A Guide to Point-of-Care Advertising Inventory Across the U.S.
Point-of-Care (POC) advertising is one of the most powerful and contextually relevant ways to reach patients and caregivers during key health decision moments. Unlike broad-based media channels, POC ads reach people in trusted medical environments, where attention is high and messaging can directly influence behavior. While much has been written about general practitioner and pharmacy placements, specialty clinics present a unique and often underutilized opportunity for targeted outreach.
Specialty clinics cater to specific conditions or patient populations—from OB/GYN and pediatric care to dialysis and behavioral health. These locations offer rich, captive environments ideal for campaigns related to health education, prevention, treatment navigation, and public service outreach. This guide explores the diverse types of specialty clinics across the U.S. and the types of advertising inventory available in each.
Why Specialty Clinics Matter for POC Advertising
Specialty clinics provide marketers with a unique mix of advantages. Patients in these settings tend to be highly engaged due to the nature of their care, often returning for regular visits and spending extended time in waiting or treatment areas. Messaging in specialty clinics can be finely tuned to align with specific health conditions or life stages, making it far more relevant and impactful. These are trusted medical environments, which naturally increase the credibility of any message presented. Finally, specialty clinics are ideal settings for delivering educational or instructional content, whether it be health literacy materials, treatment guides, or support resources.
Types of Specialty Clinics and Their Advertising Inventory
OB/GYN Clinics OB/GYN offices serve women across a range of life stages, from adolescence through maternity and menopause. Typical advertising inventory includes waiting room posters, restroom mirror clings, prenatal guide booklets, take-one literature, and digital screens. Messaging in these settings often focuses on Medicaid maternity benefits, prenatal health, postpartum depression awareness, and breastfeeding support.
Pediatric Clinics Pediatric clinics cater to children and their caregivers, often parents or guardians. These clinics usually feature wall posters, activity-based take-ones, health record inserts, counter mats, and digital displays with educational or entertaining content. The messaging here is well-suited for topics like vaccinations, nutrition, early developmental screening, and seasonal illness prevention.
Behavioral Health Clinics Behavioral health clinics focus on mental health and substance use treatment, providing essential services to vulnerable populations. Advertising formats in these settings include brochure racks, discreet restroom clings, motivational wall posters, and digital tablets for check-in or patient education. Campaigns addressing suicide prevention, mental health awareness, addiction recovery, and Medicaid access are especially effective in this environment.
Dialysis Centers Patients at dialysis centers undergo regular and lengthy treatment sessions, making these settings ideal for consistent and repetitive messaging. Inventory options typically include infusion chair signage, patient resource handouts, branded water bottles, and large-format wall displays. The messaging often covers nutritional support, Medicaid recertification, caregiver resources, and transportation services.
HIV/STI Clinics These clinics serve populations at higher risk for sexually transmitted infections, including younger adults and LGBTQ+ individuals. Common advertising placements include clinic restroom clings, poster displays, digital screens, and branded inserts in condom or safe-sex kits. Messaging may focus on PrEP and PEP education, HIV testing access, stigma reduction, and broader LGBTQ+ health support.
Oncology Centers Oncology clinics serve patients undergoing long-term cancer treatment, often involving close support from family caregivers. Advertising formats here include chemotherapy chair signage, patient education kits, comfort bags, caregiver guidebooks, and digital patient education screens. Messaging in oncology centers is most impactful when focused on clinical trial awareness, caregiver mental health, nutrition for patients undergoing treatment, and insurance navigation support.
How to Strategically Deploy Campaigns Across Specialty Clinics
To make the most of specialty clinic advertising, start by mapping your campaign to regions where the targeted conditions are more prevalent. Different formats work better in different settings—for instance, discreet restroom clings are ideal in behavioral health clinics, while digital screens or colorful posters and engaging take-ones work well in pediatric settings. Equally important is aligning the message with the patient's journey, ensuring the content speaks directly to their current stage—whether it be diagnosis, ongoing treatment, or long-term recovery and support.
Compliance and Clinic Partnership Considerations
Working within specialty clinics requires a thoughtful and compliant approach. All materials must be HIPAA-friendly and non-intrusive. It's best to collaborate with established POC media networks or develop direct partnerships with clinic operators. To improve acceptance and trust, consider co-branding your campaign with public health authorities, local nonprofits, or state agencies.
Measuring Success: KPIs and Metrics for POC Campaigns
One of the most common questions about point-of-care (POC) advertising is how to measure its effectiveness. Unlike digital channels with built-in analytics, POC campaigns require intentional measurement frameworks. With the right mix of data sources and methodologies, advertisers — including pharmaceutical brands — can capture clear, defensible insights into performance and ROI.
Action-Based Metrics
The most direct measurement tools track observable patient actions. These include:
Call center volume measured before, during, and after campaign flights
Unique promo codes, short URLs, or vanity URLs featured on posters, screens, or take-ones
QR code scans tied to specific placements or markets
Program enrollment or application increases, mapped by clinic or region
These provide concrete, verifiable indicators of campaign-driven behavior change.
Prescription Lift & Pharma Measurement
For pharmaceutical clients, one of the strongest ways to assess impact is by analyzing prescription lift, since pharma companies already have access to detailed prescribing and fulfillment data.
Brands can measure:
New-to-brand prescriptions (NBRx) in markets where POC advertising is active
Total prescription volume (TRx) changes over the campaign period
Prescribing rate changes by ZIP code or physician group
Incremental lift when comparing exposed vs. unexposed clinics
Because pharma companies receive highly granular data from sources like IQVIA, Symphony, and internal CRM/EHR insights, they can directly correlate POC exposure with shifts in prescribing behavior — especially when campaigns feature clear CTAs, condition-specific education, or medication adherence messaging.
When combined with a test vs. control market design or staggered rollouts, this becomes one of the strongest attribution models available for POC media.
Patient Recall & Awareness Lift
Another key measurement pillar is patient sentiment:
Post-visit surveys targeting patients who recently visited participating clinics
Unaided/aided message recall
Brand awareness lift
Self-reported intent or behavior change
When compared against control clinics with no exposure, these studies allow for strong directional attribution.
Baseline Metrics & Incrementality
Setting clear baselines ensures the final data is actionable. Prior to launch, track:
Enrollment or prescription levels
Call center volume
Website traffic
Awareness benchmarks
Staggered market rollouts or “dark markets” allow brands to measure incrementality more accurately and isolate the impact of POC media.
Conclusion
Specialty clinics are powerful, high-trust environments for delivering timely, relevant, and educational messages directly to the people who need them most. By leveraging the unique inventory options within each type of clinic, public health agencies, nonprofits, and mission-driven campaigns can achieve both reach and resonance. Whether you're looking to drive Medicaid enrollment, promote early intervention, or raise awareness around stigmatized issues, POC advertising in specialty clinics offers a highly strategic path forward.
To learn more or explore available specialty clinic inventory across the U.S., contact the team at PlaceBased.Media.
