Marketing to family caregivers of older patients

When an older or seriously ill person needs a new doctor, a dentist who can treat them at home, or a specialist after a hospital stay, someone else may be doing the search. An adult daughter looks up practices on her lunch break. A son calls three offices to ask which ones take his father’s plan. A spouse fills in the contact form. Your marketing reaches the caregiver first, while the patient is the one whose rights, consent and health information are at stake. That split shapes what your ads can say, what your staff may tell the caller, whose story you can tell, and what you can offer.

This guide is for practices of any kind that serve older or ill patients and want to reach the family members who help them. It covers ads written for caregivers, what HIPAA lets staff discuss with a family member, the difference between a personal representative and a family helper, caregiver testimonials, perks aimed at families, Google ad targeting limits, and wording that does not look like the scams older adults are warned about. Care management practices have their own concerns, including referral fees and money roles, covered in our geriatric care manager marketing guide. Writing for the families of people with memory loss is covered in our memory clinic marketing guide, and family inquiries to adult day programs in our adult day health center marketing guide. Invitations to talk about future care wishes are covered in advance care planning outreach.

This is general information, not legal advice. Sources cited were checked on October 30, 2026: 45 CFR 164.501, 164.502, 164.508 and 164.510 (eCFR, current as of October 28, 2026), 16 CFR 255.2 and 255.5 (eCFR, current as of October 28, 2026), 42 USC 1320a-7a and 1320a-7b (Cornell LII), the OIG Policy Statement Regarding Gifts of Nominal Value to Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries (December 7, 2016), Google’s Restricted targeting in personalized advertising policy (page shows no update date) and the Medicare.gov page on reporting Medicare fraud and abuse (page shows no update date). We found no federal rule or agency guidance written for marketing to family caregivers as such. State rules on surrogate decision makers, powers of attorney, guardianship and elder abuse reporting differ from state to state, so check yours, and have a health care attorney review caregiver campaigns, scripts and offers before launch.

The short version

Ads written for caregivers need no patient information. A page or ad that speaks to adult children about what your practice offers is general marketing, as long as it is not built from patient records or patient lists.
Family helpers get what is relevant to their role. 45 CFR 164.510(b)(1)(i) lets a covered entity share with a family member, relative, close friend or other person the patient identifies the information directly relevant to that person’s involvement in the patient’s care or payment.
A personal representative stands in for the patient. Under 45 CFR 164.502(g)(2), a person with authority under applicable law to make health care decisions for an adult is treated as the patient for the information relevant to that role. Being a relative does not by itself give that authority.
Caregiver stories need the patient’s authorization. A caregiver who tells your patient’s story in an ad is disclosing that person’s health information. Under 45 CFR 164.508(a)(3), that use needs a written authorization from the patient or their personal representative.
Perks for families carry federal risk. 42 USC 1320a-7a(a)(5) reaches remuneration to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and the anti-kickback statute reaches remuneration to any person to induce them to arrange for or recommend covered services.
No customer lists in Google health ads. Google’s personalized advertising policy lists Health as a sensitive interest category, and advertisers promoting in those categories cannot use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match.

Who you are writing for, and who you are serving

Two people are involved in each decision. The caregiver reads the ad, compares practices and makes the call. The patient receives the care and keeps the legal rights over their health information. Copy that forgets the patient, such as an ad that promises a family full control over a parent’s appointments, sets up a conflict your front desk will have to undo on the phone.

No federal rule sets the tone for caregiver marketing. We recommend writing to the caregiver as a helper and naming the patient as the decision maker wherever they can still decide. A line like “We will talk with your mother about her care, and with you about the parts she wants you involved in” tells the caregiver what to expect and matches what HIPAA allows.

Say what the practice does for the patient. Home visits, longer appointments, transportation help, wheelchair access, a nurse who calls after a hospital discharge: plain facts the caregiver can check.
Say what the caregiver can do. Come to visits with the patient, help with forms, be listed as a contact, call with questions about scheduling and bills.
Say how you share information. One sentence that says you will ask the patient who they want involved saves calls later.
Leave out outcome promises. “Keep Dad out of the hospital” or “Mom will be herself again” is a health claim the practice would need to support, and the caregiver will remember it.

