How to Build Trust with Patients: What Healthcare Professionals Say Actually Works at the Point of Care

We’ll explore these trust dynamics across the healthcare ecosystem in greater depth at our upcoming POC NOW Summit on March 18th in New York City. The event will convene healthcare professionals, marketers, and industry leaders to discuss how communication, education, and engagement at the point of care are evolving.

Register now to join the conversation.

For pharma, building trust among patients has always been central to success. But in 2026—when patients arrive at the Point of Care (POC) armed with online research, artificial intelligence (AI)-generated insights, and highly specific questions—pharma marketers can no longer rely solely on traditional messaging to build trust. Marketers must deliberately, quickly, and repeatedly build trust in their brands and therapies amid a backdrop of ever-increasing, sometimes untrue, health information.

During our recent Candid Conversations event, we turned to healthcare professionals for advice on how pharma can navigate this changing landscape of health information and trust-building.

The thirteen healthcare professionals (HCPs) we spoke with were candid about how fragile patient trust has become—and how easily it can be disrupted. Across specialties and care settings, clinicians described a shared reality: Patients want to be heard, respected, and treated as partners. This reminder is important not only for HCPs, but also for pharma marketers designing patient communications.

When the patients don’t feel heard, respected, and partnered with, even the most evidence-based care plans can quickly fall apart.

The HCPs message to healthcare marketers was clear: Patient trust is not built through authority or correction, as was a prevailing belief among HCPs and pharma in the past. It’s built through curiosity, tone, and acknowledgment—especially at the POC.

Patients Don't Just Want Answers—They Want to Be Acknowledged

HCPs consistently reported that patients arrived at appointments with information gathered from many sources. While the quality of that information varies widely, the effort the patients make to uncover it—and their attachment to its perceived validity—is meaningful.

“Patients are coming to us with information that they gather from various different sources, and that may be electronic sources, it might be word of mouth, it may be from other clinicians,” said a healthcare professional.

Rather than seeing this as a threat to clinical authority, many clinicians described it as an opportunity—if handled correctly. Dismissing or correcting patients too abruptly can shut down dialogue before it begins.

“I love that patients are able to access information quickly. My goal as a doctor is to make sure that they use it in the best way possible, because there are a lot of dangers, such as misinformation or really misdiagnosis,” said another healthcare professional.

Once clinicians receive the full breadth and depth of information from patients, they can advise on what’s true and what’s false. They can also allay fears and patient concerns.

This “give me everything” approach to patient interactions reframes the patient-provider encounter. Instead of positioning the clinician as an expert correcting a mistake, it establishes a shared goal: understanding the patient’s frame of reference when coming into a POC setting, getting to the bottom of their fears, and guiding them through credible information together.

Curiosity Preserves Trust When Information Is Wrong

One of the strongest themes to emerge from our HCP conversations was the importance of leading with curiosity—especially when patients bring in misinformation.

“In order to see where people are, you really need to lead with curiosity and find out what parts of information do you really go for,” said a HCP.

HCPs emphasized that patients rarely arrive with misinformation because they want to challenge clinicians. More often, they are trying to make sense of uncertainty, risk, and fear. When clinicians honor that effort, patients are more likely to stay engaged.

“If we can honor that person right there, that will invite them to bring in more information to you, and [they’re] also more likely to trust you,” said a healthcare professional. “Because you trusted what I brought to you, even if it’s wrong, but you honored me in that moment.”

That trust creates space for evidence-based guidance—without alienating the patient.

Tone Can Build—or Break—a Care Plan

HCPs described tone as a powerful, often underestimated factor in patient adherence. Even when clinical recommendations are sound, how they are delivered can determine whether or not patients follow through.

“Authenticity is key. Listening to patient stories, that is number one,” said a healthcare professional.

With limited time to assess symptoms, explain options, and address concerns, clinicians must be intentional about how they communicate. A dismissive tone—even unintentionally—can cause patients to disengage.

This is where pharmaceutical communications can play a meaningful role—by sharing resources that support patient-provider conversations taking place at the point of care. As noted by the HCPs, successful pharma communications acknowledge concerns (and even misinformation patients may have encountered about a specific condition or therapy) and share credible information in a succinct, approachable, and easy-to-digest way that won’t overwhelm or alienate patients.

Rather than framing education as a one-way transfer of information, many clinicians described successful visits as collaborative problem-solving sessions in which patient concerns are surfaced early and addressed respectfully.

Trust Is Built Before, During, and After the Visit

Trust at the POC doesn’t start when the clinician walks into the room—and it doesn’t end when the visit is over. HCPs emphasized that they (and pharma) have the opportunity to reinforce trust across multiple touchpoints.

Patients may nod during visits, but emotional overload often prevents full comprehension in the moment. Repetition across follow-up visits, written materials, and digital tools helps reinforce understanding and build confidence in the information being shared.

Trust is also shaped by what happens after the visit—whether patients feel supported, informed, and able to ask questions as new concerns arise.

Misinformation Challenges Trust—Silence Destroys It

HCPs described that when patients feel dismissed, they often stop asking questions—and stop sharing concerns that could affect care.

Patients may hesitate to disclose cost concerns, side effects, or confusion out of embarrassment or fear of judgment. When trust is lacking, and open dialogue between patients and clinicians is not overtly encouraged, these barriers remain hidden—and adherence suffers.

“The stigma of coming in and saying that they can’t do it somehow prevents them from telling,” said a healthcare professional.

Trust Must Extend Across the Care Team

Trust isn’t built with one healthcare professional. Patients interact with multiple members of a care team, yet inconsistencies in tone or messaging can undermine confidence.

Pharmacists, in particular, were cited as critical trust-builders—often answering questions patients didn’t feel comfortable raising earlier.

“We as healthcare providers, we are recognizing that there needs to be a collaborative effort between all of us in order to meet the patient's needs and provide the best patient care possible. I think five years ago, we were challenged because our clients, first of all, only knew one healthcare provider, but I think the dynamic has shifted, and now they know a lot of us. So they know their nurse practitioners, they know their physician assistant, they know they're pharmacists, and they also know patient care coordinators and so on and so forth,” shared a healthcare professional.

When care teams are aligned in how they communicate, patients experience continuity and reassurance—reinforcing trust at every step.

AI Is Changing How Clinicians (& Pharma) Build Patient Trust

Artificial intelligence (AI) has added a new layer to trust dynamics. Patients increasingly arrive having consulted AI tools before speaking with a clinician.

Rather than ignoring or dismissing AI-generated information, HCPs described the need to contextualize it—helping patients understand limitations while reinforcing clinical judgment.

“One of the biggest things that we need to do as providers is to help sift through that information, and that requires us to meet the patients where they are and figure out what they're bringing to the table, what information have they already gathered, and then try to disseminate correct information, if it's not correct, or amplify the information that they've already gathered,” shared a healthcare professional.

Trust, in this environment, is built not by competing with AI, but by elevating the conversation beyond it.

What This Means at the Point of Care

This observation underscores a critical reality: trust is not a “soft” metric. It directly influences patient engagement, adherence, and outcomes. When patients don’t feel heard or respected—or when opportunities for meaningful information sharing are missed—a lot can be left on the table.

As uncertainty driven by information overload continues to shape patient behavior, the curiosity, empathy, and respect patients receive increasingly determine whether they stay engaged in their care.

At the point of care, trust can be built in minutes—through the right tone, framing, and partnership. When clinicians feel supported in delivering information with empathy and clarity, patients are more likely to follow through.