Introduction to the Series
This article is the first in a series dedicated to exploring the unique opportunities within Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems as a channel for healthcare marketing. Based on in-depth interviews with executive experts at the forefront of EHR innovation and healthcare marketing, this series brings together the insights of industry leaders who are shaping the future of patient and provider engagement. By understanding the EHR’s evolving role as a dynamic platform for marketing, brands can discover new avenues to connect with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients at critical points in the care journey.
Through this series, we’ll uncover the strategies, values, and vision of top minds in EHR and marketing—focusing on how the EHR serves as a trusted, integrated channel that offers unparalleled reach and relevance within the healthcare environment.
The EHR as a Marketing Channel
Redefining the EHR Beyond Patient Records
EHRs have evolved into powerful marketing channels extending far beyond their original function as clinical documentation tools. Now embedded across the healthcare ecosystem, they enable life sciences brands to connect meaningfully with both patients and healthcare providers (HCPs) within care workflows. While not all EHRs currently allow for sponsored messaging, integrations are rapidly expanding, creating mutually beneficial opportunities for HCPs, healthcare systems, brands, and patients. EHRs now support every stage of the patient journey—from treatment decisions to financial and educational needs—becoming integral to healthcare settings.
This broader utility, reaching beyond the primary patient records, highlights the EHR’s role as an educational and decision-support platform. Brands that leverage the EHR to deliver potential treatment information align with healthcare providers’ goals by enhancing knowledge-sharing and facilitating care decisions within this established clinical environment. As these systems become more sophisticated, they are used by a broader range of healthcare professionals, from nurses to administrative staff, who rely on EHRs not only for patient care but also for tasks like navigating insurance and supporting treatment affordability. This growing user base expands the EHR’s value as a marketing platform, where brands looking to educate patients and HCPs at crucial decision points find an ideal venue—enhancing their presence within a trusted healthcare environment.
Table of Contents
Understanding the EHR Landscape: A Guide for Marketers
The EHR landscape presents both significant opportunities and complexities for healthcare marketers. As Maria O’Mara, SVP of Business Development at ConnectiveRx, notes, “There are over 600 different EHR’s within the United States. It’s a fragmented market.” This fragmentation is crucial to understand when approaching an EHR marketing strategy. O’Mara expounds on the significance:
“Each EHR is going to have different capabilities and varying comfort with allowing pharma access to their closed system. This can make it challenging for pharma to navigate the waters. But those who take the time can see meaningful results. The channel provides a unique space to reach HCPs and key decision makers when they are actively making treatment decisions.”
Maria Cipicchio, SVP of Product Marketing at OptimizeRx, cautions marketers and brands to be informed:
“People often forget how big the EHR landscape is. There are short-hands that media buyers use to approximate reach within the EHR that end up being a disservice to the goal they are trying to achieve. Because of the fragmentation of the EHR landscape, using the names of specific EHRs to understand the individuals you may reach within an EHR workflow doesn’t work to understand reach or overlap between EHR marketing options. The best way to understand who you’re going to reach is by asking for NPI list matches specific to the EHR, understanding the workflow locations of your messaging, and asking how your targeting parameters will impact your reach in workflow. There are now multiple ways to buy messaging in the EHR, and it’s important to understand the differences between private aggregators, direct-to-EHR engagements, and programmatic EHR bids. The reach and setting of your messaging can be different across these types of buys. If you don’t have a good idea of the specific audience you need to reach and confirm that the partner you’ve chosen can reach them in workflow, that’s going to have a negative impact on the success of the program you’re running.”
Understanding this landscape’s complexity sets the foundation for exploring how different types of EHR partnerships can be leveraged effectively.
Cipicchio continues, “In the same vein, it’s also important to understand all the types of technologies that are part of the EHR ecosystem, how they’re related, and who is using them. When we speak about making connections with patients through the EHR, we’re mainly referring to the proximity to care, and the influence of the HCP on a patient’s decision to adopt a prescribed treatment. The expansiveness of the EHR ecosystem now includes technologies that are ‘EHR-adjacent.’ For example, understanding if your messaging is appearing in front of a patient, or HCP, or both, is an important distinction when developing clinically relevant content that’s actionable for the audience. For the most part, EHR workflow engagements are seen by an HCP, so the patient connection is reliant on the content being something that the HCP feels would be relevant to share with the patient.”
The Reality of EHR Systems and Integration
EHR systems were initially designed for billing and record-keeping—not advertising. As Angelo Campano, EHR consultant and CEO of Flora Management, explains, “EHR specifically wasn’t built for advertising. If you think about it, go back 40 years when it first came out…. It was intended for billing, nothing more than that.” This foundation poses a challenge, but it also underscores a unique opportunity: for marketing to be effective within EHRs, it must add real value to the workflow. Unlike other channels, where visibility alone might suffice, EHR messaging must support healthcare processes.
