Growing a healthcare podcast can feel like shouting into the void. You create valuable content, interview experts, and try to reach patients or providers who need this information. But how do you actually get your podcast in front of the right listeners?

Ads and extra social posts aren't the main answer. In fact, without a specific strategy and experience, these may cost you much more than you gain. One of the most effective growth strategies for healthcare podcasters is collaboration with other shows in your niche.

What is Healthcare Podcast Collaboration?

Healthcare podcast collaboration means partnering with other health and medical podcasts that serve similar or complementary audiences. For example, a mental health podcast and a chronic disease show might share listeners. A clinical education podcast for nurses and a healthcare policy show could attract the same professionals.

The main benefit: by working together, you help both shows reach new, already interested listeners. This means more loyal subscribers for each podcast, plus a richer set of content for audiences exploring related health topics.

Why Healthcare Podcasts Need Collaboration More Than Other Niches

Healthcare podcasting faces a challenge that true crime and comedy shows don't. Your audience is smaller by definition.

A podcast about HIPAA compliance won't attract millions of casual listeners. Shows about oncology nursing serve a specific professional audience. Even podcasts focused on patients and caregivers around common conditions are niche compared to mass-market entertainment.

But here's the advantage: Healthcare podcast listeners are highly engaged. They're not just passing time. They're seeking specific information they need for their health, careers, or patients.

When you collaborate with another healthcare podcast, you reach people who already care about health topics. They trust podcast recommendations in this space.

This targeted exposure often leads to more engaged subscribers and steady audience growth. Collaborating ensures your show stands out to listeners genuinely interested in healthcare topics, making your promotional efforts much more effective.

Types of Healthcare Podcast Collaboration

At its simplest, collaboration is two healthcare podcasts introducing each other's shows to their audiences.

This can be as simple as a 30-second promo swap. Or you can go bigger. Drop an entire episode from your show into another podcast's feed, and they do the same with yours. Appear as guests on each other's shows. Or co-host a mini-series about a health topic you both care about.

The format matters less than the principle: You're pooling audiences instead of competing for scraps.

So, how can you collaborate with other health podcasts?

We broke down four key ways you can get your message in front of your ideal audience:

1. Promo Swaps

2. Feed Swaps

3. Interview Swaps

4. Co-Hosting Healthcare Content

Let’s dive deeper into each. Then, take immediate action by choosing one collaboration strategy and reaching out to a potential podcast partner for your next episode.

Promo Swaps: The Foundation Strategy

Promo swaps are short (ideally less than 30-second) promotions that two or more shows run for each other. If you listen to podcasts, it’s likely you've heard these before. They're simple, effective, and should be part of nearly every episode you produce.

Here's how it works: You create a 30-second promo for your healthcare podcast. Another health podcast plays your promo on their show, and you play theirs on your show. Both audiences hear about a new relevant podcast for free.

How to execute promo swaps for healthcare podcasts:

First, identify healthcare podcasts that are your size with complementary content. If you host a podcast about diabetes management for patients, look for shows about nutrition, endocrinology for providers, or chronic disease self-care. Don’t be afraid to include shows that serve the same audience as you do! Your audience will likely appreciate that they can listen to one show on the way to work, and another show on the way home. Also, don't be afraid of adjacent healthcare topics.

Reach out with a short, personal email. Reference specific episodes you've listened to and explain why you think your audience would appreciate both shows. Comment and reshare some of their social media posts. Even leave a review on Apple or Spotify. These steps make it clear that you are interested in a partnership that benefits both podcasts, not a favor you're asking.

Create your promo as a host-read script they can record, or record a digital file to send. Keep it to 30 seconds and make it specific about why listeners of that podcast will value your show. Generic promos get ignored. For example, 'If you're interested in evidence-based approaches to patient communication,' will resonate with the right clinical audience.

You can run promos as baked-in content that stays in the episode forever. Or use dynamic ad insertion if your hosting platform supports it. Dynamic insertion lets you swap promos in and out. This is useful for podcasts with seasonal or time-sensitive content.

