Rethinking HCP Engagement

In today’s digital-first world, consumer personalization is no longer something we think about as a luxury. It is an expectation whether we embrace it or not. We all, as consumers, experience this personalization daily through platforms like Amazon and Netflix, where data-driven recommendations guide our decisions, often before we’ve made a conscious choice. But this type of intelligence isn’t limited to retail or entertainment. In pharmaceutical marketing, we’re now seeing a significant shift toward applying this same philosophy to engage healthcare professionals (HCPs) more effectively. In a survey of our audience, 63% of HCPs marked “I expect a high level of personalization of content and services from pharmaceuticals I interact with.” (source)

Within the walls of Healthcare marketers, this is known as Next Best Engagement (NBE)—a strategy that is rapidly evolving into a key component of many pharma brands’ marketing efforts. And while its naming may vary—some refer to it as Next Best Action (NBA) or use proprietary internal labels—the principle is fairly consistent: leverage data, behavior, and context to deliver the right message to the right HCP at precisely the right time and preferably in the right contextual environment to impact HCP behavior.

Why NBE is Becoming More Important for Marketers

The healthcare ecosystem continues to change rapidly. HCPs are more time-constrained than ever and are inundated with information across multiple channels. In a recent Epocrates study, 63% say that they see more patients per day and 74% say the complexity of their caseloads has increased over the last five years (source). The traditional spray-and-pray marketing model simply doesn’t make much sense anymore. Most of us in marketing have heard the marketing legend John Wanamaker’s quote, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

While no marketing plan is foolproof, NBE represents a more intelligent approach by using data and analytics to take an HCP through a personalized education journey that guides them through the behavior or perception shift that Pharmaceutical companies want. Which in turn respects the HCPs’ time, tailors the communications to their interests and behaviors, and drives meaningful engagement.

Unlike consumer platforms, NBE in pharmaceutical HCP marketing teams must navigate a far more complex landscape. Regulatory constraints, privacy requirements, and the nuances of medical content make personalization more challenging—but also more essential. The good news is that the tools, data, and technology continue to get stronger, and NBE is meeting these challenges head-on.

How It Works: The Engine Behind the Strategy

At its heart, NBE is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. These engines ingest a wide range of inputs—content engagement, prescribing patterns, digital behaviors, even preferred channels of interaction—and generate recommendations for what message or tactic should come next for a specific HCP.

This isn’t about broad segmentation. It’s about precision marketing at the individual physician level.

Each week, our team takes in updated HCP lists of the updated priority target, analyzes engagement patterns, and deploys highly tailored sequential messaging across our medically relevant endemic platforms—delivering those messages in the right context and at the right moment in the HCP’s digital journey. That level of personalization isn’t just nice to have—it’s critical to driving relevance and performance in a crowded digital landscape. (Source: The Power of Personalization Proven Performance | Next Best Engagement)

The Challenge—and the Opportunity

Every pharma brand is different. Each brand caters to a different specialty and, within that specialty to a different condition or indication within that condition. Knowing that, each brand has its own objectives, content assets, KPIs, and target lists. That is why there is no off-the-shelf simple NBE solution. The most successful implementations are those that are customized, collaborative, and constantly optimized.

NBE is not a “set-it-and-forget-it” campaign. It’s a living, breathing strategy that requires flexibility, curiosity, and a willingness to pivot based on the data. That’s why brands must work closely with partners who understand the nuances of their goals and can bring both strategic insight and executional precision to the table.

Where We are Headed: The Future of NBE

Despite the progress made, the industry is still in the early chapters of the NBE story. As AI technologies mature, we anticipate real-time data processing, deeper list segmentation, and modular content delivery becoming standard practice. Campaigns will become more dynamic, agile, and responsive—driven by real-world behavior rather than static plans.

We envision and MedPage Today is taking the steps for a future where data exchanges happen in real time, content is automatically assembled to meet the unique needs of each HCP, and every touchpoint is informed by a complete view of that HCP’s journey. While a few years ago this seemed far from possible, in today’s landscape, it is technologically inevitable and a non-negotiable for the HCP experience.

An Exciting Time for HCP Marketers

This is an exciting – and critical – time for pharmaceutical marketers. The regulatory environment may be complex, but the opportunity to truly support HCPs with timely, relevant, and impactful content has never been greater.

Next Best Engagement isn’t just a tactic. It’s a mindset. One that challenges us to think smarter, act faster, and connect more meaningfully. As more brands embrace this approach, those who lead with intelligence, flexibility, and empathy will set the standard for what effective HCP engagement looks like in the future.

Together, we have the opportunity to redefine what’s possible in healthcare marketing—and, more importantly, to help HCPs make more informed decisions that lead to better outcomes for their patients.

Rich Russey is an industry leader within the health media industry, with a career spanning senior roles within MedPage Today, Meredith, WebMD & Time Inc amongst others.