Oracle Launches Life Sciences Solution for Oracle Marketing Cloud

To deliver a set of sophisticated marketing tools to companies whose marketing efforts are restricted by legislation such as the United States' Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Oracle has introduced a life sciences solution that will reside in its marketing cloud. Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, media device manufacturing, and other verticals in the life sciences space are becoming increasingly digital, patient-centered, and data-driven, according to Nick Bell, senior director of corporate marketing at the Oracle Marketing Cloud.

At the same time, however, these organizations have a unique set of restrictions placed on them that Oracle's new solution will tackle, Bell says.

"With Oracle's pedigree in data management and leading marketing-automation solutions, we are in a strong position to help marketers in these industries reduce complexity and enable more effective, customer-centric, and compliant marketing campaigns," he adds.

Targeting and personalization, which make up the foundation of effective digital marketing, typically present a challenge to marketers regulated by HIPAA because of security and patient privacy concerns. "[HIPAA] regulations limit who can access audience data, meaning sales and marketing teams have no visibility into the various segments that make up their audience, and can't see who's responding to the messages they send. Their audience exists, but they don't know who they are—audience preferences and habits remain hidden from both the sales and marketing teams," Bell told CRM in an email.

Because of the limitations imposed by HIPAA, marketers have historically turned to more broadly targeted campaigns geared toward wider audiences, resulting in unspecific and often ineffective messaging. Marketers also typically relied on customer opt-ins, which is a more expensive and less efficient way to reach audiences.

To meet HIPAA's requirements, encryption must be impenetrable, and security for email and any other data must be top-notch. Personal credentials and opt-in and opt-out options must also be properly protected. According to Bell, the technology must also ensure marketers never see customers' identifying information or protected health files. A "buffer" must exist, keeping that information from marketers' eyes, but allowing their technology to create target audiences at the same time, he says.

Oracle's life sciences solution can provide the personalization functionality marketers require without breaking any HIPAA rules. "Oracle Marketing Cloud's advanced data security enables marketers at pharmaceutical companies to stay compliant, while elevating their marketing efforts to create personalized content focused on audience need," Bell says. "They can segment that audience based on condition or medical needs, without ever divulging specific personal details to the marketers in question, all the while tracking an individual's opt-in preferences for information," he adds.

---

 

Marketers can also create parameters to target specific audiences based on health condition, prescriptions, treatments, and other information, allowing them to target their audience and personalize their message. "Once a message is sent, it can only be read by the individual in question, and cannot be forwarded to or read by anyone else. This gives marketers the ability to store and leverage personal health information that would otherwise be off limits, without ever seeing it themselves," Bell says.

Related Articles

CEO Mark Hurd Is Firm on Oracle's CX Commitment at Modern Customer Experience Conference

With only 10 percent of companies integrating CX processes, Oracle makes integration a priority.

Oracle Updates Service Cloud to Optimize Collaborative Interactions

New features aim to help service agents better understand the customer's journey and streamline cooperative processes.

Oracle Buys Datalogix to Bolster Its Marketing Cloud

The acquisition will give Oracle new offline analytics capabilities.

Oracle's Mark Hurd Talks Integration at Official Marketing Cloud Unveiling

The new platform promises to tie together all of Oracle's recent acquisitions.