Skip to main content

Create or manage a Healthcare Professional (HCP) Planner plan

Add your targeting criteria to a new HCP media plan; or edit, download, or duplicate one you’ve already created.

Written by Team IQM

On this page:

HCP Planner overview

Media plans created through the Healthcare Professional (HCP) Planner tool give you powerful insights into your strategy’s potential reach and impressions once those parameters are layered onto your campaigns. You can pre-optimize your audience and targeting details to help ensure each campaign spends in full—all without allocating resources to test-and-learn budgets. This includes segmenting HCPs based on factors such as medical specialty, prescribing behavior, geographic location, and more.

Refer to Healthcare Professional (HCP) Planner overview for more information and eligibility details, and continue reading to create a new plan or manage an existing one.

Create a plan

Follow these steps to create a HCP media plan from the Planner app:

  1. Open the Planner app.

  2. Select HCP.

  3. Click + Create Plan. This will open the New Plan page.

  4. Complete the following sections:

  5. Save a draft of the plan or activate the plan once all required and applicable fields are completed.

Basic Details and Plan Settings (Required)

  1. Enter a name for the plan.

  2. Select the plan’s time zone.

  3. Use the Start Date and End Date fields to select a date range for the plan.

  4. Add the plan’s frequency capping rules.

    1. Enter a duration.

    2. Choose the duration type from the dropdown menu.

    3. Refer to Frequency values for more information on each duration type.

  5. Select whether the plan will include budget-based or impression-based campaigns.

  6. Indicate whether the plan will target NPI-based HCP users or NPI-based Nurse users.

  7. Choose up to four methods you’ll take to add your target audience to the plan.

    1. Refer to Key terms and concepts: Audience Methods for more information on each option. At least one method is required per plan.

  8. Click Next.

Refresh forecasting metrics

Once you reach step 2 of the plan creation process, you’ll have access to forecasting metrics, which differ based on the Audience Method(s) you select.

We recommend reviewing these metrics after you complete each applicable section of your plan. The result will give you a better understanding of how each targeting parameter will impact the plan’s ability to scale.

Refer to Forecasts for more information on the forecasting metrics that you can review during and after plan creation.

Audience Targeting (Required)

Choose up to four methods for adding your target audience to the plan:

Refer to Key terms and concepts: Audience Methods for more information on the differences between them, or refer to the sections below for step-by-step instructions on adding audiences via each method.

Filter Based

The Filter Based Audience Method involves using filters to create new, custom audiences based on US NPI data.

  1. Follow the steps outlined in these sections to create Filter Based audiences:

    1. Data Partner (required)

    2. Specialties (required)

    3. Location (optional)

  2. Select Next.

Upload NPI List

The Upload NPI List Audience Method includes bringing your own file that contains a list of NPIs, and uploading it to create a new audience.

  1. Download the provided sample file to help ensure your NPI file adheres to content and formatting guidelines.

  2. Add your CSV or XLSX file containing the NPI list.

    1. To upload the list from your computer’s local files, select Upload File and choose the desired file.

    2. To drag-and-drop the list, open your computer’s local files, choose the file, and drag your cursor from the file to the or Drag & Drop portion of the plan.

    3. To upload the list from an external file-storage service such as Google Drive or a Dropbox account, select the corresponding company’s icon. You’ll be prompted to log in, accept any applicable privacy settings, and select the file from the online drive.

  3. Follow the steps outlined in these sections to complete these required portions and finish creating your audiences:

    1. Data Partner (required)

    2. Specialties (optional)

    3. Location (optional)

  4. Click Next.

Account Based

The Account Based Audience Method includes using account-based attributes such as health systems, specialty practices, and NPI reach to create an audience.

  1. Follow the steps outlined in these sections to complete these required portions and finish creating your Account Based audiences:

    1. Account Type

    2. Data Partner

    3. Health Systems (optional)

    4. Specialties (optional)

    5. Location (optional)

    6. Title (optional)

  2. Select Next.

Existing Audience

The Existing Audience method includes selecting one or more audience types (Matched, Segmented, Geofarmed, Contextual, Account Based) and choosing one or more existing NPI-based audiences. These audiences are ones that you previously created in the Audiences app.

