Insights from Ray Rotolo on Healthcare's Digital Evolution and Marketing Innovation
The Modern Healthcare Challenge
Reaching patients and providers in today’s healthcare landscape isn’t just more complex—it’s fundamentally different. Patients aren’t abandoning in-office care, but they are navigating a more intricate mix of touchpoints, preferences, and access points. Digital pathways, shifting care settings, and evolving patient behaviors are reshaping the healthcare experience, making Point of Care more critical than ever—though no longer confined to the traditional clinical walls.
These changes are not just trends, they are marketing imperatives. For brands, this is a fulcrum moment: either integrate fully into patients’ modern care journeys or remain limited to episodic, reactive touchpoints.
Hinging on this pivotal point, the industry stands at a defining juncture in how it conceptualizes and executes Point of Care engagement. While many organizations still confine POC to in-office encounters, the reality now extends far beyond traditional clinical walls, urging brands to reconsider how and where they connect with patients and providers.
A Conversation on Healthcare's Digital Future
In this comprehensive discussion with Ray Rotolo, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Populus Health Technologies, we examine the complexities of today’s healthcare marketing ecosystem and the role Point of Care plays within it. Drawing on his experience in agency leadership and healthcare technology, Rotolo shares insights into the challenges and opportunities healthcare brands face as they navigate an increasingly interconnected world.
Understanding Point of Care's Evolution
“Point of Care over the past 10-15 years has been looked at really in one guise—in office,” Rotolo observes. “What I don’t want people to forget is where Point of Care is evolving to. It will never leave the in-office space. But now there are new digital aspects of the continuum of care that are becoming very more valid within that space.”
This expansion represents more than just the addition of new digital touchpoints. It signals a fundamental transformation in how healthcare is accessed, delivered, and experienced. Patient portals have evolved from basic scheduling tools into comprehensive engagement platforms where patients manage their health journey—viewing lab results, communicating with care teams, and coordinating across labs, pharmacies, and a range of providers. Digital front doors have streamlined traditional check-in processes, while virtual care has expanded access to specialized expertise and more self-directed healthcare choices. Expanded POC also creates new opportunities to route more patients into traditional settings where Point of Care messaging already exists.
What makes digitization particularly significant is its democratizing effect on healthcare access. As Rotolo explains, “Now, patients who are in rural communities, or patients who may not have the access to the same type of health care that many do, now have the ability to do that through the digital healthcare channels.” This accessibility not only overcomes geographic barriers but also encourages patients to seek care for sensitive health issues they might otherwise avoid.
These changes create strategic opportunities for healthcare brands to provide targeted education and support to historically underserved patient populations. Mental health serves as a compelling example. “One of the reasons why the explosion of online behavioral health has happened,” Rotolo explains, “is the sensitivity of some of those matters. The ability for patients to be semi-anonymous allows more openness in those discussions.” This insight extends beyond mental health to areas such as sexual health, gender- and age-related concerns, and conditions requiring sensitive handling – highlighting how digital transformation can both improve access and create new engagement opportunities.
The transformation has profound implications for healthcare brands. As Rotolo notes, “You’ve got to understand the evolution of the consumer, the evolution of their mind within this space. More successful brands will be the ones who are able to navigate the patient as well as the continuum of physical and digital healthcare delivery, etc, as we move forward.”
Digital Integration and the Rise of the Healthcare Consumer
You may remember faxing medical records between offices, though the days of hand-carrying manila envelopes with patient files from one provider to another is quickly fading from public memory. “Think about the past,” Rotolo reflects. “You’d have to get a messenger to take your file to the next doctor, or have it faxed over. The ability to facilitate all of that interaction together now is amazing.” With these changes, patient expectations and how they interact with the healthcare system are also entering into a new era.
Today’s healthcare landscape looks remarkably different. Patient portals, once novel additions to healthcare delivery, have become powerful engagement hubs that are reshaping patient-provider relationships. “The patient portal has been revolutionary,” Rotolo emphasizes. “When have you ever been able to look at the notes your doctor has put in their charts? That openness, that transparency, is really important in the overall success of your healthcare journey.”
This shift isn’t just about convenience—patients are taking more control of their health. With increased adherence and a greater appetite for health information, brands have a prime opportunity to provide trusted education at the Point of Care, super-charging patient-provider relationships. Patients now opt to track their health metrics, receive medication reminders, and pursue health and wellness almost recreationally—and it extends to the new definition of Point of Care. This continuous engagement creates opportunities for more timely interventions and better health outcomes.
“The patient now is in full control of everything,” Rotolo observes. “They can go to a lab and get all of that to a near diagnosis without having to go to a physician.”
Like broader consumer behavior trends, digital access and transparency are now baseline expectations. Just as consumers expect seamless experiences in retail and banking, they’re bringing these expectations to healthcare. As Rotolo calls it, the “Amazon effect” has trained consumers to expect convenience, transparency, and personalization in all their interactions—including healthcare.
Opportunity for All: The Data-Driven Evolution of Patient Care
Healthcare systems and brands stand to gain from the newly expanded patient points of care and proactivity. There is more access to healthcare data than ever before and it is fundamentally altering patient-provider dynamics. While patient portals and digital access points have made healthcare more accessible, they’ve also created opportunities for data-driven insights that benefit providers, patients, and brands. “Through AI,” Rotolo explains, “you’ll be able to look through years of labs, and all of a sudden you’ve got a page that says, ‘here’s your summary of your health over the last five years.’ That’s incredible to see, and then see the patterns.”