Damon Basch, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Veradigm, describes the complexities in EHR adoption, noting: “Epic is the largest EHR vendor in the country. But that doesn’t mean there are natively integrated marketing opportunities with Epic writ large. Even within one health system, each instance of an EHR is differentiated for specialists, bringing greatly varying workflows, levels of intraoperability, data rights, and abilities to deliver marketing interventions.” In other words, while EHRs may seem connected, they remain fragmented, with each specialty and institution often operating within its tailored environment.
Yet, there is an organic demand for integrated messaging among EHR users, which presents a significant marketing opportunity. For instance, as of September 2024, Epic reports 136 Billion web service transactions using APIs over the year, with over 30,000 active interfaces. The Open Epic site states the mission: “Our library of open web services enables extensions and connections to support the evolving needs of the Epic community.” Modern EHR integration balances innovation and privacy, encouraging integration while protecting patient and system privacy. They encourage building more connections to support evolving needs of users.
The Value Proposition: Understanding What Works
Success in EHR marketing relies on meaningful contributions to clinical workflow. As Damon Basch explains: “In a clinical environment, most Providers don’t object to appropriate marketing. We’ve objectively proven this. However, there is a mandate that it is relevant to a practice workflow or patient encounter and adds value. In other words, if they consume or get value from the content and it meets all applicable laws, it is quite okay that Pharma is the sponsor of it. The toolbox we can pull from now to ensure that is the case is so much stronger than it has ever been.”
Marketers aiming to leverage this channel must work with EHR partners that can operationalize messaging effectively. Angelo Campano highlights the success of one Health Care Supplier, which gained traction by offering EHR-based solutions tailored to health system workflows. “They’re doing patient journey work in Epic with their tool where they’ll take the patient from diagnosis through what they call their whole waterfall of care… They went to big health systems saying, ‘We integrate this directly into your record system. It helps with your entire flow.’ They went from zero to 75 health systems in less than six months.” This rapid adoption demonstrates how targeted, value-focused solutions resonate within EHRs.
While understanding the value proposition is essential, equally important is recognizing how EHR companies view their role in the healthcare ecosystem and what that means for marketing partnerships.
Platform Perspectives: EHR Companies as Enablers, Not Targets
Major EHR platforms like Epic view their role as tech providers, not ad channels, which shapes their approach to partnerships. As Campano notes: “Epic… they’re like, why do we work with Pharma? They sell drugs. We sell technology. We compare ourselves to Apple and Microsoft, not Pfizer and Novartis.”
This distinction shapes how brands can access and deploy messaging within these systems. For example, Epic licenses to health systems, which then control advertising access. Campano explains, “If you want to advertise, go talk to one of our partners that have access… a lot of companies work with Epic now go work directly with the health system because the health system will allow you to advertise to the health system on Epic, but Epic won’t allow you to operate on Epic.“
In short, reaching providers through EHRs can take multiple forms, from programmatic claims data integration to aggregation models, depending on the specific goals and targeting needs. Veradigm and others offer direct partnerships that provide targeted data access, underscoring the importance of choosing partners strategically.
Article 2: EHR Marketing Strategy
Data Access and Privacy Considerations
Regardless of which EHR partners marketers select, privacy and compliance play a major role in shaping access. HIPAA requirements restrict the extent of data that EHR vendors can provide. Maria O’Mara explains, “Some EHRs may be open to pharma messaging, but they often draw the line at sharing PHI or allowing tags like cookies within their systems. These platforms are built first and foremost to serve healthcare providers (HCPs), which remains their top priority.”
These restrictions underscore the EHR’s role as a high-trust environment, requiring marketers to navigate privacy considerations thoughtfully. As O’Mara notes, “The great news is that pharma has options. They can choose to focus solely on environments where detailed data is available, or they can prioritize maximum reach and impact. We’ve developed solutions to support both strategies.”
The Untapped Potential of the EHR as a Marketing Channel
The EHR’s access to clinical environments is a core strength, creating a space where brands can engage with HCPs, care staff, and patients in a trusted, health-centered setting. Unlike traditional channels, EHR-based marketing supports, rather than interrupts, the patient journey—challenging marketers accustomed to other channels to think differently about engagement within the EHR space.
As Maria Cipicchio puts it, “From an EHR perspective, it’s not the business model to be putting advertisements in front of physicians—nor do many of them want to nor should they. In order to truly penetrate this landscape and gain more mind share, we don’t want to draw the attention of the HCP outside the clinical workflow when we’re engaging in the EHR space.” Instead, she emphasizes the clinician’s focus on patient care distinguishes EHR marketing from traditional channels. “Messaging and information delivered in workflow should be additive to what they’re doing, not distracting.”