  1. Choose at least one, and up to five, audience types.

    1. Refer to Key terms and concepts: Audience types for more information on each audience type.

  2. Select Select Audiences. This will open the Select Existing Audience pop-up window.

  3. Select the check box(es) next to the audience(s) that you’d like to add to the plan.

    1. If desired, filter the listed audiences by status, data partner, and/or type.

    2. Up to 250 audiences are supported per plan.

  4. Click Select to apply your selections to the plan.

  5. Click Next to configure additional targeting settings for the plan.

Health Systems (Optional*)

Health Systems selection notice: You have the option to choose one or more health systems if the plan’s Audience Method is Account Based. The 50 health systems with the highest unique NPI counts are selected by default if no individual selections are made.

Note that, if a plan’s Audience Method is Filter Audience, Upload NPI List, and/or Existing Audience, the plan-creation form will not include this section.

Follow these steps to add health systems to an audience:

  1. Expand the Health Systems section.

  2. Open the Health Systems menu to review and select the desired health systems.

  3. If desired, select Reset to clear your health system selections.

Specialties (Required*)

Specialties selection notice: You have the option to choose one or more specialties if the plan’s Audience Method is Filter Audience, Account Based, and/or Upload NPI List. All specialties are selected by default if no individual selections are made.

Note that, if a plan’s Audience Method is Existing Audience, the plan-creation form will not include this section.

Follow these steps to add specialties to an audience:

  1. Expand the Specialties section.

  2. Select the Specialties menu. This will open the Specialties pop-up window.

  3. Open the Select Specialties menu, and search and select the desired items.

  4. Click Submit.

  5. If desired, select Reset to clear your specialty selections.

  6. Select Next.

Account (Required*)

Account selection notice: The Account section is required only when the plan’s Audience Method is Account Based. If its Audience Method is Upload NPI List, Filter Based, and/or Existing Audience, the plan-creation form will not include this section.

Follow these steps to add accounts to an audience:

  1. Expand the Account section.

  2. Select the Account menu. This will open the Account pop-up window.

  3. Open the Select Accounts menu, and search and select the desired items.

  4. Click Submit.

  5. If desired, select Reset to clear your account selections.

  6. Select Next.

Data Partner (Required*)

Data Partner selection notice: You’ll be prompted to choose one or more data partners if the plan’s Audience Method is Filter Audience, Account Based, and/or Upload NPI List. If its Audience Method is Existing Audience, the existing audiences you add to the plan will feature the same data partners that you chose when you initially set up those audiences in the Audiences app. These selections can’t be altered.

Follow these steps to choose which data provider(s) will provide matching data for the plan’s NPI-based audience(s):

  1. Review each partner’s Reach, CPM, and Est. Budget details.

    1. Audiences created through the Upload NPI List option will also include Match Rate details, and those created through the Filter Audience option will also include Coverage details.

    2. Refer to Key terms and concepts: Data partner selection for more information on these metrics and how they’re calculated.

  2. Select the checkbox(es) next to your preferred data partner(s).

    1. Any partner with a Reach and Incremental Reach of 10 or greater can be selected.

    2. You must select HLD or RevOptimal as one of your partner selections if the plan includes an Account Based audience type.

  3. If you selected more than one partner, review additional insights such as cumulative Coverage and Reach by Partner, as well as the data Overlap percentage.

  4. If desired, change the default Priority settings of the selected partners.

    1. Refer to Key terms and concepts: Data partner selection for more information on how priority settings impact Incremental Reach calculations.

  5. Review Incremental Reach details by data partner.

  6. Check the Audience Summary table for more details on the audiences that are eligible for creation based on your partner selections and their incremental reach by NPI type.

  7. Select Next.

Location (Optional)

Location targeting notice: If the plan’s Audience Method is Upload NPI List, Filter Based, and/or Account Based, you have the option to add Location targeting during the audience creation process.

