The Elusive Point of Care Definition

Everyone in healthcare knows the definition of “the point of care.” Right?

Yet, when people from different verticals define it, the definition shifts slightly with the context under which it’s being examined. Perhaps it’s always been murky, but we’ve seen a debate in the current pharma marketing world.

Many pharma marketers today would be hard-pressed to answer the question: “How much of your marketing is validated at the point of care?” It’s an important question, and one that every marketer should care about, because the point of care (POC) is synonymous with the point-of-conversion for life sciences brands. Understanding when and how to leverage it can make or break the success of your marketing strategy. 

In life sciences marketing, the POC can be understood simply as the moment and environment in which a healthcare professional and patient come together during care delivery.

As OptimizeRx celebrates 20 years of supplying life sciences informational resources at the POC, we take a look at how the concept has evolved, how it’s defined, and where it’s going.

The first step to ensuring a brand’s marketing presence at the POC is understanding the definition of the setting, using that definition consistently, and evaluating media options based on that definition. This is where marketers can get lost from the very beginning, but these three pillars can help focus marketing efforts in a seemingly crowded landscape.

The Three Pillars of Effective Point of Care Marketing

The first step to ensuring a brand’s marketing presence at the POC is having a clear, consistent definition of the setting and evaluating media options based on that definition.

Marketers can easily get lost in a crowded landscape, but three pillars can help focus strategy:

Define the point of care clearly
Align media with audience content consumption habits
Understand where prescribing decisions occur

What is the Point of Care?

The moniker “point of care” initially gained traction in clinical discourse in the 1980’s, as healthcare systems sought to accelerate diagnosis and decision-making by bringing testing and information closer to the patient visit.

Clinical workflows involve activities performed both with and without the patient present. Sample collection, for example, may occur during a visit, while laboratory processes happen elsewhere. Both support care delivery, but healthcare is ultimately delivered when a patient and provider interact directly. For this reason, the POC came to be defined as healthcare services or diagnostic testing delivered at or near the patient visit to enable immediate clinical decision-making.

For marketing, this means the definition revolves around the interaction between the doctor and patient. The challenge is that this interaction is fleeting. As a result, marketers must also consider proximity to care delivery and proximity to prescribing decisions when evaluating media channels.

Pharma Marketing at the Point of Care

Around the same time the clinical community was defining the POC, Chris Whittle was pioneering “place-based” advertising, and the concept of the captive audience. He saw an opportunity for pharmaceutical manufacturers to get closer to the doctor-patient interaction by delivering content at doctor’s offices.

Through a set of publications called Special Reports, Whittle distributed free magazines to physician offices across the United States. The business model was simple: provide free content that replaced existing magazine subscriptions, in exchange for exclusive access to waiting rooms. This approach allowed advertisers—particularly pharmaceutical manufacturers—to place messaging directly within the care environment. In effect, Whittle Communications created one of the earliest examples of marketing placed at the point of care.

This was a breakthrough milestone in healthcare marketing, because the POC is literally the “point-of-transaction” for life science brands. In the years that followed, printed content expanded exponentially, including other new publications, informational packets, and wall boards / in-office media.

Today, the concept of ‘place-based advertising’ has expanded into digital environments, and the definition of POC marketing has become more abstract. In this environment marketers would be wise to clarify the definition that their media partners are using when evaluating the value of their channel mix.

The key questions remain simple:

How close is the media to the doctor-patient interaction?
How close is it to the prescribing decision?

The closer media is to those moments, the greater its potential value.

"As care delivery changes, new ways to engage at the POC will continue to proliferate. But the guiding principle remains constant: the point of care is defined by the presence of the patient and the clinician at the moment clinical decisions are made."

Maria Cipicchio
SVP, Strategic Market Intelligence

Which Technologies Actually Reach the Point of Care?

Since the early days of Whittle’s ‘Special Reports,’ healthcare marketing technology has exploded. With it, have come new ways to reach both HCPs and patients as they engage in healthcare-related content consumption. However, very few of these new digital spaces can claim true presence at POC. 

As a result, reaching healthcare consumers at the POC primarily relies on the sophisticated use of data and targeting methodologies to effectively place web display and advanced TV tactics. Reaching clinicians, however, requires a closer look at the tools they use during care delivery.

On average, HCPs are using between 3-7 tools daily to support the patient visit whether that visit is virtual or in-person. From practice management software to telehealth platforms, many of these platforms allow sponsored content to be delivered, but their relevance to the point of care varies widely. One clear indicator of value is integration with the electronic health record (EHR). HCPs may be using multiple tools per day, but the best predictor about whether a tool will be used is its integration with the EHR. 

The EHR deserves the cornerstone place in any marketing campaign focused on conversion. Not just because of its reach, but because technology usage at the point of care skyrockets when it is integrated with the EHR. This is a telling behavior that demonstrates that EHR connection is the most influential touchpoint for visibility and engagement for ANY content or tool delivered at the point of care. 

Why Care Settings Are Not the Same as the Point-of-Conversion

Today’s point of care is often better understood as a moment in time rather than a specific physical location. However, the care delivery setting is an important input to marketing strategy and media placement decisions. Life sciences marketing strives to support the prescribing decision. This means the value of an engagement is greater when it is happening at the point-of-prescribe.  

For the majority of top pharma brands, prescribing decisions are made out of ambulatory practices. Of course, prescriptions are used in the hospital setting, but the decision journey is more complex. Hospital formularies and administrators often determine what physicians can prescribe before the patient encounter occurs. Effective marketing in hospital settings therefore requires an understanding of the formulary landscape as well as where prescribing authority resides. As a result, knowing where your brand is prescribed is one of the most important inputs when determining where true point of care opportunities exist.

What’s Next for Point of Care Marketing?

Healthcare technology will continue to evolve as AI tools and healthcare systems seek to reduce physician workload. Even so, there is currently nothing positioned to rival the central role of the electronic health record in the clinical workflow. For marketers focused on reaching clinicians at the point of care, EHR-integrated platforms remain the most direct path to meaningful engagement.

Patient portals are becoming more useful and may become stronger patient engagement environments over time. Telehealth platforms are also developing marketing capabilities as virtual care becomes more common. Even within these environments, however, proximity to the actual patient visit varies.

As care delivery changes, new ways to engage at the POC will continue to proliferate. But the guiding principle remains constant: the point of care is defined by the presence of the patient and the clinician at the moment clinical decisions are made.

These distinctions are the marketer’s guide to understanding when their brand is truly present at the point of care. 

Key Takeaways for Life Sciences Marketers

The true point of care occurs when prescribing decisions are made
Marketing value increases as media moves closer to the doctor-patient interaction
EHR-integrated platforms represent the most consistent digital POC environment
Understanding where a brand is prescribed is essential for an effective POC strategy
Care settings matter, but the clinical decision moment ultimately defines the point of care