Publicis’s First HealthFront, With Martha Stewart and Dr. Oz, Will Showcase the Healthcare Space

Two months after the upfronts and NewFronts have wrapped up, Publicis Health Media will host its first HealthFront in New York. The two-day event, which will take place at the Classic Car Club Manhattan on July 16-17, will fill a void that Andrea Palmer, president of Publicis Health Media, said exists for companies in the healthcare space. “A lot of the products and solutions that are exhibited at the NewFronts or at the upfronts don’t go as deep into some of what’s available for health,” she said. “Some of the things that are most interesting to our healthcare clients wouldn’t appeal to the broader marketplace.” According to Palmer, the inaugural event, which is only open to the agency’s clients, will be a mixture of programming, thought leadership and deal-making. Publicis Health Media is partnering with a number of publishers—including Verywell, Meredith Corporation, Condé Nast, Vice, Healthline and Health Union—on content sessions. Additionally, panel sessions, keynotes and conversations with industry leaders will cover topics like telemedicine and the use of AI in healthcare. Those who attend will also get the chance to check out “first-mover” opportunities that haven’t hit the wider marketplace yet. The agency hasn't revealed many details around what exactly these will be, but said they include "exclusive content opportunities with some of the most innovative and progressive media properties" as well as "exclusive pricing deals" on some of the top endemic and technology partnerships in the industry. “Our goal is to have clients see things here first,” Palmer said. “We are co-creating a lot of products, solutions and opportunities that are going to be launched for the first time at HealthFront. There are going to be some significant product opportunities and new deals to be made.” The HealthFront will also see the debut of the “PHM Disruption Garage,” which will feature four entrepreneurs presenting their future-facing healthcare ideas to a panel of judges in hopes of winning an awards package that will help bring their vision to life. Judges so far include Dr. Oz, cardiac surgeon and host of The Dr. Oz Show; Martha Stewart, founder of the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai; Keith Hopkins, partner at IBM Watson—Healthcare/Life Sciences; and Ryan Olohan, managing director of healthcare at Google. More judges will be announced when the event gets closer. As the healthcare industry continues to undergo rapid change, Palmer thinks an initiative like HealthFront will fill an “unmet need” for clients by identifying and delivering solutions from a media perspective. “How our clients choose to take advantage of some of those things is at a turning point,” she explained. “We’ve seen an openness now that we’ve not necessarily seen in the past. We think this is the perfect time to introduce this type of event and this type of initiative to the healthcare industry.”