Note that plans created from the HCP Planner tool apply an “OR” relationship to your location targeting settings. This means that your campaign will target a user if they’re located in any of the targeted locations.

HCP Planner plans support location targeting within the United States. Follow these steps to add location-targeting rules to a plan:

  1. Expand the Location section.

  2. Click + Add locations. This will open the Location pop-up window.

  3. Select the Search Locations field.

  4. Type or browse and select the desired location(s) by State or City.

    1. Filter the results by either of these categories, if desired.

  5. Select the Zip Codes tab to search and select locations by ZIP code, if desired.

  6. Review your selections in the Targeted Locations panel.

  7. Click Submit.

  8. Select Next.

Title (Optional*)

Title selection notice: You have the option to choose one or more titles if the plan’s Audience Method is Account Based. All titles are selected by default if no individual selections are made.

Note that, if a plan’s Audience Method is Filter Audience, Upload NPI List, and/or Existing Audience, the plan-creation form will not include this section.

Follow these steps to add titles to an audience:

  1. Expand the Titles section.

  2. Open the Title menu to review and select the desired titles.

  3. If desired, select Reset to clear your title selections.

  4. Click Next.

Device Types (Required)

Enable the TV device type: You must select both Video and TV Ad-Buying in the Creative Type section to enable the TV option in the Device Types section. Refer to Creative Type (Required) for more details.

In the plan’s Device Types section, choose up to four devices that the plan’s campaigns should target. All are selected by default, and at least one is required.

Creative Type (Required)

In the plan’s Creative Types section, choose up to five creative formats. All are selected by default, and at least one is required.

If you plan to run on connected TV (CTV) or over-the-top (OTT) devices, select both the Video tile and TV-Ad Buying toggle.

Review Creative ad specs and requirements to ensure that the creative(s) you plan to target will match the creative type(s) you select in this plan.

Channel Type (Required)

In the Channel Types section, choose up to four channels that the plan’s campaigns should target. All are selected by default, and at least one is required.

Note that the connected TV (CTV) or over-the-top (OTT) channels are only selectable when both the Video tile and TV-Ad Buying toggle are selected in the Creative Type section.

Select Inventory (Optional)

If desired, you can use the Select Inventory section to target Open Exchange inventory and/or inventory groups:

  • Open Exchange: Public inventory sources made available via real-time bidding auctions. This option includes targeting individual IAB categories and/or exchanges.

  • Inventory groups: Inventory that you previously bundled in the Inventory app. Note that only Open Exchange and Connected TV (CTV) inventory groups are supported in HCP Planner proposals.

Select Open Exchange inventory

Follow these steps to add Open Exchange inventory to a plan:

  1. Expand the Inventory section.

  2. Select Open Exchange.

  3. To target the IAB Tech Lab’s page content categories, open the IAB Categories menu and select the desired categories.

  4. To target specific ad exchanges, open the Exchanges menu and select the desired exchanges.

Select inventory groups

Inventory group notice: You’ll need to create an inventory group in the Inventory app before you can add it to your proposal. Follow the steps outlined in Create or manage an inventory group to create an Open Exchange or Connected TV (CTV) inventory group in the Inventory app.

Note that Open Exchange and CTV inventory groups created purely for blocking and groups with zero or unknown Reach aren’t eligible. Private Marketplace (PMP), Programmatic Guaranteed (PG), and Contextual inventory groups also aren’t eligible at any time.

Follow these steps to add existing Open Exchange or Connected TV (CTV) inventory groups to a plan:

  1. Expand the Inventory section.

  2. Select Inventory Groups.

  3. Select the Inventory Groups menu. This will open the Inventory Groups pop-up window.

  4. Search or browse the list of Open Exchange and Connected TV (CTV) inventory groups.

  5. If desired, filter the groups by group type.

  6. Review key details about each inventory group:

    1. Icon: A circle icon next to the group name represents that the group is an Open Exchange inventory group, while the internet-connected TV icon represents that it’s a CTV inventory group.

