Reach HCPs During Point-of-Care Moments with Electronic Health Records

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It’s only in the recent history of modern medicine that providers have started keeping digital patient records. Paper charts were long the norm, and the switchover to digital copies that started in the 1980s was not a quick or easy one. But today, HCPs do much of their work—from tracking symptoms and diagnoses to comparing treatments—within the electronic health record (EHR) system.

An EHR is a digital account of a patient’s entire medical history that lives within a larger database. This centralization of clinical data not only helps HCPs stay organized and in-tune with their patients but also gives them a broader view of patient care overall. An HCP will spend much of each day in EHRs as part of their clinical workflow and when consulting, diagnosing, and treating patients.

This means that during the most essential point-of-care and decision-making moments, you can often find HCPs in the EHR system—and thanks to new strides in digital marketing, you can now reach them there. ‍

How EHR Fits Into Your Omnichannel Strategy

Advertising is most effective when you create a user journey that builds awareness, encourages deeper consideration, and leads someone to action. While other media channels are used to build brand awareness, EHR campaigns help life sciences brands reach HCPs when they are deep in their “white coat” or professional mindset, offering specific proof points so they have confidence in trialing a new or alternative solution.

The average HCP spends nearly five hours per day in the EHR workflow—or around 16 minutes during each patient visit. Following a typical clinical workflow, ads can be shown directly within the HCP’s platform and placed strategically throughout their daily journey as they consult with patients. 

The ability to precisely target HCPs at high-value moments makes EHR a key component of any omnichannel campaign.

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Key Benefits of EHR

The above examples are a few key points when HCPs are closest to decision-making moments within a patient’s health journey.

Whether HCPs are researching condition symptoms online or treating patients at the office, with EHR channel activation you can reach them when and where they’re most likely to convert, making EHR campaigns optimal for increasing both treatment option awareness and script lift.

With the right measurement tools, brands can monitor both digital and clinical KPIs, tracking impressions for brand awareness, clicks for treatment consideration, and Rx fills for conversions—all while making campaign adjustments as needed.

EHR campaigns are not only agile but also able to scale based on your preferred audience. To ensure you’re reaching the HCPs most relevant to your brand, you can identify and target them based on their known NPI, specialty, historical clinical behavior, or location. 

Pharma is a tightly regulated industry, which can create obstacles for marketers—but EHR is HIPAA-compliant and privacy-safe, as no ads appear during the prescribing workflow or are served to patients, and no sensitive patient information is collected.

EHR Challenges & Considerations

EHR is a flexible, high-powered tactic for healthcare marketers, but it’s not without its challenges. If you’re considering implementing an EHR campaign, keep the following concerns in mind:

Scalable supply: Most providers typically only utilize one EHR system in their practice, so the key is to work with multiple platforms to ensure maximum scale and reach to various audiences. 

Cost-efficiency: Standard rates for EHR are higher than for other channels, often falling in the $200–$300 range. Marketers should consider how this tactic would work into their overall budget, keeping in mind the high value of precision targeting at final stage point-of-care moments. 

Common creative requirements: While not a challenge, brands should keep in mind that using common ad sizes will help streamline their campaign. An EHR system that accepts common ad sizes will be easier to fit into an overall omnichannel strategy. For example, brands can retarget HCPs with the same creative when they are accessing their EHR during white coat moments at work and again during blue jeans moments at home. They can also use that same creative to reach multiple EHR systems, making their assets go even further.

Takeaways

Today’s HCPs rely on EHR systems to do their work, and accessing them makes up a large part of their day. Working with a technology platform, such as PulsePoint, brands can leverage this attention and reach HCPs not only at the right time but also with the right message—one that will ultimately benefit both them and their patients. Completely HIPAA compliant and privacy-safe, EHR campaigns offer a premium, high-value channel for digital marketers in more and more crowded ad marketplaces. 

Activating EHR campaigns programmatically enables brands to leverage the value of true omnichannel integration while also taking advantage of superior reporting capabilities. To learn more about PulsePoint’s unmatched programmatic EHR solution, keep an eye out for our next blog post on the topic. Ready to get started with your EHR campaign now? Reach out to info@pulsepoint.com today.