What staff may discuss with a family caregiver

45 CFR 164.510(b)(1)(i) permits a covered entity to disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friend, or any other person identified by the individual, the protected health information directly relevant to that person’s involvement with the individual’s health care or payment related to it. How the decision is made depends on whether the patient is there:

The patient is present and can decide. Under 164.510(b)(2), the covered entity may disclose if it obtains the patient’s agreement, gives the patient the opportunity to object and they do not object, or reasonably infers from the circumstances, using professional judgment, that the patient does not object.
The patient is absent or cannot decide. Under 164.510(b)(3), when the patient is not present, or cannot be asked because of incapacity or an emergency, the covered entity may use professional judgment to decide whether the disclosure is in the patient’s best interests, and if so, disclose only what is directly relevant to the person’s involvement.
Picking things up. 164.510(b)(3) also lets a covered entity use professional judgment and experience to infer that the patient would want a person to pick up filled prescriptions, medical supplies, X-rays or similar items.
Location, condition or death. 164.510(b)(1)(ii) permits using or disclosing information to notify a family member, personal representative or other person responsible for the patient’s care of the patient’s location, general condition or death.

For marketing, this matters at the first call. A caregiver who phones because of your ad may ask whether their father is already a patient, when his next visit is, or what his last test showed. The permission in 164.510(b) covers information relevant to that person’s involvement. It does not cover confirming facts to a caller nobody has identified as involved. No federal rule gives a script for these calls. We recommend recording, at intake, who the patient wants involved and in what, and training staff to check that record before answering anything about an existing patient. What the neurology front desk may share is worked through in our neurology practice marketing guide.

Personal representatives and family helpers are not the same

45 CFR 164.502(g)(1) requires a covered entity to treat a personal representative as the individual for purposes of the Privacy Rule, with the exceptions in (g)(3) and (g)(5). For an adult, 164.502(g)(2) says that if under applicable law a person has authority to act on behalf of the individual in making decisions related to health care, the covered entity must treat that person as a personal representative, with respect to protected health information relevant to that representation.

Who has that authority comes from state law, through a health care power of attorney, a guardianship order or a state surrogate rule. An adult child who drives a parent to appointments is a family helper under 164.510(b), with access limited to what is relevant to their involvement. An adult child who holds a health care power of attorney may be a personal representative. Your marketing should not blur the two. A form titled “Family access” that lets any relative sign for full record access suggests a right the rule does not give.

45 CFR 164.502(g)(5) lets a covered entity elect not to treat a person as the personal representative if it has a reasonable belief that the patient has been or may be subjected to domestic violence, abuse or neglect by that person, or that treating the person as the representative could endanger the patient, and decides in professional judgment that doing so is not in the patient’s best interest. That exception is part of why intake should ask the patient, when they can answer, who they want involved.

Caregiver stories and testimonials

A caregiver’s story about their mother’s care is a story about the mother’s health. If the practice is a covered entity, putting the patient’s name, photo, condition or care in an ad uses protected health information for marketing. 45 CFR 164.508(a)(3) requires an authorization for any use or disclosure of protected health information for marketing, with narrow exceptions for face-to-face communications and promotional gifts of nominal value. Under 164.508(c)(1)(vi), if a personal representative signs the authorization, it must include a description of that person’s authority to act for the patient.

The caregiver’s enthusiasm is not the patient’s permission. A son who writes a glowing review and agrees to be quoted can consent for himself; he cannot authorize the use of his mother’s health details unless he is her personal representative and signs a valid authorization on her behalf. Photo consent is covered in our patient photo consent guide, and the wider rules on stories in our patient testimonials guide.

The FTC rules apply on top. Under 16 CFR 255.2(a), an advertiser must have adequate substantiation for claims made through consumer endorsements in the same manner as if it had made the claims directly. Under 16 CFR 255.5(a), a connection between the endorser and the seller that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, and that the audience would not expect, must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, and the rule names family relationships and free or discounted products among the connections. A caregiver who is also on staff, related to a provider, or received a discount for the story needs that connection stated next to the quote.

Perks for caregivers: the inducement rules

Offers aimed at families are tempting: a gift card for bringing a parent in, a free lunch for the caregiver on the day of the visit, a referral reward. Two federal laws are relevant when the patient has Medicare or Medicaid.