Track your results through your hosting analytics and follow up with your collaboration partner. If a promo swap works well, schedule another one. Consistency matters more than perfection when growing a healthcare podcast.

Feed Swaps: Give Your Healthcare Audience a Complete Experience

Feed swaps take collaboration further. Instead of a 30-second promo, feed swaps place an entire episode from another show into your podcast’s RSS feed, and they do the same with one of your episodes.

This strategy works particularly well in healthcare podcasting because 30 seconds often isn't enough time to convey the depth and credibility of medical or clinical content. A full episode lets listeners experience the quality of another healthcare show and decide whether to subscribe.

It’s also a great way to strengthen your role as a trusted, authentic voice. Your audience will appreciate your willingness to share content you believe will be relevant and useful to them.

When feed swaps make sense for health podcasts:

Use feed swaps strategically, not constantly. Your listeners subscribed to your healthcare podcast for your specific content and expertise. Dropping another show's episode into your feed should feel like a gift, not a bait and switch.

Choose your best episode for the swap. In healthcare podcasting, this might be an episode that showcases your interview style with a compelling expert. Or choose a patient story that demonstrates the real-world impact of health information. You're asking another podcast's audience to invest time, so make it worth their while.

Write and record a clear introduction explaining why you're featuring this episode and why your healthcare audience will appreciate it. Transparency builds trust, especially in health communication.

Negotiating feed swaps between healthcare podcasts of different sizes:

Healthcare podcasts vary widely in size. A show from a major medical institution might get significantly more downloads than an independent clinician's podcast. That doesn't mean you can't collaborate.

If you're the smaller show, offer additional value, like social media promotion or a mention in your newsletter to healthcare professionals, or agree to keep their episode in your feed indefinitely while they only feature yours for 60 or 90 days.

The beauty of feed swaps in healthcare podcasting is that people care less about audience numbers because you're exchanging valuable health content, not just advertisements. By featuring your episode, they're giving their audience something genuinely useful.

Interview Swaps: Build Relationships in Healthcare Podcasting

Appearing as a guest on podcasts is an effective way to reach a target audience, even if you already host your own. An interview swap is a cross-promotion where two hosts appear as guests on each other's shows. Host A interviews Host B on Show A; then Host B interviews Host A on Show B. As a guest, you can showcase your expertise to a new audience. They get fresh perspectives for their listeners.

Interview swaps work especially well when promoting a new book, research, a healthcare service, or an educational program. They also help establish you as a thought leader in your area of health or medicine.

Make your guest appearance valuable by sharing actionable insights rather than just promoting your show. Healthcare audiences, whether patients, providers, or healthcare executives, want practical information they can use. Include a call to action at the end, such as a link to additional resources, a discount on your course, or an invitation to connect with you professionally.

Promote both interviews on social media and through your newsletters. Healthcare professionals are often active on LinkedIn. Patient-focused podcasts might find their audience on Facebook or health forums. Meet your audience where they are.

Co-Hosting Healthcare Content

The most intensive collaboration is co-hosting episodes or mini-series together. This requires more planning but can produce exceptional content that neither healthcare podcast could create on its own.

Co-hosting works well when you want to explore a healthcare topic from multiple angles. For example, a healthcare policy podcast could co-host a mini-series with a clinical podcast to examine how policy changes affect patient care. A mental health podcast and a primary care podcast could collaborate on episodes about integrating behavioral health into medical practice.

Recording content at live events is another great way to team up to make interesting content. We’ve seen this by podcasters like Peter Birch, host of Talking Healthtech, and Tjasa Zajc, host of Faces of Digital Health, who have recorded interviews at events like HLTH.

Establish clear roles and responsibilities before you start. Who handles recording? Who edits? How will you promote the collaboration? Healthcare professionals are busy, so strong project management makes the difference between a successful collaboration and a frustrating experience.