    2. Creative Type: All supported creative format types are listed next to each inventory group’s name.

    3. Count: The total number of ad placements that match the search criteria you applied when you created the inventory group.

    4. Device Breakdown: The breakout of devices for each inventory group.

  7. Click the checkbox(es) next to the inventory group(s) you wish to target.

  8. Click Select.

Split Strategy (Optional)

Maximum campaign limit notice: While a plan’s Split Strategy allows you to create more precise campaigns, too many selections may cause you to exceed the plan’s maximum limit of 250 campaigns. If you receive an error related to exceeding 250 campaigns, change your Split Strategy selections to stay within the maximum campaign limit.

All plans’ campaigns are split by Creative Type (required), NPI Type (required) and (Data) Partner (optional) by default. If desired, you can also segment your plan’s campaigns by the Device Type and/or Audience Type dimensions.

Follow these steps to define a Split Strategy for this plan:

  1. Expand the Split Strategy section.

  2. Click the checkbox next to a targeting dimension to segment your campaigns by that dimension.

  3. Open any drop-down menus that appear below a dimension category to make your campaigns even more targeted, if desired.

    1. For example, if you selected the TV and Tablet options in the Device Types section, you can use the Split by Device Type menu to segment campaigns by TV or Tablet devices.

  4. Click Update.

  5. Review the campaigns that your plan will include.

    1. The more detailed you make your Split Strategy selections, the more campaigns will be included in your plan.

Save As Draft, Create IO, or Create Plan

Select Save As Draft at any time to save your progress. Refer to Manage a plan for steps on how to access and update an existing plan draft.

When you reach and complete the 6 out of 6 steps page, two additional options will appear: Create Plan and Create IO.

Select Create Plan to signal the platform to start processing the plan and its strategies. Once that process is complete and the plan features a Ready status, you can click Create IO to convert the plan into an insertion order (IO) and campaigns.

Review Plan statuses for more information on each status.

Manage a plan

Plan management notice: Applying changes to an existing plan or its campaigns will impact forecasted figures such as reach and impressions. We recommend selecting Refresh near any forecasting metrics after you apply each change. The result will give you a better understanding of how any updates may update your plan’s ability to scale and perform.

Review and manage in-progress and generated plans from the Planner app:

Review a plan

Follow these steps to review an existing plan in the Planner app:

  1. Select HCP.

  2. Search by a proposal element (ID, Name, Created By) or date range, or filter by the plan’s status status, to limit which proposals will display on the page.

  3. Click the plan’s name to open and review it.

Edit a plan

You can apply changes to plans that feature a Draft, Ready, or Failed status. Follow these steps to edit a plan:

  1. Select HCP.

  2. Search by a proposal element (ID, Name, Created By) or date range, or filter by the plan’s status status, to limit which proposals will display on the page.

  3. Select the checkbox next to the plan you’d like to edit.

  4. Click Edit. This will open the plan in the Planner app.

  5. Follow the steps outlined in Create a plan to edit the desired fields.

The updated plan will revert to the Processing stage.

Duplicate a plan

You can duplicate plans that feature a Draft, Ready, Processing, IO Created, or Failed status.

Follow these steps to duplicate a plan:

  1. Select HCP.

  2. Search by a proposal element (ID, Name, Created By) or date range, or filter by the plan’s status status, to limit which proposals will display on the page.

  3. Select the checkbox next to the plan you’d like to duplicate.

  4. Click Duplicate. This will open the Duplicate Plan pop-up window.

  5. Type a name into the Plan Name field.

    1. Choose a unique name to differentiate this plan from others that you may create.

    2. By default, the plan name will feature “Copy of” followed by the name of the plan you duplicated.

  6. Select the plan’s Timezone.

  7. Use the Start Date and End Date fields to select a date range for the plan.

  8. Click Duplicate.

The duplicated plan will feature a Draft status. Refer to Edit a plan to apply any changes and generate the plan.

