YouTube Unveils New Features for Healthcare Professionals


YouTube recently announced that certain categories of healthcare professionals and health information providers can apply for YouTube’s health product features, should their channels be eligible.

YouTube Unveils New Features for Healthcare Professionals

The health product features were launched in the United States last year and include health source information panels which help viewers identify videos from authoritative sources. There are also health content shelves which highlight videos from such sources when a viewer searches for specific health topics.

youtube’s health product features for healthcare professionals

A Wider Group of Healthcare Channels

The YouTube Health department believes the expansion of the health product availability will help doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and healthcare information providers to bring high quality health information into a space that people visit throughout their day.

Before the announcement, such health product features were only available to organizations such as educational institutions and public health departments, as well as hospitals and government entities. Now a wider group of healthcare channels can benefit from being able to include such high quality information.

Information for ‘Billions of People’

The Director and Head of YouTube Health, Dr. Garth Graham, spoke on the YouTube blog, saying: “Over the last year, we’ve continued to expand our partnerships with leading health organizations like Mass General Brigham and the American Public Health Association, as well as with clinicians and creators, to further increase the accessibility of high quality health content on our platform. These organizations are creating engaging, evidence-based videos that really connect with people, such as JAMA’s crisp explanation of mRNA, Stanford Center for Health Education’s Viral Facts Series, the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ mental health collaboration with Vogue and many more. We’ve introduced ways to get the latest COVID-19 information and education out and reach billions of people. And now, we’re announcing two new ways that we’ll surface credible and relevant health information for people in the United States.”

Dr. Graham also explained how YouTube was able to identify the right sources to include in the new features. He said: “We applied the principles developed by an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Medicine, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that brings together the top experts in health, medicine, and biomedical science to provide unbiased, evidence-based guidance about health and science. The National Academy of Medicine regularly examines complicated questions related to health, medicine, and biomedical science and over the years they have given guidance on everything from countering the opioid epidemic to gene editing.

“Back in February, YouTube asked an expert panel convened by the National Academy of Medicine to consider the question of how to define ‘authoritative health content sources’ and the ways in which those sources attain and maintain their authority. The expert panel drafted these principles for health sources, which are the first of their kind. We hope that other tech companies will also review and consider how these principles might help inform their work with their own products and platforms.”

Applying for YouTube Health Products

Full eligibility criteria can be found at this link, but basically you will need proof of your license and a channel in good standing on YouTube. You must also be following the best practices for health information sharing as set out by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, the National Academy of Medicine and the World Health Organization.

Image: Depositphotos



Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a staff writer for Small Business Trends and has been a member of the team for 7 years. She is based in the United Kingdom and since 2006, Gabrielle has been writing articles, blogs and news pieces for a diverse range of publications and sites. You can read "Gabrielle’s blog here.".