Finding Healthcare Podcasts to Collaborate With

Start by listening to healthcare podcasts in your niche or adjacent niches. Note shows with similar production quality and audience engagement. Look at ratings, reviews, and how consistently they publish.

Search podcast directories filtering for health and medicine categories. Look for shows that are actively publishing, not abandoned podcasts with dozens of episodes but no recent activity.

Pay attention to the audience. A healthcare podcast for patients needs different collaboration partners than a podcast for clinicians, even if they cover similar medical topics. A show about health policy might collaborate with shows about healthcare administration, public health, or healthcare economics.

When you find potential collaborators, listen to at least three recent episodes before reaching out. This homework shows respect for their work and helps you make a genuine connection, which matters in healthcare communities built on trust.

How to Pitch Healthcare Podcast Collaborations

Your pitch should be personal, specific, and clear about mutual benefits.

Start by mentioning specific episodes you listened to and what resonated with you. If they interviewed a clinician whose work you follow, or covered a health topic you're passionate about, say so. Healthcare podcasters can tell when you've actually listened rather than just sending a generic template.

Explain why collaboration makes sense. What health topics do your audiences care about? Why would their listeners benefit from discovering your healthcare podcast? Be concrete. "I think our audiences overlap because we both focus on evidence-based patient education" is better than "I think we'd be a good fit."

Keep your pitch to 200-300 words. Get to the point quickly and include your show artwork, a brief description, and links to your best episodes.

Follow up at least twice, and if you don't hear back, then move on. Healthcare podcasting is a community, and you'll likely cross paths again at virtual events or in online forums.

Making Health Podcast Collaboration Work

Successful collaboration in healthcare podcasting requires clear communication and realistic expectations.

• Discuss your goals upfront. Are you trying to reach more people affected by a specific condition? Expand to a different clinical specialty? Establish thought leadership in a particular area of healthcare?

• Set specific dates and deliverables. Who creates what content by when? How long will the collaboration run? When will you evaluate results?

• Define your desired outcome and call-to-action. Draft your calls-to-action so listeners, viewers, and readers know what action to take, whether that’s following your show, visiting a landing page, connecting on social media, or something else. Try to limit it to just one step, and once the audience has taken that step, make sure you have a plan for nurturing them.

• Track your metrics. Look at the download numbers before and after the collaboration. Monitor new subscribers. Pay attention to listener feedback about the collaboration. Healthcare audiences are often generous with constructive feedback, especially when they find the content valuable.

• Be of service. Seek to contribute more than you expect to gain - and if both partners can do that, it’s likely everyone will exceed their expectations!

• Build a relationship. As a friend of HealthPodcast.org, Greg Wasserman, likes to say: “Life is about time and relationships.” As one passes, the other can grow. Build genuine relationships with other health podcasters and people in the health and podcast industry. Successful collaborations in health podcasting are rooted in mutual respect and a shared commitment to accurate, accessible, actionable health information. When you genuinely want to help another healthcare podcaster succeed, collaboration stops feeling transactional and becomes something much more valuable.

Growing Your Healthcare Podcast Through Community

Healthcare podcasting is still a relatively small community compared to entertainment podcasting. That's actually an advantage. The healthcare podcasters you collaborate with today might become long-term partners, referral sources, or colleagues you connect with at industry events.

Every promo swap, feed swap, interview swap, or co-hosted episode strengthens the entire healthcare podcasting ecosystem. You're not just growing your own audience. You're helping patients find reliable health information, giving clinicians access to professional development, and elevating the quality of healthcare communication available to everyone.

You don’t have to do everything all at once. Set a goal to establish one project. Reach out to a healthcare podcast you admire and propose a collaboration. See how it goes. If it works, do another one. Then try a feed swap or interview swap.

The healthcare podcasters who grow their audiences most effectively aren't the ones who invest the most money in advertising. They're the ones who build relationships, create genuinely valuable collaborations, and consistently show up for the healthcare podcasting community.

Your next collaborator is already out there, creating healthcare content for an audience that needs to hear your voice, too. Go find them.