Programmatic access has recently extended to a new environment: the doctor’s office.

Its arrival adds more than new inventory. It raises the bar for what relevance can mean.

When marketers can reach audiences while health is top of mind and decisions are taking shape, the standard for relevance changes.

The standard has to rise as attention becomes harder to earn. In fact, 93% of consumers skip or block ads, according to a Clutch report.

In the doctor’s office, programmatic gives marketers access to highly focused audiences in a relevant healthcare setting.

Context decides what gets noticed

Everything about a doctor’s visit centers on health, so a health message fits the moment instead of interrupting it. Contextually aligned ads increase recall by up to 40%, based on Integral Ad Science (IAS) research. A GumGum survey also found that 94% of consumers prefer contextually relevant ads based on identity or browsing history.

Relevance also depends on how the audience is identified in the first place. In the doctor’s office, health data can add another layer to programmatic targeting.

Audience health data shapes who sees it

Programmatic buyers already build audiences from the outside in, using signals like behavior, browsing, and modeled lookalikes. The doctor’s office adds an inside-out option.

It starts with health data such as diagnoses, prescriptions, claims history, and demographics, then maps outward to the doctor’s offices where that audience is likely to be. For marketers, that provides a different foundation for audience building, one grounded in health data.

True relevance requires both

The advantage comes from bringing relevant context and relevant audiences together. For example, a brand running a GLP-1 campaign can build an audience profile from diagnosis and treatment data, then identify doctors’ offices likely to reach that audience.

A cancer care campaign can take a similar approach, using claims tied to an oncology condition to inform placement across relevant specialties.

Why this approach works

This tactic is already performing. Fifty-eight percent of people who notice in-office ads say they’re willing to ask their doctor about the treatment advertised, according to an M3 MI survey.

The impact can extend to consideration. PatientPoint internal research found that six in 10 people say they’ve considered switching to a product they saw advertised in a doctor’s office. A separate Point of Care Marketing Association (POCMA) and Ipsos study found that this can carry through to action: 35% of consumers who engaged with doctor’s office ads started taking a new medication or supplement.

Relevance separates an ad that’s skipped from one that’s acted on

Combining health-informed audiences with messaging delivered in a relevant healthcare setting gives marketers another way to think about relevance in programmatic advertising.

For marketers already using programmatic elsewhere, the doctor’s office adds a distinct environment to the media mix.