This patient-centered focus benefits all parties: patients receive information that supports optimal treatment outcomes; brands align their messaging in ways that foster positive patient experiences without overshadowing the care process. As Maria O’Mara observes, “The EHR is a custom solution. And when you have marketers who see the value and are willing to put in the time, I think that they see their returns skyrocket.” This alignment allows branded content to be integrated seamlessly, reinforcing treatment conversations.
When EHR messages are embedded effectively, they enhance patient understanding and support HCP guidance, adding value across interactions. For example, EHR content might introduce patients to a medication support program, a disease management tool, or financial resources—all in ways that enhance both patient and provider experiences.
The Power of Intuitive Messaging in the EHR Space
One of the EHR’s defining strengths is its ability to embed messages naturally within the clinical environment, enhancing both patient care and healthcare workflows. EHR-based messaging reaches physicians, care teams, and administrative staff during patient decision-making, allowing it to feel less like external promotion and more like an integrated aspect of the clinical environment.
Dan Wilmer, Chief Product Officer of InStep Health, underscores the EHR’s unique potential for delivering valuable, supportive content that integrates seamlessly into patient care. “The EHR is where brands want to be because it’s an unparalleled space for providing relevant, on-label messaging that enhances the clinical workflow,” says Wilmer. “EHR vendors are responsible for acting as stewards of the information presented within the clinical workflow. Teams within these organizations undergo rigorous compliance training to ensure that all content meets strict legal standards and is restricted to ‘on-label’ purposes. It is essential to preserve the integrity of the EHR environment, allowing healthcare providers to trust that the information provided is medically accurate and fully aligned with regulatory requirements.“
CASE STUDY: Real-World Impact of In-Workflow Messaging
The intuitive nature of EHR messaging is further illustrated through in-workflow solutions that actively support HCP decision-making. Maria O’Mara provides an example:
“Where we have partnerships with certain manufacturers, we are now building custom solutions. One example of a custom solution that was built was for a brand that was going through a formulation change. We supported that update through our e-prescribing solution. When the doctor selected the old NDC [National Drug Code], we delivered a message that informed the HCP of the new therapeutic dose. A link to the dosing chart was also included so that the HCP had the information at their fingertips. The alert provided the HCP pertinent information necessary to prescribe the medication. It ensured the HCP didn’t have to go out of the workflow to answer any questions s/he had and reduced the amount of pharmacy call backs as the old formulation was no longer stocked.”
This integration streamlines clinical tasks and minimizes errors, ultimately freeing up HCPs to spend more time with their patients.
“That message is front and foremost helping to automate. It’s helping to facilitate the prescriber’s practice. They have more time in front of their patient versus having to go look something up on Google. If we can get to a place with Pharma where that’s what it’s about, then you’re providing value to your physician, and then more physicians are gonna want to be engaging,” adds O’Mara.
This approach to in-workflow messaging within the EHR offers distinct benefits:
- It addresses clinical problems and prevents errors.
- It enhances the efficiency of HCP workflows, allowing more time for patient interaction.
- It provides physicians with the information they need without disrupting their focus.
This type of integrated messaging doesn’t simply promote products or services; it creates real value. While an audience-centered approach is widely discussed in marketing, it is often fully realized within the EHR channel. Brands leveraging the EHR establish themselves as contributors to the patient experience. By fostering this intuitive integration, brands in the EHR space move beyond traditional promotion to become genuine partners in the healthcare experience.
Having explored the technical and operational aspects of EHR marketing, we can now examine the strategic advantages that make this channel uniquely powerful.
Strategic Benefits of Using EHRs in Healthcare Marketing
Exploring the strategic advantages of EHR-based marketing reveals three defining elements: proximity to the conversion point, contextual relevance within a high-trust environment, and enhanced patient and HCP engagement.
Each of these elements amplifies brand impact and elevates EHRs as a channel closely aligned with the real-time needs of the healthcare journey.
1. Proximity to Conversion
The EHR’s proximity to healthcare decision-making moments transforms it into one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s toolkit. By embedding messages within this critical juncture, brands can deliver highly relevant information to patients and HCPs right when treatment options and care plans are top-of-mind.
Maria Cipicchio underscores this proximity, saying, “It’s as close to the conversion point of a treatment decision as you can possibly get.”
By delivering messaging at this pivotal moment, marketers can reinforce treatment options and support choices that directly benefit patients, creating a significant impact at the point where it matters most.
