The Executive Suite: Adopting targeted point-of-care messaging in primary care

In the rapidly evolving landscape of health care in the United States, the need for precision in patient communication has never been more critical. As the U.S. primary care physicians’ market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.36% from 2024 to 2030 to reach $339.6 billion by 2030, primary care is indeed critical in managing chronic conditions, preventing diseases and promoting overall health as the first point of contact for patients. With the health care industry gradually embracing digital transformation, targeted point-of-care (POC) messaging has emerged as a powerful medium for enhanced patient engagement, improved treatment adherence and better patient outcomes.

The importance of POC messaging in primary care

As the POC messaging enables delivery of relevant health information to primary care providers at the exact moment they are making critical health decisions for the patient receiving the treatment, the approach leverages the immediacy and relevance of health care settings to deliver tailored messages that resonate with the provider’s prescribing patterns as well as the patient’s medical history to positively influence treatment decisions.

In the context of primary care, where providers manage a broad spectrum of health issues and interact with diverse patient populations, targeted POC messaging can be a game changer with its speciality in empowering health care providers (HCPs) to share personalized information about preventive measures, treatment options, medication adherence, eligible financial assistance programs and lifestyle changes directly to patients in real time. This relevance in timing and nature of the message delivered prevents information overload for HCPs and enhances their interactions with patients, ultimately improving treatment adherence.

For better understanding, let us explore how key stakeholders in health care can maximize the effectiveness of POC messaging in primary care, both enriching HCP-patient interactions and enhancing brand loyalty among HCPs.

Enriching HCP-patient interactions

With just 43% of adults in the U.S. having a long-standing relationship with their primary care provider, one of the key challenges to address includes ensuring patients adhere to prescribed treatment plans, including medication regimens, follow-up appointments and lifestyle modifications. Hence, only targeted POC messaging can address this challenge by providing timely reminders and relevant information pertaining to a patient’s medical history at critical points of care. For instance, a primary care physician treating a patient diagnosed with hypertension can receive customized messaging about the plan for medication adherence, dietary changes and regular monitoring of blood pressure — all in real time within the primary care setting.

1. Alleviating the strain on time-constrained HCPs

With HCPs spending 55% of their work hours daily on POC platforms, physicians often struggle to stay well-versed on information about the latest drugs, treatments or patient medical history due to challenging time constraints. The consistent utilization of targeted POC messaging reinforces a provider’s medical recommendations and empowers patients with the knowledge and motivation needed to take an active role in managing their health, ultimately reducing the burden on primary care providers as well as cost strain on patients. Considering research studies have indicated that patients are more likely to adhere to treatment plans when they receive consistent and relevant information that is directly tied to their health goals, targeted POC proves to be an effective bridge in closing communication gaps within the overall health care ecosystem.

2. Improving health outcomes through precision marketing

As the U.S. health care system is increasingly data-driven and the adoption of targeted POC messaging in primary care aligns with the broader trend toward precision marketing in health care, analyzing primary care provider data, including demographics, medical expertise, prescribing patterns and patient-led data including medical history, is imperative in creating and delivering highly specific messages that address the unique needs of individual patients. For instance, a primary care provider serving a population with a high prevalence of diabetes can utilize targeted POC messaging to share information about diabetes management programs and inform their patients about new treatment options and provide reminders for routine screenings and tests. This level of precision not only enhances the effectiveness of the messaging but also contributes to better health outcomes by ensuring that patients receive the right information at the right time.

3. Inducing health care affordability

With only 15% copay utilization rate observed among commercial brand prescription fills and 42% HCPs expressing lack of awareness about eligible financial assistance programs, many patients remain unaware of available financial aid, indicating a significant awareness gap among patients and HCPs.By leveraging HCP and patient-led data in a regulatory complaint manner, HCPs can be delivered hypertargeted messages about the eligible financial assistance programs for individual patients in real time, enhancing treatment adherence and reducing the rising health care costs tremendously. This is especially important in managing chronic diseases within primary care, given that individuals with chronic conditions account for 81% of hospital admissions.

4. Challenges and considerations

While the benefits of targeted POC messaging in primary care are clear, is it equally imperative to address certain challenges for successful implementation of this technology. By maintaining patient privacy and confidentiality while extracting relevant patient data, HCPs and marketers must ensure that messaging is utilized and delivered in a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act–compliant manner.

Furthermore, implementation of a robust technology-powered infrastructure to support targeted POC messaging demands that primary care providers invest in integrated electronic health record (EHR) systems, patient communication platforms, and analytics tools that can capture and utilize patient data effectively. While many claim to have the expertise in understanding the intricacies of POC messaging, it is imperative to collaborate with certified marketing partners known for providing quality engagement with HCPs over generating superficial ad impressions.

The way forward

With the global primary care POC diagnostics market size (valued at $15.4 billion in 2022) anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5% by 2030, adopting targeted POC messaging in primary care is no more a trend — it is a strategic imperative for HCPs looking to enhance patient engagement, improve adherence and achieve better health outcomes. By leveraging the power of data and technology, primary care practices can be empowered to deliver timely and personalized messages that resonate with patients and drive positive behavior change. This eventually will lead to better business outcomes and improved brand credibility among HCPs. As the health care landscape continues to evolve, the integration of targeted POC messaging into primary care practices will be a key differentiator for providers who are committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care.