The health industry might be lacking in overall digital maturity, but it’s making up for it with a willingness to explore newer formats and ways of connecting. Never before have health marketers had such a great opportunity to refocus and improve on how to connect with healthcare professionals and their patients.

Healthcare marketers are bracing for another disruptive year. From the legislative shifts coming out of Washington to CVS merging with Aetna to ever-changing advancements in the digital space, there’s a lot for healthcare brands to stay on top of.

Pharma marketing departments are no longer just responsible for bringing in new subscribers. They are now tasked with managing the entire customer experience, starting from the initial interaction to establishing and maintaining a loyal brand relationship.

What can CVS Health patients, Aetna members and marketers expect as a result of the proposed merger, and what's on the horizon beyond this momentous deal?

With the role of the pharma rep in decline, it’s critical for pharma companies to reinvent that role, especially as the industry shifts toward a people-based marketing framework that’s rooted in customer centricity. Integral to this shift is the concept of the rep as a franchisee.

Given the rapidly evolving changes to our healthcare system, as well as the overwhelming volume of content that healthcare professionals (HCP) are faced with daily across channels, a defined HCP communication strategy at the therapeutic and brand level is more important than ever for the pharmaceutical industry. To compete in this dynamic and over-saturated market, pharma companies must shift their approach to focus less on the individual campaign and more on an enterprise-wide strategy that places the customer at the center of the business.

As personalization mainstreams into healthcare, consumers and patients are demanding greater inclusion in healthcare decision making; accessing their own health data and connecting their healthcare experiences with Amazon-like personalization. Here's how healthcare brands should react.

Often times when physician engagement or lift does not meet benchmarks, companies are quick to point fingers at the marketing channel. Whether it’s email or a third-party vendor, the response might be, “Let’s not work with that channel anymore.” But most channels have a long history of success.