Maria Cipicchio sits at the intersection of some of the world’s most dizzying three-letter acronyms.
She’s the SVP of strategic market intelligence at OptimizeRx, a software subscription service for healthcare providers, which plugs into their drug-prescribing and record-keeping systems. And OptimizeRx has taken its next big step into the world of programmatic through a new partnership this month with The Trade Desk.
OptimizeRx’s inventory is all within HCP electronic health records (EHRs). The company’s inventory is all strictly within the doctor’s log-in portal at the point of care, and its advertisers to date are all pharma brands.
“We knew that we needed to enter the [programmatic] space very carefully,” Cipicchio told AdExchanger.
OptimizeRx started working with DeepIntent earlier this year on a programmatic banner ad partnership. Doctors or healthcare providers (or HCPs) see these ads in their software UIs when they log in to set up a prescription or copay card for a patient.
Programmatic units, though, are loaded with more concerns, she said. For one thing, pharma marketers don’t want to have their ads placed alongside actual patient data. That’s not a government rule, but something that’s important to those marketers.
Then there are OptimizeRx’s concerns. The ad creatives must all be vetted, Cipicchio said. Aside from making sure there’s nothing inappropriate or off-base, it’s important not to serve an ad that feels errant or misleading to the doctor. The ad must always focus on relevant healthcare data regarding its product.
“But the buyer doesn’t ever see that aspect of it, which is one of the beauties of programmatic,” she said.
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OptimizeRx is taking a conservative approach to programmatic. But it’s excited about the revenue prospects as well.
Which is why the company is making the leap from DeepIntent – which, as a healthcare-focused DSP, lives inside the same regulatory bubble as OptimizeRx – to working with The Trade Desk as well.
OptimizeRx’s inventory is all within HCP electronic health records (EHRs). The targeting is all based on a unique medical identifier assigned to every prescribing doctor, called a National Provider Identifier (or NPI – told you there’d be acronyms). Unlike web or CTV targeting, every advertiser on OptimizeRx knows exactly who’s seeing the ad, and the identifier is persistent for the doctor’s career. There are no bots; the ad is fully in view and is never “below the fold,” Cipicchio said, like other programmatic media.
Part of the promise of its Trade Desk partnership “is the OpenPath idea,” which would mean the DSP could analyze its ads served within the HCP EHR in comparison with campaigns on streaming TV or other channels.
A general programmatic partner like TTD also opens the door to new types of advertisers outside the prescription base, Cipicchio said.
But there are other types of marketers that would like the opportunity to serve an ad to certain doctors right before a patient is given their next steps.
“Every skincare product wants a doctor to recommend their product,” she said. It’s often the case that a doctor, even when they are going to issue a prescription or see a patient on an issue over the course of weeks or months, will recommend over-the-counter products, like NyQuil or Tylenol. An over-the-counter allergy brand might use TTD’s system to target geographical areas during allergy breakout seasons, like spring pollen.
At least, those are compelling sales pitches OptimizeRx might make now that it has the TTD integration.
To date, practically all of OptimizeRx’s ad business has been tied to prescription drug brands, Cipicchio said. Which makes sense.
“But there’s no restriction on that in the programmatic arena,” she said.
