The Business Need For POC-Specific Standard Terms and Conditions
The IAB, since 2004, has promulgated the Standard Terms and Conditions for Interactive Advertising for Media Buys of One Year or Less (IAB Standard Ts&Cs). Information on the IAB is available here and the Standard Ts&Cs can be downloaded here.
The IAB Standard Ts&Cs are intended to offer media companies and advertising agencies a standard for conducting business in a manner acceptable to both which have been updated periodically to address changing legal requirements, business needs, and technology.
The overall goal of the document, as explained on the IAB website, is to “create a fair and balanced document that covers the majority of standard media buys and therefore streamlines the buying process.”
The IAB Standard Ts&Cs, while extremely useful for interactive media generally, are a poor fit for the contractual necessities around marketing delivered to patients and caregivers in healthcare settings. To that end, POCMA and its members have determined there is a business need for standard terms and conditions specific to advertising and marketing delivered in POC settings.
Nature and Scope of POCMA’s Proposed Activity
POCMA intends to develop, promulgate, and publish voluntary consensus standards for POC media advertising similar to the IAB Standard Ts&Cs. The Standard Terms and Conditions for Point of Care Media Advertising (POC Standard Ts&Cs) would set out reasonable and acceptable provisions that media companies and agencies servicing the POC market may use to make their own contract negotiations more efficient. The proposed POC Ts&Cs, once final, could be incorporated into orders for services and advertising buys to represent the contracting parties’ common understanding of doing business. As a voluntary consensus standard, the POC Ts&Cs, could, of course, be amended or modified as mutually agreed between the Parties.
POCMA will publish these voluntary consensus standards for the POC Media Advertising industry, using procedures that incorporate the attributes of openness, balance of interests, and due process.
Process to Submit Comments
Open Comment Period: August 9, 2023 – end of day on September 18, 2023
POCMA is currently seeking feedback from industry stakeholders, including advertising agencies and media companies. To provide your comments, kindly follow these instructions:
1. Download the draft of the POC Ts&Cs from the provided link.
2. Track your changes and insert comments within the document.
3. Submit all comments to . Comments to the proposed POC Ts&Cs will be considered and documented through the comment process. The final version of the POC Ts&Cs will be determined through a vote by the
POCMA Board and will be published on our website.
