible (i.e. a contract with a sporting goods store), then the regulatory landscape looks different. In addition, any anecdotal information the healthcare provider chooses to share is subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), meaning that all identifying patient information must be removed.  

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) also has standards that healthcare providers must follow when advertising. Healthcare providers should ensure that any NIL agreements meet the FTC standard for medical advertising, and that any statements made by the healthcare provider are true, not materially misleading, and are supported with scientific evidence.       

We recommend engaging an attorney to draft or review your healthcare NIL agreement to ensure that it complies with the complex and changing regulations, and that it ultimately protects your interests.

To learn more about how healthcare NIL agreements could impact your practice, please contact BMD Member Jeana Singleton at jmsingleton@bmdllc.com or 330-253-2001.         

Health LawHealthcareNIL Contract
Client Alert

Supreme Court Rules that Employers Must Show Substantial Increased Costs to Legally Decline Employees’ Religious Accommodation Requests

June 29, 2023On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Groff v. DeJoy that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) employers must show, in order to decline religious accommodations, that the burden of granting religious accommodations to employees will result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of an employer’s particular business, thus amending the prior, simple standard of a “de minimis” undue hardship.Client Alert

Recent HIPAA Breach Settlements - Lessons Learned

June 19, 2023According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the consequences for providers may include settlements of $30,000 to $240,000. OCR recently released two settlements for improper breaches of protected health information (PHI) that are good examples of the major monetary penalties that can result from common HIPAA mistakes.Client Alert

Supreme Court Issues Major False Claims Act Decision

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Telehealth Flexibility Updates: HIPAA, DEA, and CMS

May 12, 2023The Covid-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) officially ended on May 11, 2023. But what does that mean for telehealth, a field that expanded exponentially during the PHE? Fortunately, many of the flexibilities will remain intact, at least temporarily. This client alert presents a brief overview of the timelines that providers need to follow, but for a more comprehensive review of telehealth flexibilities and when they will endClient Alert, Multimedia

WEBINAR SERIES RECAP | Ending the Public Health Emergency + Post-Pandemic Check-Up

May 10, 2023Some may take the position that the rest of the country already returned to a new “normal” following the COVID-19 pandemic.  But healthcare providers continue to implement COVID protocols and navigate the ever-changing healthcare regulations at both the federal and state levels.  It is important for healthcare providers to take time for a “Healthcare Check-Up” with the start of 2023 and the ending of the Public Health Emergency (“PHE”).
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