WHO WE HELP / HEALTH CARE
Media planning for
healthcare.
Make the practice, provider or equipment service easier to find—and measure the appropriate next step. TIER plans and buys media for medical practices, provider groups, dental practices, mobility businesses and durable medical equipment suppliers. Capacity, access, service eligibility and the permitted use of data belong in the media brief from the start.
CLIENTS WE’VE WORKED WITH
Experience across markets and industries.
View more we’ve worked with
TIER’S PLANNING VIEW
Where media can support the business.
Use search for an expressed service or product need and local reach media to establish familiarity with providers and locations. Video can explain access, facilities and equipment; contextual placements can support consideration. New-mover data can introduce an available primary-care or dental practice to households entering its catchment area. A move is an outreach signal, not evidence of a diagnosis, medication, insurance eligibility or need for equipment.
SOURCED CONTEXT / PLANNING IMPLICATIONS
What the category data tells us.
66.7% had an exam or cleaning
CDC FastStats cites 2025 National Health Interview Survey estimates showing 66.7% of U.S. adults had a dental exam or cleaning in the past year. This population context supports distinguishing routine access from elective services; it does not identify which individuals need care.
18.9% report mobility difficulty
CDC reports that 18.9% of U.S. adults had any difficulty walking or climbing steps in 2025. This is not a count of DME-eligible customers or a forecast of equipment purchases. Use it as context for accessible information and service planning.
EXECUTION THAT MATTERS
Best practices before and during the buy.
Plan by service, access and capacity.
Separate primary care, specialty services, dental care and equipment acquisition. Confirm locations, hours, referral requirements, appointment availability, accepted payment pathways and product fulfillment before buying. Distinguish patient acquisition from campaigns directed to providers or referral sources. TIER coordinates targeting and buying with the client’s teams and approved data providers; clinical suitability and eligibility remain with the responsible organization.
Use healthcare data through the approved partner scope.
For briefs involving IQVIA, evaluate the specific audience-quality, condition or medication-related data and measurement products available under the client-approved agreement. IQVIA publicly describes audience-quality measurement and test-versus-control prescription-lift analysis. Those capabilities are not the same as an unrestricted permission to target identifiable patients. Confirm data provenance, licensed use, de-identification method where relevant, minimum reporting thresholds and platform restrictions before activation. Availability and suitability vary by product, audience and campaign.
Treat HIPAA compliance as a documented data flow.
Condition- or medication-based measurement requires review of the actual data, purpose and disclosures—not a blanket “HIPAA compliant tracking” label. HHS states that marketing disclosures of PHI to tracking vendors without HIPAA-compliant authorization are impermissible. Necessary authorizations, permissible uses and business-associate arrangements must be established for the actual workflow; a BAA alone does not permit every marketing use. Public-page rules also depend on context, and HHS notes the partial 2024 vacatur of its tracking guidance.
Measure appropriate outcomes without leaking patient information.
Agree on permissible reporting before launch: suitable inquiries, scheduled appointments, attended visits or fulfilled equipment orders, with access controls and aggregation appropriate to the data. Keep diagnosis, medication, patient identity and appointment details out of general advertising tags. For approved pharmacy-related analysis, separate prescription-lift measures from practice appointment outcomes. Match media, placement and time-period review to reporting coverage, lag and privacy thresholds; sparse segments should not become identifiable reports.
INDUSTRY FALLACIES
Claims worth challenging.
“A condition audience proves someone needs our service.”
A licensed modeled or aggregate audience is not a clinical assessment. Relevance, suitability and permissible activation need separate review.
“Hashing makes patient data anonymous.”
Hashing identifiers is not, by itself, a determination that health information is de-identified under HIPAA. Assess the actual method and data flow with the responsible privacy team.
“New movers are automatically new patients.”
They may already have providers, live outside practical access or lack eligibility. Test the offer and usable response rather than treating a household move as guaranteed demand.
CATEGORY-SPECIFIC APPLICATION
Different offers need different plans.
Practices and provider groups
Introduce locations, availability and factual service information. Separate new-patient outreach, specialty education and referral-source campaigns. Compare appropriate aggregate access and attended-visit outcomes.
Dental practices
Distinguish preventive care, urgent access and elective services. New-mover introductions can explain availability and how to establish care. Measure suitable bookings and attendance without passing treatment information into ad platforms.
Mobility and durable medical equipment
Explain product function, service geography, fitting or delivery and the inquiry pathway. Separate consumer and caregiver outreach from provider referrals. Verify prescription, coverage and documentation requirements where applicable; an inquiry is not a qualified or reimbursable order.
QUESTIONS BEFORE COMMITTING BUDGET
What a buyer should ask.
- Which IQVIA product and licensed use fit this exact brief?
- What data enters each vendor and what returns in reporting?
- Which authorizations, agreements and platform permissions are required?
- Can the organization serve the appointments or equipment demand being promoted?
PRIMARY REFERENCES
The mechanics behind the guidance.
References for platform rules and measurement definitions. The planning recommendations and category examples are TIER’s judgments, to be adapted to the client’s brief.
Sources reviewed October 7, 2026.
LET’S TALK MEDIA
What are you trying to achieve?
Tell us about your business, the markets you serve, and what your advertising needs to accomplish. We will discuss where TIER can help with planning, buying, and campaign management.