The quest to balance privacy and marketing effectiveness.
As challenging as these privacy restrictions may seem, the healthcare marketing industry has risen to the occasion. At the 2024 Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC), this theme came through loud and clear. Many healthcare organizations have embraced these changes, even going as far as to say that the stricter regulations have ultimately led to better, cleaner data and a more focused approach to digital marketing. Some of the solutions healthcare marketers are adopting include:
Investing in new technologies: Some organizations have invested in advanced technologies that allow them to anonymize patient data while still delivering targeted, relevant marketing messages. These solutions are often expensive, but they are key to navigating the new privacy landscape.
Building compliant tech stacks: Healthcare providers are increasingly building or rebuilding their tech stacks to ensure full compliance with HIPAA and other regulations, ensuring patient data is protected across all digital touchpoints.
A renewed focus on patient trust: As one speaker at HCIC pointed out, these changes have forced healthcare marketers to re-evaluate how they capture, track, and use patient data—and many are finding that these efforts have led to better, more transparent relationships with their patients.
While these shifts require time and resources, many marketers are discovering the benefits of a privacy-first approach. In fact, some believe that healthcare marketers could actually lead the way in setting industry standards for how to safely collect, use, and manage consumer data.
Personalization: a balancing act between data and compliance.
While privacy remains a top priority, personalization is equally important in 2025 healthcare marketing. Patients increasingly expect personalized, relevant experiences across their digital touchpoints—from websites to ads to email campaigns. The challenge, of course, is delivering that personalization without violating privacy regulations. So, how can we create personalized experiences while remaining HIPAA-compliant?
Audience segmentation: One of the keys to personalization is segmenting your audience based on factors such as location, age, interests, and behaviors. With the loss of detailed health-related data due to HIPAA restrictions, many healthcare marketers are getting creative with other types of audience segmentation. For example, marketers are using demographic and behavioral data to create segments that are likely to engage with specific content, such as general health tips or preventative care information.
Dynamic creative: Personalization also requires dynamic creative—ads or content that can adjust based on the audience segment. This could mean showing different types of healthcare services or content to different groups, such as offering wellness tips to general consumers or rehabilitation advice to those recovering from surgery. By making the creative dynamic, marketers can ensure they’re offering relevant content without needing to rely on sensitive patient data.
Ethical use of data: It’s essential to strike the right balance between personalization and data privacy. Ethical data use ensures that marketers aren’t overstepping by using personal health information without consent.