Beneficiary inducement. 42 USC 1320a-7a(a)(5) applies to a person who offers or transfers remuneration to any individual eligible for Medicare or a State health care program that the person knows or should know is likely to influence that individual to order or receive covered items or services from a particular provider. A perk handed to the patient, or passed through the caregiver to the patient, falls in that frame.
Anti-kickback statute. 42 USC 1320a-7b(b)(2) makes it a felony to knowingly and willfully offer or pay any remuneration to any person to induce that person to refer an individual for, or to arrange for or recommend, an item or service payable by a Federal health care program. The words any person and arrange for reach a caregiver who books a parent’s care.
Nominal value. The OIG Policy Statement Regarding Gifts of Nominal Value to Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries (December 7, 2016) interprets nominal value as no more than 15 dollars per item or 75 dollars in the aggregate per patient on an annual basis. The statement says the items may not be cash or cash equivalents, and that a gift at or below those thresholds need not fit into an exception to section 1128A(a)(5), which is 1320a-7a(a)(5). It addresses gifts to beneficiaries; it does not speak to the anti-kickback statute.

No federal rule says that a perk given to a caregiver rather than the patient escapes these laws. We recommend running any family-facing offer past a health care attorney before it appears in an ad, and preferring help that is part of the care itself, such as a quiet waiting area or written visit instructions, over gifts. Gifts and free offers to Medicare patients are covered in more depth in our guide to marketing to Medicare patients, and transport and support perks in our free rides and patient support perks guide.

Google ad targeting for caregiver campaigns

Google’s Restricted targeting in personalized advertising policy lists Health among its sensitive interest categories. It says advertisers promoting products and services in sensitive interest categories cannot use advertiser-curated audiences, and lists Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments in that group. Predefined Google audiences, which the policy says are configured without sensitive user signals, can be used; the policy lists in-market segments, affinity, demographics (with exceptions), detailed demographics (with exceptions), life events and location targeting there.

For a caregiver campaign, that leaves search ads on the terms caregivers type, location targeting around your service area, and predefined audiences. It rules out uploading a list of patients’ family contacts to reach them with ads. Even setting the Google policy aside, using contact details collected at intake to build an ad audience would be a use of patient information for marketing. A search campaign around terms like house call doctor for elderly parent near a town, or dentist who sees patients with dementia, reaches the person doing the search without needing anyone’s records.

Calls, texts and emails to caregivers

A caregiver who fills in your form gives you their own contact details. Under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2), a telemarketing call or text sent with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a mobile number needs the called party’s prior express written consent. The caregiver’s consent is about the caregiver’s number; it says nothing about the patient’s. Follow-up messages should match what the caregiver asked for, and promotional sends to them should follow the same consent and opt-out rules as any other marketing list. Our text message appointment reminders guide covers reminder texts.

Wording that does not look like a scam

Older adults and their families are warned, by Medicare itself, about specific patterns. The Medicare.gov page on reporting fraud and abuse tells people to remember that Medicare will never call them to sell them anything or visit them at home, not to give their Medicare Number to anyone except their doctor or people they know should have it, and not to accept offers of money or gifts for free medical care. Ads and calls that look like those patterns frighten the caregivers you want to reach.

No federal rule lists words to avoid in caregiver ads. We recommend:

Do not imply a Medicare connection. Say you accept Medicare if you do. Do not use the Medicare name or logo in a way that looks official. 42 USC 1320b-10 restricts using Medicare names and symbols in a way that conveys a false impression of approval or endorsement.
Do not ask for a Medicare Number in an ad, a text or a cold call. Collect insurance details at scheduling, through the channel the caregiver started.
Do not call older adults who did not ask to be called. Reach the family through search and your site, and let them contact you.
Do not use urgency. “Limited spots this week only” and countdown timers read like a sales trick to a worried family.
Do give a way to check you. The practice name, address, the providers’ names and credentials, and a main phone number on each page.