Expanding on this perspective, O’Mara, describes the EHR as a high-value touchpoint for engaging HCPs: “The EHR is really this unique opportunity to deliver messaging and support to the HCPs while they are making treatment decisions,” For O’Mara, the EHR represents the culmination of multiple promotional strategies, uniting both personal and nonpersonal tactics into a seamless experience that supports patient care. “It is the culmination of all of the tactics and all of the personal and nonpersonal promotion that Pharma is putting into the marketplace—and it’s the opportunity to reinforce that message at an extraordinarily critical time,” she notes.
Whether HCPs are directly interacting with patients or managing administrative tasks, the EHR’s presence ensures that relevant information is available exactly when it’s needed, amplifying the impact of brand messaging at critical points across the care continuum.
2. Contextual Relevance and High-Trust Environment
One of the EHR’s most compelling advantages as a marketing channel is its ability to seamlessly integrate with real-time clinical interactions. By reaching HCPs and patients within the context of the healthcare workflow, EHR-based messages are perceived as natural and relevant, rather than as interruptions. This level of contextual alignment distinguishes EHR marketing from other channels and increases its effectiveness.
Founder and Global CEO of Doceree, Harshit Jain, reinforces the importance of timing, noting that “Messaging inside an EHR is a way to hyper-target physicians in a professional environment when they are thinking about patients, when they are making decisions about patients.”
This alignment with clinical workflow creates natural opportunities for brand engagement that complement rather than interrupt care delivery, allowing brands to position themselves as reliable, integral contributors to patient care.
3. Enhanced Patient and HCP Engagement
Finally, EHR messaging supports engagement for both HCPs and patients by delivering actionable information at moments when attention is naturally focused on health. The timing of EHR messages aligns with the healthcare journey itself, facilitating better patient adherence and supporting HCPs as they guide patient care. Cipicchio explains, “The information delivered has to be as actionable as absolutely possible…because you’re talking about that conversion space when the doctor and patient are together. This is where the HCP is thinking about your drug, or talking about it with their patient. They are thinking about how to do their job of managing the care and next steps in their treatment plan. Any information they can use in the moment regarding a patient can be actionable.” Maria continues, explaining that it’s both ‘in the moment’ and ‘over time’ as physicians use the EHR to consider treatment options: “for example if they know that it’s easier for a patient to get a specific drug – and they’re reminded of that in the EHR as they’re prescribing—they’re more likely to prescribe it. It’s not as impactful at that point to tell them to go get more information on a brand website.”
EHR is a unique tool for messaging across workflows that change with each specialty and user. It flexes based on the provider—bridging brands to HCPs wherever they are using an EHR. As Basch details:
“You need some type of harmonizing principle to effect a true omnichannel strategy and, in our world, it’s the NPI. A combination of identity and device graphing and audience behavior segmentation allows us to do this more powerfully than ever before. I would argue, to the Providers benefit, as we are not wasting their time and giving them a curated brand journey at all stages. What does the provider do in their blue jeans or pajama moments versus their clinical and white coat moments? What do they do when they’re watching TV versus when they’re in the hospital, or when they’re taking clinic hours? And the only way to really connect the dots is through an NPI, which is fine if you’re going full omnichannel stack but it’s so important to recognize in an EHR that it’s not just an NPI—it’s a clinician about to make a diagnosis and prescribing decision. Conversion tactics must be pinpoint, not mass. Marketers still need education on how to reconcile the scaled efficiencies of top-of-funnel versus targeted EHR.”
Final Points: Embracing the EHR's Role & Being a Good Steward
The level of responsibility the EHR relies on is cantilevered by the tremendous benefit it offers brands, practitioners and patients. In healthcare marketing, what we do truly matters. As Damon Basch of Veradigm observes:
“The people representing brands really want to give physicians and patients the best tool that they can, whether it’s information, financial savings, care coordination and support, and so on. The better we are, as marketers, at using the data we have at Points of Care to improve that experience for both of them, the better the outcome for all stakeholders, including marketers.“
To be successful in EHR marketing, brands must create messaging that resonates with HCPs while respecting system parameters and clinical priorities. Maria O’Mara emphasizes the importance of stewardship, noting that delivering relevant, workflow-supportive information earns more space within EHR systems. “We can show that Pharma is supporting the HCP—and it’s not just about splashing up a ‘click here to learn more’ message—within the workflow… Then more EHRs potentially are willing to adopt that integration of Pharma and in-workflow messaging.”
As we’ve seen, the EHR represents a powerful opportunity for healthcare marketers who understand its unique dynamics and respect its core purpose of supporting patient care. In our next article, we’ll delve deeper into specific strategies and creative approaches that maximize the EHR’s potential, exploring how brands can develop messaging that resonates within this distinctive environment while maintaining the high standards of trust and relevance that make the channel so effective.