Delete a plan

Plan deletion notice: Deleted plans are unrecoverable, and this action is permanent.

You can delete Draft, Ready, or Failed plans individually or in bulk.

Follow these steps to delete a plan:

  1. Select HCP.

  2. Search by a proposal element (ID, Name, Created By) or date range, or filter by the plan’s status status, to limit which proposals will display on the page.

  3. Select the checkbox(es) next to the plan(s) you’d like to delete.

  4. Click Delete.

Download a plan

Follow these steps to download a plan featuring a Ready, Processing, IO Created, or Failed status.

  1. Select HCP.

  2. Search by a proposal element (ID, Name, Created By) or date range, or filter by the plan’s status status, to limit which proposals will display on the page.

  3. Select the download icon in the desired plan’s Actions column.

Manage a plan’s campaigns

Campaign editing notice: Changing an editable campaign value impacts other fields or, in certain cases, the entire plan. Refer to Plan outputs: Campaigns for a list of the elements that are generated for each campaign, which ones you can update, and which fields may be impacted by those updates.

When you reach the 4 out of 4 Steps page of the plan, you’ll have a chance to review each of the campaigns included in the plan. This includes details such as each campaign’s projected Reach and Impressions, Budget and Budget %, and more.

You can change certain campaign values–such as campaign Start Dates and End Dates–and remove campaigns from a plan before you activate it.

Edit a plan’s campaigns

Set a campaign’s Start Date or End Date

You can change Start Dates or End Dates one by one or in bulk. Follow these steps to change one or more campaigns’ Start Dates or End Dates:

  1. Locate the Campaigns section of the plan’s 6 out of 6 Steps page.

  2. Select the checkbox(es) next to the campaigns you’d like to update.

  3. Click Set Start Date or Set End Date. Depending on your selection, this will open the Set Start Date or Set End Date pop-up window.

  4. Use the Start Date or End Date field to choose the new value.

    1. The date you choose must fall within the date range you specified in the Plan Summary.

  5. Click Set to apply the new Start Date or End Date to the selected campaign(s).

Edit another campaign value

You can edit certain campaign values individually. Refer to Plan outputs: Campaigns for a full list of values you can edit prior to creating the plan, and follow these steps to apply your desired changes:

  1. Locate the Campaigns section of your in-progress plan’s 6 out of 6 Steps page.

  2. Click the cell you’d like to update.

    1. Editable cells feature a dashed border, while uneditable cells feature a solid border.

  3. Enter the desired characters or values directly into the selected cell.

Edit the Total Plan Budget

Total Plan Budget adjustment notice: Total Plan Budget adjustment notice: The Total Plan Budget is the estimated total dollar amount, or estimated total impressions, that the plan’s campaigns can spend or serve. This value is based on the plan’s Incremental Reach, which includes only unique NPIs from each selected data partner based on the priorities you assigned.

While you can update this value manually, note that doing so will apply changes to the plan’s individual campaigns. Refer to Plan outputs: Campaigns for more information.

Follow these steps to change the plan’s Total Plan Budget:

  1. Locate the Budget section of your in-progress plan’s 6 out of 6 Steps page.

  2. Select the Total Plan Budget field.

  3. Enter the desired impression or monetary value, depending on whether this is a budget-based or impression-based plan.

Delete a campaign from a plan

Campaign deletion notice: Campaign deletion is permanent. As a safeguard, consider duplicating a plan before deleting any campaigns from it.

You can delete campaigns from a plan one by one or in bulk. Follow these steps to delete campaigns:

  1. Locate the Campaigns section of your in-progress plan’s 6 out of 6 Steps page.

  2. Select the checkbox(es) next to the campaigns you’d like to delete.

  3. Click Delete.

Activate the plan

Once your plan features a Ready status, you’ll need to activate it to convert it into an insertion order (IO) and campaigns. Refer to Generate a campaign from a Healthcare Professional (HCP) Planner plan for step-by-step instructions and more information.

Locate additional HCP Planner resources

Return to the top of this article

Did this answer your question?