Glossary V2

Healthcare communication, pharmaceutical marketing, patient support, and HCP engagement programs often involve specialized terminology, data frameworks, and compliance requirements. This glossary explains the most common healthcare marketing, pharmaceutical communications, HCP targeting, patient support, compliance, and healthcare engagement terms used across the Canadian healthcare industry. Whether you are launching a healthcare brand, building HCP audiences, supporting patient programs, managing recalls, or measuring campaign performance, this glossary helps clarify the terminology behind modern healthcare engagement and communication programs.

    A

    Allied Healthcare Professional (AHP)

    A healthcare professional who is not a physician, pharmacist, or nurse but provides clinical or supportive healthcare services, including physiotherapists, dietitians, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, chiropractors, and other regulated healthcare professionals.

    Audience Intelligence

    The process of identifying, segmenting, validating, and understanding healthcare professional audiences using demographic, specialty, behavioral, geographic, and engagement data to improve communication effectiveness and targeting precision.

    b

    Behavioral Segmentation

    A healthcare audience targeting methodology that groups healthcare professionals based on engagement behavior, clinical activity, communication responsiveness, prescribing trends, or therapeutic focus rather than demographics alone.

    Brand Activation

    Healthcare marketing initiatives designed to improve healthcare professional awareness, engagement, recommendation activity, education participation, or product adoption.

    c

    CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation)

    Canadian legislation governing commercial electronic communications, including healthcare email marketing and digital outreach. CASL establishes consent and communication requirements for organizations communicating with healthcare professionals and consumers in Canada.

    Compliance Communications

    Regulated healthcare communications related to recalls, safety notices, product updates, risk minimization, operational alerts, and compliance-driven outreach initiatives.

    Continuing Education (CE) Programs

    Educational initiatives that provide healthcare professionals with ongoing clinical learning and professional development opportunities.

    Cross-Matching

    The data validation process of comparing an HCP database against PTM’s proprietary AxisOne™ database to systematically identify usable, duplicate, outdated, and missing records.

    d

    Direct Mail Programs

    Healthcare communication campaigns that distribute physical educational materials, safety notices, promotional content, IFU updates, or healthcare communications to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities.

    Digital HCP Engagement

    The use of digital communication channels such as email, webinars, microsites, portals, surveys, and virtual education programs to engage healthcare professionals.

    e

    Email Deliverability

    The metric and process of successfully landing promotional or clinical emails directly into a healthcare professional’s inbox, rather than having them blocked, bounced, or routed to a spam or junk folder.

    Email Marketing for Healthcare Professionals

    Targeted healthcare communication programs designed to deliver educational, clinical, operational, or promotional content to verified healthcare professionals through compliant email outreach.

    Engagement Intelligence

    The analysis of healthcare engagement behavior, campaign performance, participation trends, and HCP responsiveness used to optimize healthcare communication strategy.

    F

    Fax Outreach

    Healthcare communication delivered through fax channels commonly used by physicians, pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and healthcare facilities across Canada.

    Field Safety Notice

    A regulated healthcare communication issued to healthcare professionals regarding safety concerns, product corrections, risk mitigation, or operational actions associated with medical devices or healthcare products.

    g

    Geographic Targeting

    The process of segmenting healthcare audiences by province, postal code, institution, health authority, territory, or regional healthcare market.

    GP/FM Best Cut

    A refined segment of highly active office-based General Practitioners and Family Medicine physicians identified through practice activity indicators, prescribing behavior, and engagement characteristics to support more precise healthcare audience targeting and commercial planning initiatives.

    Generalists

    Healthcare professionals whose clinical activity is not restricted to a specific subspecialty or narrow area of focus.

    h

    Healthcare Professional (HCP)

    An individual who provides healthcare services or influences healthcare decisions, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, specialists, nurse practitioners, technicians, and allied healthcare professionals.