Questions to ask before a caregiver campaign goes live

Does the ad or page use any information from patient records or patient lists? If so, why?
Does the copy name the patient as the decision maker where they can decide?
Does intake record who the patient wants involved, in what, and whether anyone is a personal representative under state law?
Does the front desk check that record before answering a caller about an existing patient?
Does each caregiver story have a signed authorization from the patient or their personal representative, with the representative’s authority described?
Is any family relationship, staff role or discount behind a testimonial disclosed next to it?
Has a health care attorney reviewed any perk, gift or reward offered to families?
Do the Google campaigns avoid Customer Match, your data segments and lookalike segments?
Do texts and calls to caregivers follow the consent they gave?

Use and avoid

Use: “Bring someone with you to visits if you like. We will ask the patient who they want involved.” Avoid: “Families get full access to their loved one’s records.”
Use: “We see patients at home in [Town] and nearby.” Avoid: “Keep your parent out of the hospital.”
Use: “We accept Medicare. Call us with questions about coverage.” Avoid: “Medicare-approved care. Send us your Medicare Number to check eligibility.”
Use: a story from a caregiver about their own experience, with the patient’s signed authorization. Avoid: a caregiver quote about a parent’s diagnosis with only the caregiver’s consent.
Use: search ads on terms caregivers type. Avoid: uploading caregiver contacts from intake forms to an ad platform.

An illustration

This example is invented. [Practice name], a primary care practice that makes home visits in [Town], wants to reach adult children of homebound patients. The first draft of the landing page says “Get your parent the care they deserve and stay in the loop on each visit”, offers a 25 dollar gift card to families who book, and quotes a daughter describing her father’s heart condition. The reviewed version says what the home visit service includes, explains that the practice will ask the patient who they want involved, drops the gift card, and replaces the quote with one from a caregiver whose father signed an authorization for the story. The Google campaign runs on search terms such as house call doctor for elderly parent near [Town], with location targeting and no uploaded lists.

Checklist

Ads and pages for caregivers are built without patient records or lists.
The copy treats the patient as the decision maker where they can decide.
Intake records who the patient wants involved and any personal representative, with the basis noted.
Front desk scripts follow 164.510(b) and check that record before discussing an existing patient.
Caregiver stories that describe a patient have a signed 164.508 authorization; a representative’s authority is described on the form.
Material connections behind testimonials are disclosed next to them under 16 CFR 255.5.
Family perks and rewards are reviewed by a health care attorney against 1320a-7a(a)(5) and 1320a-7b(b).
Google campaigns use search, location and predefined audiences only.
No ad, text or call asks for a Medicare Number or suggests a Medicare endorsement.
Texts and calls to caregivers match the consent each caregiver gave.

How we help

We build practice websites, local SEO, Google Ads and lead generation and an AI front desk for independent practices. For caregiver campaigns, we write pages and search ads for adult children that keep the patient at the center, and we set up intake forms that record who the patient wants involved. Our tools are built with HIPAA in mind. We confirm in writing what a BAA covers before any patient information flows through a tool, and if it is not covered, we do not route patient information through it. We are not a healthcare provider and we do not give legal or medical advice. For the wider rules, see our healthcare marketing rules guide.

Can we run ads aimed at adult children of older patients?

Yes, if the ads are not built from patient information. Search ads on the terms caregivers type and location targeting do not use patient records. Google’s personalized advertising policy bars advertiser-curated audiences, such as Customer Match, for ads in the Health category.

What can our staff tell a daughter who calls about her mother?

Under 45 CFR 164.510(b), staff may share the information directly relevant to the daughter’s involvement in her mother’s care or payment, with the mother’s agreement or lack of objection when she is present and able to decide, or based on professional judgment about her best interests when she is not.

Is a family member automatically a personal representative?

No. Under 45 CFR 164.502(g)(2), a personal representative for an adult is a person with authority under applicable law to make health care decisions for them. That authority comes from state law, such as a health care power of attorney or a guardianship.

Can a caregiver give permission to use a patient’s story?

Only if they are the patient’s personal representative and sign a valid authorization under 45 CFR 164.508, which must describe their authority. Otherwise the patient signs. The caregiver can consent to sharing their own experience.

Can we give a gift card to families who bring a parent in?

Be careful. 42 USC 1320a-7a(a)(5) covers remuneration to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and 42 USC 1320a-7b(b)(2) covers remuneration to any person to induce them to arrange for covered services. Have a health care attorney review any family perk first.

Marketing to family caregivers: ads for adult children, family calls and caregiver stories