As healthcare delivery becomes increasingly team-oriented, pharmaceutical marketers are being encouraged to look beyond physicians and engage a broader network of healthcare professionals involved in patient care. According to a recent announcement from IQVIA Digital, artificial intelligence is helping marketers identify and connect with nurse practitioners (NPs), physician associates (PAs), and other key members of collaborative care teams who play a growing role in treatment decisions.
The company has introduced an AI-powered audience solution designed to provide a more complete view of healthcare teams. By combining healthcare data, prescribing patterns, clinician affiliations, and behavioral insights, the technology aims to help pharmaceutical organizations better understand who is influencing patient care and prescribing decisions across specialties.
Industry data cited by the company indicates that nurse practitioners and physician associates account for approximately 35% of prescription claims in the United States each year. However, many of these contributions are often attributed to supervising physicians, making these professionals less visible in traditional healthcare marketing efforts.
AI is being used to address this challenge by continuously analyzing clinical and professional data to determine practitioners’ areas of expertise and their relationships within care teams. This enables marketers to move beyond static physician-focused datasets and gain a more accurate understanding of modern healthcare delivery models.
The technology also helps map connections between clinicians, uncover collaboration patterns, and identify healthcare professionals who may have been overlooked in conventional targeting strategies. Supporters believe this approach can improve communication with healthcare providers while helping pharmaceutical companies deliver more relevant information to the professionals involved in patient treatment.
As healthcare systems continue to embrace collaborative care, AI-driven insights are expected to play an increasingly important role in helping life sciences organizations engage the full spectrum of clinicians responsible for patient outcomes.
