5 Things to Know Before Choosing Your POC Marketing Expert in 2025

Updated on January 31, 2025

For pharmaceutical companies, choosing the right expert for their marketing initiatives is half the battle won in getting their products off the shelves and into the hands of the end consumer. This especially rings true in the case of Point of Care (POC) marketing strategies which rely heavily on the minds behind them.  

With 2025 around the corner, and EHR systems, as well as new-age technologies — Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Big Data — increasingly entering most Health Care Professionals’ (HCP) clinical workflow, the role of POC marketing experts is only becoming more important to the ultimate success or failure of POC marketing strategies.  

In the modern day and age, POC marketing through HIPAA-certified tools is turning out to be more than just a buzzword. It’s reaping the rewards for pharma brands effectively employing to target HCPs and patients at critical moments of the clinical decision-making cycle. They are helping offer relevant and hyper-personalized messaging in ways that do not distract or overwhelm HCPs, ultimately helping them work towards improved patient outcomes through value-based care.  

Thanks to the many variables involved in the process and the far-reaching impact of this brand of healthcare marketing, choosing the right marketer for your POC strategies may not always be a straightforward task. Here are five things one should look for in a POC expert in 2025.  

 1. Ability to Run Ads Within EHR Workflows

 Pharma brands and marketers often confuse banner ads being displayed at the EHR login page for POC messaging. However, a good skilled marketer will understand the distinction between the two and the purposes they serve, with one capable of leveraging the power of AI and ML for contextually relevant and hyper-personalized messaging, while the other serving a much simpler function of just increasing brand visibility. As such, an ideal POC expert in 2025 should be capable of reaching HCPs with real-time, context-driven messages delivered at critical junctures, not just at the EHR login page, but where it truly matters within the clinical workflow. (not at the EHR login page, but rather where it truly matters — at important junctures of the POC cycle beyond the EHR login page.)

Well, think of it as a walled garden where the EHR login page represents the door to a hypothetical space within which the POC ecosystem lies protected by HIPAA guidelines acting as the walls protecting all allowed inside. From HCP-patient interactions, the flow of sensitive data and other crucial elements of patient healthcare decision-making can be found inside this walled garden protected by HIPAA guidelines and the EHR login page.  

So, if your POC expert cannot enter this walled garden and is capable of only displaying ads outside the EHR login page, then they are not the experts you should be investing in. Instead, look for an actual POC messaging expert capable of displaying real-time and contextually relevant ads within an HCPs clinical workflow.  

2. Chooses Nudges over Sludges 

POC marketing partners in 2025 should possess a good understanding of HCP behavior needs. This is because POC marketing is all about reaching the right HCP at the right time and the right place during their clinical workflow. It’s not about flooding HCPs with messages. Rather, the aim of the game is to nudge – and not sludge — them with the right message when they are most likely to write a prescription. 

The first step to achieving this goal is understanding HCP behavior and their motivations. So, if a POC marketer cannot think like an HCP and understand their behavior, then for them to get the messaging and the timing of it right would be an extremely difficult task for them, thus hindering their ability to truly become a POC marketing expert.  

3. In Sync with Technology 

The landscape of healthcare marketing is quickly evolving, and one of the major drivers of this evolution is technology. Moving into 2025, the role of forward-looking technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) – set to expand at a CAGR of 37.5% — and Machine Learning (ML) are to become more important to the eventual success of POC marketing strategies.  

Backed by big data, both these technologies can yield impressive results not only in the formulation of strategies but also in the execution of them. From figuring out the right HCP, the messaging for them, and the correct time and medium to deliver it, or even help marketers track patient level data in a compliant manner, next-gen tech can handle it all. As such, for anyone testing the waters of POC marketing, it is essential to be in sync with modern times and the rapid strides being taken in the world of technology. 

4. Deep Knowledge of Healthcare Regulations and Compliance 

Healthcare is one of the most highly regulated sectors globally, and for good reason. With countless lives at stake and the overall health of millions affected by even the smallest decisions, there is little room for error in decision-making.

While human error at the hands of HCPs is something that cannot be eliminated, regulatory authorities have put strong frameworks in place to ensure irresponsible marketing doesn’t contribute to compromises during the POC cycle.  

For pharma brands, even minor instances of non-compliance with regulations can result in hefty fines So, to avoid this, when choosing a POC marketer, always ensure they have a deep knowledge of healthcare regulations but also understand the impact of non-compliance. Opting for a marketer who is not only compliant but also HIPAA-certified is one of the best ways to ensure your brand’s future is in safe hands. 

5. Understanding the Value of Value-Based Care 

In the post-COVID-19 world, healthcare marketing has increasingly seen a shift to the value-based care model which rewards HCPs and healthcare institutions for providing quality care and improved patient outcomes over the old model which focused on providing a greater number of services in return for reaching financial goals.  

The former is a more patient-centric approach, and as such, any POC marketing expert in 2025 should be able to not only get on board with this idea but also understand its importance. From this understanding the idea of their campaigns should flow, which should reflect the idea that increasing patient outcomes is beneficial for all. 

Apart from the five key things mentioned above, it is also important to understand that POC marketing in healthcare at the core of it serves as a function of Omnichannel marketing. A well-thought-out and executed POC marketing strategy sees messaging traverse multiple channels, including in-person conversations, digital touchpoints, and sometimes even direct advertising to the end consumer — the patient. As such, when looking for a good POC marketer, it is prudent to ask if they have a grip on all these mediums and can rightly be called a master of omnichannel marketing. The response to this basic question is where a pharma brand can find the final clue if their search for a POC marketer is near completion or not. 

Thomas S
Thomas Shea
Chief Revenue Officer at Doceree

Thomas Shea is Chief Revenue Officer for Doceree.