HCP marketing

What is HCP marketing and why is it regulated so tightly?

Healthcare professionals decide or influence which medicine, device or therapy a patient receives. For prescription-only medicines they are, in the EU, the only audience a company may promote to at all: Directive 2001/83/EC prohibits advertising prescription-only medicinal products to the general public (Article 88). Everything a pharma company says about such a product therefore has to reach doctors, pharmacists or other qualified professionals directly.

The same directive sets limits on how that happens. Promotional material must be consistent with the approved product information, and gifts or benefits to prescribers are only allowed if they are inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy (Article 94). National law adds its own layer. In Germany the Heilmittelwerbegesetz (HWG) applies, and in France advertising of medicines to healthcare professionals needs prior authorisation from the ANSM, the so-called visa PM, which is valid for two years.

On top of the law come industry codes. Member companies of EFPIA, the European pharmaceutical industry association, publish the transfers of value they make to healthcare professionals and organisations, and the US Open Payments programme (the Sunshine Act) does the same for American physicians. Inside companies, almost every HCP asset passes a medical, legal and regulatory review, often abbreviated as MLR review, before it is released.

Which channels does HCP marketing use?

The classic channel is the field force: sales representatives who visit practices, pharmacies and hospitals. Around it sit medical congresses, sponsored training, scientific publications, webinars, HCP portals, e-mail and direct mail. Most companies now plan these channels together under the label omnichannel, so that a congress visit, a mailing and a follow-up call build on each other.

• Field force and leave-behinds: printed material left at the practice after a visit, often the only thing the doctor keeps.
• E-mail and portals: cheap per contact, but in most EU countries promotional e-mail needs prior consent, and inboxes are crowded.
• Congresses and events: high attention, but costly and limited to the people who attend.
• Direct mail: reaches the practice address without a rep visit and stays on the desk. It becomes measurable once the piece carries a link the recipient can open, as in interactive direct mail.

How does GDPR affect HCP marketing and pharma direct mail?

A doctor’s name, practice address and specialty are ordinary personal data under the GDPR, not special-category health data. Companies usually hold this professional data on the basis of legitimate interest, and Recital 47 of the GDPR states that direct marketing may be regarded as a legitimate interest. Recipients always keep the right to object to direct marketing (Article 21), and that objection must be respected.

Electronic channels are stricter. The ePrivacy rules require prior consent for most promotional e-mail, which is one reason printed mail has kept its place in pharma. Tracking adds a second question: measuring that a mailing was opened is different from building a profile of an individual doctor. A privacy-friendly setup counts interactions per mailing or segment by default and only links them to a named recipient where there is a clear legal basis and the person has been informed. Our article on pharma direct mail tracking under GDPR goes through the details.

How do you measure HCP marketing?

Measurement in HCP marketing starts with reach (how many relevant professionals received a message) and moves on to engagement and outcomes. For digital channels this is built in. For printed pieces it used to stop at the dispatch list, which is why print often looked weaker in reports than it was.

Print becomes measurable when each piece carries its own digital entry point: an NFC chip, a QR code or a personalised URL. Useful metrics are the share of pieces opened, which content was viewed and for how long, which follow-up actions were taken (sample request, webinar registration, rep appointment) and how a mailed group compares with a control group that did not receive the piece. The method behind this is print attribution.

How does Interactive Paper support HCP marketing?

Interactive Paper embeds NFC chips in printed mailings, folders and leave-behinds. A doctor taps the piece with a phone and the content opens in the browser, without an app or login: a short product video, a study summary, a link to prescribing information or a booking form for a rep visit. Because the content is hosted on the Let’s interact platform, it can be updated after printing. Any change to promotional content still goes through your own review process.

On the data side, the platform is built for GDPR: hosting in the EU, no personal data read from the phone on a tap, and opt-in flows wherever tracking is tied to a named recipient. Interaction data can be passed to the CRM via API. The healthcare use cases are on the healthcare page, the compliance setup on GDPR-safe pharma direct mail, and recurring, CRM-triggered mailings run through automated direct mail.

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