    HCP Audience Validation

    The process of verifying healthcare professional credentials, licensing status, specialty information, eligibility, and practice activity before participation in healthcare communication or engagement programs.

    HCP Care Journey

    The clinical decision-making, education, prescribing, referral, and patient management activities healthcare professionals follow when diagnosing, treating, and supporting patients within a specific disease area.

    HCP Database

    A structured healthcare audience database containing healthcare professional demographic, specialty, facility, geographic, engagement, and communication preference data used for healthcare targeting and engagement programs.

    HCP Engagement

    Communication, education, outreach, and feedback initiatives designed to inform, engage, and interact with healthcare professionals across healthcare channels.

    HCP Reach

    The measurable number of healthcare professionals or healthcare facilities accessible through healthcare communication, engagement, or targeting programs.

    Hard-to-Reach HCPs

    Healthcare professionals who are difficult to engage through traditional communication channels due to limited digital responsiveness, institutional restrictions, geographic location, communication preferences, or limited accessibility.

    Healthcare Call Centre

    A specialized healthcare support centre providing patient support, reimbursement coordination, education support, therapy adherence, healthcare professional engagement, and healthcare communication services.

    Healthcare Fulfillment Infrastructure

    PTM’s Health Canada-licensed fulfillment infrastructure supporting the compliant storage, packaging, distribution, and tracking of pharmaceutical samples, starter kits, clinical materials, and healthcare communications across Canada.

    Healthcare Live Support

    Real-time support provided by trained healthcare specialists to assist healthcare professionals and patients with education, onboarding, reimbursement navigation, program participation, or therapy-related questions.

    i

    IFU (Instructions for Use)

    Documentation provided with medical devices or healthcare products that explains approved product usage, safety instructions, operational guidance, and regulatory information for healthcare professionals and users.

    Insights Programs

    Healthcare research and feedback initiatives designed to collect healthcare professional opinions, engagement data, market perceptions, educational needs, and healthcare intelligence.

    l

    Licensed Doctors

    Actively licensed Canadian medical doctors recognized by provincial regulatory bodies. Retired physicians and medical residents are typically excluded from this classification.

    Lifecycle Marketing

    Healthcare communication and engagement strategies designed to support brands across pre-launch, launch, growth, maturity, and post-market stages.

    List Hygiene

    The ongoing process of validating, updating, and cleaning healthcare audience data to remove duplicate, outdated, inactive, or non-practicing healthcare professionals before campaign deployment.

    m

    MAP® (Medicine Actively Practiced)

    PTM’s proprietary physician segmentation methodology that categorizes healthcare professionals based on the medicine they actively practice full-time rather than solely on licensing or board certification.
    For example, a GP/FM practicing Emergency Medicine full-time would be categorized as an Emergency Medicine physician rather than a traditional family physician. This methodology supports more precise healthcare audience targeting and stronger communication relevance.

    MAP® Interest (I)

    Defines a secondary or non-exclusive clinical interest actively practiced by a healthcare professional in addition to their primary specialty or practice area.

    MAP® Practice (P)

    Defines a healthcare professional’s primary full-time clinical specialty or active practice area.

    Market Access

    Programs and initiatives designed to improve patient access to therapies through reimbursement support, healthcare education, patient assistance, and payer-related communication programs.

    MedVerify®

    PTM’s healthcare professional audience validation solution used to verify HCP eligibility, credentials, licensing status, and audience quality for healthcare communication and engagement programs.

    Microsite

    A dedicated campaign-specific web experience or landing page created to support healthcare launches, engagement programs, educational initiatives, product awareness campaigns, or healthcare communication activities.

    Multichannel Marketing

    A healthcare communication strategy that uses multiple outreach channels such as email, fax, direct mail, call centres, and digital engagement to reach healthcare audiences.

    o

    Omnichannel Engagement

    A coordinated healthcare communication strategy that uses healthcare professional preferences, engagement behavior, and channel responsiveness to deliver more connected and relevant communication experiences across channels.