What healthcare and brands can do with this information and more proactive data sharing is only beginning to show its face. The dawn of more holistic and robust care is shining brightly.
Data-rich health will not just light the way for consumers, but should impact our collective health in population health management and targeted interventions. Healthcare organizations can now identify trends, predict needs, and proactively engage with patient populations in ways previously impossible. The implications for treatment adherence and outcomes are profound.
Precision in Patient Engagement
The evolution of Point of Care has also revolutionized how healthcare brands can connect with patients. “Through digital healthcare channels, you’re able to identify patients with specific conditions,” Rotolo explains. “We’re not talking about anything that’s going to be HIPAA noncompliant, but you can understand why patients are actively there.”
This precision dramatically reduces media waste while improving relevance. “As a brand, you can buy engagements within the digital healthcare space and limit your waste. You can actively find patients who have specific diagnosis codes or who’ve had particular treatments. The targeting has changed the way brands look at this space.”
The key is understanding the value exchange. Similar to how consumers share information with platforms like Amazon in exchange for better service, patients are increasingly willing to engage when they see clear benefits. “As long as there’s that exchange of value,” Rotolo notes, “I think most people understand the benefit of sharing certain information to receive more relevant support.”
The technological and behavioral changes enabling more precise patient education and support are multidirectional. The ability to target specific patient populations has revolutionized how healthcare brands approach point of care marketing. “Now I know I can actively find patients who have the ICD-10 code, the diagnosis code for any specific neurological disorder,” Rotolo notes. “I can even buy across CPT codes, which are treatment codes – patients who have had an MRI because of that.”
This precision enables healthcare brands to provide more relevant, timely information when patients are actively engaged in their healthcare journey. It’s a stark contrast to traditional marketing approaches that relied on broad demographic targeting.
The changes we’re seeing in Point of Care are not only foundational to healthcare engagement, they illuminate a continuing reciprocity between life sciences brands, health systems, providers, and patients. We are entering an era when the dialogue between patient need and brand support is accelerating in exciting ways.
Reimagining Healthcare Marketing
Smart healthcare brands are learning to read the room. Gone are the days when a primetime TV spot could carry your message to every relevant audience. As Rotolo puts it, that “shotgun approach to mass communications” has given way to something far more nuanced. Today’s healthcare marketing requires understanding not just where to reach patients, but how to speak to them in moments that matter.
The shift is profound. Each touchpoint—whether it’s a digital waiting room, patient portal, or telehealth platform—represents a distinct mental and emotional space for patients. “You can’t just take a 30-second spot you’d show on the nightly news and put it in the patient intake,” Rotolo explains, drawing from decades of agency and point of care experience. “Be receptive. Understand the mindset that the consumer is in. Take advantage of that mindset.”
Some brands are already embracing this evolution toward more empathetic, patient-centered engagement. Rotolo points to Eli Lilly’s thoughtful repositioning: “Lilly changed their tagline to ‘Lilly: A medicine company.’ We’ve gone back to medicine. It’s not pharmaceuticals, it’s not ‘drugs’—it’s medicine.” It’s a subtle but powerful shift that acknowledges how language shapes trust and connection. “Medicine has the connotation of help,” he notes.
Breaking Through Organizational Inertia
Yet for many healthcare organizations, evolving their approach feels like turning an aircraft carrier. The challenge isn’t just strategic—it’s deeply structural. “When you look at the makeup of a manufacturer, ” Rotolo observes, “Everything is put through the legal eye of mitigating risk.'”
This hyper-cautious culture, while understandable in a highly regulated industry, often stands between brands and meaningful patient engagement. The emphasis on risk management, Rotolo suggests, can overshadow what should be healthcare’s north star: connecting with and supporting real people facing real health challenges.
The brands that break through this inertia will be those that find ways to balance compliance with compassion, regulatory requirements with real human needs. It’s not about choosing between being careful and being caring—it’s about bringing both mindsets to every patient interaction.
The Path Forward
As healthcare continues its digital and behavioral evolution, the opportunities for meaningful patient engagement have never been greater. Patients are selecting their own paths through increasingly diversified care options—self-selecting labs, bypassing general practitioners for urgent care, and becoming all together more proactive in their care journeys. While those changes may feel nebulous, they open a trove of new experiences for patients, healthcare systems, and brands supporting them. Yet, seizing these opportunities requires more than technological adaptation—it demands a fundamental shift in how healthcare brands think about and connect with their audiences. We need to be more human in the face of digital proliferation, rooting into the in-office and digital spaces that people occupy with increasing comfort.
The brands finding success in this fragmenting and nuanced healthcare landscape share common traits: they demonstrate deep understanding of patient contexts, they’re willing to meet patients in their preferred spaces (whether digital or physical), and they’re not afraid to speak in more human terms. As Rotolo emphasizes, “Those more successful brands will be the ones who are able to navigate the patient as well as the continuum of physical and digital healthcare experiences.”
Success requires balancing seemingly competing demands—regulatory compliance with human connection, technological innovation with emotional intelligence, mass reach with personal relevance. The organizations that master this balance will be those that recognize point of care has evolved beyond a channel or location—it’s now an intricate web of moments where brands can support, inform, and engage with patients in meaningful ways.
For healthcare marketers, the mandate is clear: adapt to this more nuanced, patient-centered approach or risk becoming increasingly irrelevant to modern healthcare journeys. The future belongs to brands that can turn the aircraft carrier while keeping their eyes firmly fixed on the horizon—and more importantly, on the patients they serve.
