Questions to Ask an HCP Advertising Agency Before You Hire
Questions to ask an HCP advertising agency before hiring: experience, HCP data, channels, review, measurement, transparency, team, and fees.
The short answer
Before hiring an HCP advertising agency, ask about relevant therapeutic experience, how they build and verify HCP target lists, which channels and partners they use and why, how they handle MLR review, how they measure prescribing outcomes, how transparent they are about fees and partner relationships, who will be on your team, and how they coordinate with field and other agencies. Ask for evidence, not descriptions.
HCP agencies pitch similar capabilities. The differences show in how they answer specific questions with evidence. Use these questions in pitches and reference calls.
Experience
- Which therapeutic areas and specialties have you worked in recently?
- Show a campaign for a similar audience and explain what worked and what did not.
- Have you launched a brand in this category?
HCP data and targeting
- How do you build and audit HCP target lists? See target list audit.
- Which identity and data partners do you use, and why?
- How do you verify that media reached our NPI list?
Channels
- Which channels would you prioritize for our audience, and why?
- How do you coordinate with field teams and point of care?
- How do you manage frequency across channels?
Review and compliance
- How do you prepare materials for MLR review?
- What is your average number of review rounds?
- How do you handle adverse events found in campaigns?
Measurement
- How do you measure prescribing impact? Show methods from a past study.
- How do you separate incremental from attributed prescriptions? See attributed vs. incremental.
- What do you report weekly, monthly, and quarterly?
Transparency
- How are you paid?
- Do you receive any income from media, data, or technology partners?
- Will we get log-level data and partner contracts visibility?
See agency compensation and incentives.
Team
- Who exactly will work on our business, and how much of their time?
- What is your staff turnover on pharma accounts?
Ways of working
- How do you work with other agencies on our brand?
- How do you escalate problems? See partner escalation.
Scoring answers
Look for:
- Specific evidence, not general claims.
- Candor about past failures.
- Clear measurement methods.
- Full disclosure of income sources.
Common mistakes
- Evaluating only the creative idea.
- Not checking references with similar brands.
- Skipping compensation and partner income questions.
- Accepting a pitch team that will not work on the account.
Good and weak answers
Examples of how answers to the same question can differ.
| Question | Weak answer | Strong answer |
|---|---|---|
| How do you verify reach on our NPI list? | "We use premium HCP data." | "We provide NPI-level delivery files monthly; last quarter's average on-list share across clients was shown in this anonymized report." |
| How do you measure prescribing impact? | "Our campaigns drive strong script lift." | "We use a matched-control or holdout design agreed before launch; here is a study with methods, balance table, and confidence interval." |
| How are you paid? | "Standard fees." | "Fee on labor plus disclosed media commission; we receive no partner incentives, or here they are." |
| Average review rounds? | "We work closely with MLR." | "Median two rounds last year; top rejection reason was missing references, and we changed our template to fix it." |
Strong answers are specific, show evidence, and admit tradeoffs.
Reference call questions
- How did the agency handle a campaign that underperformed?
- Did reported results match your own measurement?
- How stable was the team?
- How quickly were problems escalated and fixed?
- Would you hire them again for the same work?
Practical takeaway
Pick five questions from this list that matter most for your brand and ask every agency the same five, in writing. Comparing written answers side by side reveals differences that pitch meetings hide.
Frequently asked questions
What does an HCP advertising agency do?
Plans and executes marketing aimed at healthcare professionals: strategy, creative, media, and often measurement, within promotional rules.
What is the most important question to ask an HCP agency?
How they will measure whether the work changed prescribing, with an example of a past study and its methods.
Should HCP agencies disclose partner income?
Yes. Ask whether they receive rebates, incentives, or fees from media or data partners, and how that affects recommendations.
Sources
- FDA, Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP)
- ANA, Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study
External guidance and platform documentation change. Links were current at publication; check them again before relying on them for a decision.
Editorial note. Analysis and frameworks are the author's own and do not represent Acxiom or any current or former employer, client, or named platform. Examples labeled hypothetical or illustrative are not results from real campaigns. Nothing here is legal, regulatory, or medical advice.
New pharma programmatic breakdowns, occasionally
One email when I publish something worth reading. Benchmarks, measurement teardowns, and case studies with the caveats attached. No cadence promises, no reselling your address.
Unsubscribe any time. See the privacy policy.
Working through this decision on a real plan?
I work on health and pharma data, identity, and activation, after five years running HCP and DTC programmatic agency-side. Happy to talk through how this applies to your situation.