Before you publish a before-and-after, the first question is not "is this a good photo?" but "am I allowed to show it, and for what purpose?". The answer lives in a document many clinics treat as an afterthought: the patient photo consent form.
A vague form ("I authorise the clinic to use my photos") protects neither the patient nor the practitioner. A good one makes life simple for everyone: the patient knows exactly what they are agreeing to, and your team knows exactly what it may do with each image.
This guide walks through the sections to include, then offers an annotated template you can adapt.
This article gives a general framework, not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries, specialties and professional bodies. Have your form reviewed by your medical board or regulator, your professional indemnity insurer or a lawyer before you use it.
1. Why photos need their own consent
Consent to treatment and consent to photography are two different things. A patient can agree to an injection or surgery without agreeing to their image being shown to anyone. Mixing both in one paragraph causes two problems:
- the patient may feel that refusing photos could affect their care;
- if there is a disagreement later, it is hard to prove what was actually agreed.
A separate document, or at least a clearly distinct section with its own checkboxes and signature, solves both.
2. Separate the uses: the golden rule
This is the most important section. A photo can serve very different purposes, and the patient should be able to accept some and refuse others. A checklist, one box per use, is the clearest format:
- Medical record only: clinical follow-up and comparison over time. The most common use and the least exposed.
- Sharing with other professionals: a colleague's opinion, team meetings.
- Teaching and conferences: presentations, training, scientific publications.
- Clinic website: before/after gallery, blog articles.
- Social media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and so on.
- Printed materials: brochures, waiting-room displays.
Boxes should be unticked by default. A pre-ticked box does not reflect the patient's choice.
For social media, it helps to state that posts are public, can be shared, and that you cannot control what third parties do with them.
3. Spell out what will be shown, and how
Patients should know what they are agreeing to show. The form can state:
- the areas photographed: face, profile, breasts, abdomen, hands and so on;
- the level of anonymization planned for each public use: full face masked, eyes masked, tight crop on the treated area, tattoos and distinguishing marks hidden;
- what will accompany the photo: type of treatment, time between before and after, perhaps an age range. Never the name, the exact treatment date, or anything that could be cross-referenced.
A useful option is to offer two publication levels: "only if I cannot be recognised" or "visible face accepted". Many patients will choose the first, and that is fine. For how to make a photo genuinely unrecognisable, see our guide to anonymizing before-and-after patient photos.
4. Duration, withdrawal and storage
Three points to put in writing:
- How long the photos may be used: for example a set number of years, renewable on request. Open-ended consent is harder to justify.
- The right to withdraw at any time, without giving a reason, and how to do it (an email address or letter is enough). Say what you will do: remove the posts you control within a reasonable time and stop any new use.
- The honest limit of withdrawal: an image published online or shown at a conference may already have been copied or saved by others. Saying so is part of informed consent.
On the clinic side, file the signed form with the patient's record and link each photo series to an internal case reference rather than the patient's name.
5. Statements that protect the care relationship
A few plain sentences prevent many misunderstandings:
- Refusing has no effect on care. The patient should read this explicitly.
- No incentive: no discount or free session in exchange for publication. Depending on your country, offering one may also raise professional conduct issues, so check.
- Data rights: depending on your framework (GDPR in Europe, HIPAA in the United States, local rules elsewhere), the patient may have rights of access, correction or deletion. Say who to contact.
- Minors and protected adults: plan for the signature of the legal guardian(s), and be even more cautious about public uses.
6. The annotated template
Here is an outline to adapt. The notes in italics explain the purpose of each block; they are not part of the document you give the patient.
Authorisation to take and use photographs
Patient: full name, date of birth. Internal case reference: ______.
Note: the case reference is what you use to name files, without the patient's name.
1. Photography. I agree to photographs of the following areas being taken as part of my care: ______.
Note: in your practice, clinical photography for the record may already be covered by treatment consent; keeping it separate here is still clearer.
2. Permitted uses (tick each use you accept):
- ☐ medical record only
- ☐ sharing with other healthcare professionals
- ☐ teaching, conferences, scientific publications
- ☐ the clinic's website
- ☐ the clinic's social media
- ☐ the clinic's printed materials
Note: all boxes empty by default. If only the first is ticked, nothing leaves the record.
3. Anonymization for public uses (tick one):
- ☐ only if I cannot be recognised (face or eyes masked, cropping, distinguishing marks hidden)
- ☐ I accept that my face may be visible
Note: if you are unsure about a specific photo, go back to the patient before publishing.
4. Accompanying information. The photos may be accompanied by the type of treatment and the time elapsed. They will never be accompanied by my name or by information that could identify me.
5. Duration. This authorisation is valid for ___ years from the date of signature.
6. Withdrawal. I may withdraw this authorisation at any time, without giving a reason, by writing to ______. The clinic will then remove the posts it controls and stop any new use. I understand that an image already published may have been copied by others.
7. Free choice. Refusing, in full or in part, has no effect on my care. I receive nothing in return for this authorisation.
8. My data. To exercise my rights over my personal data, I can contact ______.
Place, date. Patient's signature (and legal guardian's where applicable). Practitioner's signature.
Note: give the patient a copy. If your uses change later (a new social network, a print campaign), ask for a new authorisation rather than stretching the old one.
7. Common mistakes
- A single "I accept everything" box: convenient for the clinic, hard to defend.
- The form signed after the photo session, or even after publication.
- Verbal consent that is never written down.
- Uses that drift: a photo approved for the website ends up on Instagram, then in a brochure.
- Files named after the patient, which end up in metadata or public URLs.
From consent form to publication
Once consent is signed, the image deserves the same care. Lumipair lets you place the before and after side by side, crop, then mask the eyes, the face or a tattoo according to the anonymization level the patient chose. Everything happens in your browser, no photo is uploaded to a server, and every export is a fresh file stripped of its metadata. For an honest comparison, also make sure you take the before and after under the same conditions.
Key takeaways
- A photo consent form separate from treatment consent.
- One box per use, unticked by default.
- Areas, anonymization level and accompanying information written clearly.
- A duration, a right to withdraw, and its limits explained honestly.
- Refusal without consequence, and no incentive.
- A document reviewed by your board, insurer or a lawyer, and compliant with your country's rules.