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In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without consent. When it comes to understanding HIPAA for uses of health information for advertising, there’s lots of room for interpretation leaving advertisers unsure if certain marketing capabilities are compliant and ethical. This especially holds true for pharmaceutical advertisers using health information to target audiences for prescription drugs, medical devices and other pharmaceutical brands through media. To provide an industry standard and best practices, there are committees devoted to providing this direction to advertisers like the National Advertising Initiative (NAI), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and others.Â
One of the leading bodies in defining the regulations for digital advertising is the NAI. Founded in 2000, the NAI published a set of code for advertisers to abide by that is supported by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The most recent revisions to the code enables advertisers to reference media targeting best practices according to the NAI, including a definition for Sensitive Health Information to provide pharmaceutical advertisers with more concrete direction.
The first step is to understand if the brand falls under the ‘sensitive’ category. This will impact targeting capabilities. According to the NAI, there are two subsets of sensitive information:Â
Determining whether a health condition is considered ‘sensitive’ is unclear in the industry. The NAI only provides a few sensitive categories. These include drug addiction, STDs, mental health, pregnancy termination, and all conditions predominantly affecting children not treated by OTC and Cancer.
There are resources to help guide the analysis of determining whether the brand falls into the sensitive category. The NAI provides guidance to help determine whether pharmaceutical targeting segments are considered sensitive.
However, this guidance does not give advertisers a clear list of the targeting capabilities that are compliant. Coegi recommends using this guide to drive direct conversations with the client. It is useful to create a mutual agreement on whether the brand falls into either the sensitive category to influence compliant targeting solutions.Â
There is no clear list provided by any regulatory source. So, Coegi recommends working with the client to align on the brand’s definition of sensitivity. This will greatly affect compliant targeting capabilities.Â
The Trade Desk (a NAI member) also takes precautions and has a healthcare targeting policy. Because there is no official list deeming health conditions sensitive or non-sensitive, TTD has its own process. It defines whether a condition is deemed high, medium or low in the sensitive category to then determine permitted targeting capabilities. This policy uses a multi-factor analysis to take into account many considerations when calculating each condition’s category.Â
Other advertising platforms have similar protocols for brands in the healthcare space. Before running paid ads through Facebook, advertisers must gain permission according to its Promotion of Prescription Drugs policy.
Once you determine whether the target is in the sensitive or non-sensitive condition category, use these tactics to target consumers:Â
Behavioral Targeting
Contextual Targeting
Geotargeting
Retargeting Â
Because you’re targeting by profession, there are fewer restrictions for HCPs. ID-based targeting allows pharmaceutical brands to reach HCPs with a compliant audience-first approach.
Various forms of audience targeting for HCPs can include:Â
Depending on a particular client’s goals, Coegi will provide a recommended targeting strategy to reach a HCP audienceÂ
Even with less restrictions, we recommends investigating and understanding the source of the data segments associated with NPIs. We have a conversation with the brand team to gain alignment on certain targeting efforts, especially retargeting.
Interested in learning more about pharmaceutical targeting marketing best practices? View our white paper to learn more on targeting patients and providers with best-in-class digital tactics.
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