Consumers and doctors agree that pharma ads help patients: But marketers must still create ad campaigns that better represent patients’ real-life experiences.

Elevance, doctors quarrel over volume of Ozempic prescriptions: The insurer doesn’t want to cover Ozempic to treat obesity. But are healthcare providers the ones to blame?

AI chatbots help busy healthcare providers communicate with patients: Consumers would rather engage with AI than wait on hold for a human. But many are concerned with the tech’s reliability and ability to protect their data.

Some health systems scale back telehealth offerings: But trimming virtual care too much may cause patients to flee to competing healthcare providers.

CVS Health replaces CEO Karen Lynch: With its insurance arm, Aetna, failing to meet investors’ expectations, CVS’ decision to appoint a longtime pharmacy benefit manager exec as CEO could be just what the doctor ordered to start turning its financial fortunes around.

Doctors are using genAI to respond to their patients’ MyChart messages: But patients aren’t always aware, which can erode the trust underpinning the patient-physician relationship.

Most patients are anxious before going to the doctor: But they settle in once they’re in the appointment. We explore how healthcare marketers and providers could use these patient sentiments to their advantage.

Healthcare providers, payers increase IT investments: In light of the devastating fallout of the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, providers and payers alike are hedging against future cybersecurity threats.

Most healthcare AI startups want to sell their solutions to health systems: But these tech companies struggle to demonstrate their value prop to potential healthcare provider buyers.

Doctors may change their opinions of medications and treatments based on new information they access on social media. Here’s how pharmaceutical marketers can seize the opportunity.

On today's podcast episode (part 2), we discuss how doctors are using GenAI to deliver healthcare, how patients feel about it, and why you may climb into a large AI-driven box for your next primary care visit. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Rajiv Leventhal.

Digitally native Gen Zers engage with healthcare in different ways from other cohorts—e.g., they’re likely to turn to online channels for health information before going to a doctor. Providers and marketers must quickly adapt if they want to form lasting relationships with this age group.

Digital-savvy millennials are demanding a digital-first approach to accessing health and wellness information, as well as healthcare services. They’re trusting family, friends, and social media for medical advice, almost more than doctors.

Relative to older generations, younger consumers put more trust in doctors and pharmacists. Over one-third of Gen Zers (34.2%) and millennials (34.6%) in our survey rated doctors “extremely trustworthy.” Millennials (24.2%), in particular, rated pharmacists “extremely trustworthy.”

Our take: AI tools can help healthcare providers reduce costs and cut down on transcription time, but mistakes or hallucinations in high-risk domains like patient records could have serious consequences.

And the doctor and the AI model both did well in selecting the diagnosis, but where the doctor really outperformed the AI model was explaining how it arrived at that decision. So the doctor was able to say, "I followed these steps from my experience and my education. I followed these steps and arrived at this conclusion."

More telehealth doctors use Zoom than any other platform to conduct telehealth visits, per Definitive Healthcare. Zoom considered every other AI medical scribe startup before selecting Suki as an AI notetaker to offer doctors on its platform, according to TechCrunch. 3. GE HealthCare rolls out AI tool for oncologists.

Healthcare includes health and dental insurance, healthcare providers and facility services, social assistance providers, wellness companies, health and monitoring devices, and imaging equipment.

Marketers could turn to a number of tools that help determine payment for healthcare provider influencers. For example, MedFluencers’ HCP Digital Market Value Calculator considers more than 20 “indicators of influence” to assess a creator’s value, according to a November 2023 Medical Marketing & Media story.

We defined this as researching any of the following: a medical condition/symptom; a prescription drug, treatment, or service; a healthcare provider (doctor, hospital, retail health or urgent care clinic, etc.); a health insurance company; a health/medical company; or patient testimonials/reviews. TV still reigns supreme for healthcare and pharmaceutical ads.

That aligns with how patients and doctors feel about it.

A group of six healthcare providers then assessed the risk level that each AI-produced result posed to older adults. Doctors aren’t impressed with AI Overviews: 70% of the AI-generated answers were considered at least “slightly” risky by the panel of medical professionals. About one in eight search result summaries were labeled as “very” or “extremely” risky.

Contracted doctors likely aren’t reviewing a person’s complete medical history and records—a critical factor in determining if the medication is right for the patient. Pfizer’s and Lilly’s telehealth platforms provide a link for patients to “talk to a doctor now,” which creates the impression that any patient interested in a particular medication can receive it with just a few clicks. 2.