The point of care (POC) has long been recognized as a pivotal moment in the healthcare journey—traditionally defined by three factors: the presence of the healthcare provider (HCP), the presence of the patient, and the clinical care setting. What began in the 1980s as a new type of diagnostic has evolved into a widely used channel descriptor for life sciences marketers.
But as care delivery evolves, so does the meaning of “point of care.”
Historically, patients received care in physician offices, hospitals, and pharmacies. Today, care extends far beyond those walls—to telehealth visits, digital health platforms, retail clinics, and even mail-order prescriptions delivered to the home. The POC is no longer a single place. It’s a dynamic and expanding ecosystem.
As the definition broadens, two other trends have accelerated:
- The number of companies offering POC marketing solutions
- The confusion around which POC tactics, programs, and channels drive performance
To state the obvious up front, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution that is the “right” choice for everyone. The most effective POC strategy reflects where and when your brand is actually prescribed. Yet persistent misconceptions make it harder for marketers to invest wisely. Here are three of the most common.
1 | The Point of Care Is Always the Point of Prescribing
The growing point of care landscape creates more opportunities for connecting with patients and providers, but it also means that not every touchpoint hits the trifecta of a patient, provider, and care decision. For brands focused on script lift, new brand writers, or similar KPIs, this distinction is critical; you need to be engaging when prescribing decisions are made.
For example, most prescriptions are written in outpatient/ambulatory care settings, so over-emphasizing inpatient/health system channels may increase awareness—but not necessarily prescriptions. Similarly, POC channels like telehealth portals, clinical decision support (CDS) tools, and EHR platforms are viable ways to reach HCPs, but vary in their proximity to the prescribing decision, targeting capabilities, and other features.
2 | Reach and Cost Are the Biggest Drivers of Value
Life sciences marketers make POC investment decisions based on a number of factors, but list match rates and CPMs are often at the top of their list. And on the surface, this makes sense—being able to reach more of your target NPIs at the lowest cost is just smart business. Or is it?
The value of POC marketing comes from its proximity and relevance to care decisions. When you solely optimize for reach and cost, your partners are incentivized to favor scale over precision, which decreases the likelihood that your message reaches a provider when they are actively treating a brand-eligible patient. When budgets are limited, it can be counterproductive to spread impressions too thinly and underserve HCPs that have verifiable prescribing opportunities. In addition, many marketers also find they can’t achieve the promised reach when their budget and targeted parameters are taken into account.
3 | Point-of-Care Activation and Measurement Are Inherently a “Black Box”
POC networks are complex by nature, with multiple systems integrated into a single offering. But this complexity is not an excuse for a lack of transparency, verification, and measurement—and opacity from your vendor(s) is a red flag.
If you aren’t seeing a clear breakdown of reach and impression counts by EHR, social, programmatic, and other channels, or NPI-level reporting on where impressions were delivered, that’s a signal you may be paying point of care premiums for lower-cost tactics. Similarly, if your vendor doesn’t allow for third-party measurement or tagging, that’s an indicator your program may not be delivering where and to whom you expect.
And the risks aren’t just to your budget—a lack of transparency into how and where brand messages are delivered to HCPs can also create compliance risks. MLR and other approvals are often based on clear business rules for targeting and activation. When the picture gets muddled by unclear deployment, it can raise questions that leave marketers in a tight spot with regulators.
The Point of Care as a Strategy, Not Just a Channel
Perhaps the biggest misconception about POC that it’s just another media channel. In reality, it’s a strategic moment. And in this case, timing is everything. When executed with precision and clarity, it does something unique: informing care decisions as they are being made. But when misunderstood, it becomes just another line item in the media mix—optimized for cost and divorced from script impact.
As the ecosystem expands and new vendors emerge, it’s imperative that life sciences marketers keep asking tough questions, demand transparency, and beware of promises that sound too good to be true.