Gaining HCPs Mindshare

HCPs (Healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and technicians) are the primary stakeholders who influence the adoption of new technologies in healthcare. Whether you are a medical device manufacturer, a biotech, or a diagnostic company, unless you have first gained the mindshare of HCPs, it is generally hard to make inroads.

But how do you access and gain the attention of HCPs? HCPs are busy professionals who are dealing with human lives. They work in a highly demanding and stressful environment. They are pressed for time. They don’t have the patience to listen to a sales pitch. However, they are passionate about finding new solutions that can help their patients and are always eager to learn about new technology.

Understand HCPs' Pain Points

The most effective way to capture the attention of HCPs is to first understand their key pain points. Often, pain points are not obvious. You have to get into their shoes. Invest in research, digging deep into what keeps them up at night. What are the challenges that are impacting their abilities to help patients better? What are the metrics that they are falling short on? The best way to gather this information is to conduct market research that includes direct interviews, focus groups, or formal market research conducted via an agency.

Educate, Don't Sell

HCPs are a highly skeptical audience who don’t respond well to sales pitches. However, when you educate them, you will be amazed at how attentive they become. Tap into their curiosity and develop stories that speak to their pain points. Instead of a shiny marketing brochure with slogans, show them the data and use case examples.

Another powerful factor that drives adoption by HCPs is the testimonials from the thought leaders. Though most HCPs are keen on innovations, before adopting a new technology, they will reach out to their peers and key opinion leaders (KOLs) to directly hear about their experiences. Building a pool of KOLs that delivers case studies, white papers, and educational content will increase the credibility and visibility of your technology. Once HCPs learn about your technology from their peers and see the relevant data for their use case, their interest piques.

To gain the HCPs' mindshare, below are some examples of content that you should consider preparing -

• Case study

• White paper

• Educational webinar/Videos

• Speakership by KOLs

• Peer-reviewed published data

• Workshops at trade shows

Meet Them Where They Are

Getting direct access to HCPs can be hard. Having a relationship helps. Since HCPs are not a homogeneous group, you must segment them and then identify the specific platforms where they go to learn new information and clinical specialty-related news. Some of the most prominent platforms and resources include -

• Doximity

• Medscape

• Clinical societies websites

• Professional communities and forums

In addition, you must also leverage the power of the digital channels. HCPs can easily access these platforms when they have time and explore new developments in their field. These channels include email, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, YouTube, etc. The goal is to be visible at the places where your target audiences spend time. You can then present them with relevant information. When you build a system where KOLs and users are vouching for your solution, you will be able to position your solution effectively. HCPs trust the information presented by their peers than marketing promotional content deployed by commercial organizations.

HCPs are unique audiences who are engaged in saving lives. For them, nothing matters more than helping their patients. To gain their mindshare, you must think like them and position how you can make them more effective.

Once you shift your approach from ‘selling’ to ‘educating’ and to helping HCPs to improve their metrics, the path to winning HCPs' minds becomes an attainable goal.