The influencer marketplace continues to demonstrate steady growth as a powerful economic engine, driving consumer purchasing decisions with a force valued at $250 billion and projected annual compound rate of 23.3% in the next five years.

In health, the dispersion of authority has opened greater opportunity for peer-to-peer health influencers to connect with audiences and share relevant messaging. Patients don’t feel they are getting what they need from traditional sources of authority, with 48% of Americans indicating that a lack of clear information (or contradictory expert advice) is keeping them from taking better care of their health. Trust in traditional sources is down, while belief in our own personal research is on the rise: 1 in 5 Gen Xers believe that an average person who has done their own research is just as knowledgeable as their doctors. That number jumps to 1 in 3 when surveying millennials.

People are searching for health information outside of the physician’s office and may be primed to trust new sources instead of the old guards. As social is increasingly where people turn – nearly a quarter of millennials start their health research on social – this environment is primed for the rise of the patient influencer.

When surveyed, people cite several reasons for turning to health influencers over medical professionals, with approachability (23%) and accessibility (37%) ranking highly. But ultimately, while the reasons for pursuing information via health influencers may stem from healthcare challenges, the engagement has left positive sentiment for many. Almost half of people (42%) surveyed report that following a health influencer has had a positive impact on their life which could be why the percentage of American adults who consult social media for health information continues to outpace the percentage who approach a physician at 46% and 44% respectively.

Digital health providers and the digital pharmacy market are gaining ground, expected to quadruple in market share within the decade. Rx purchasing through online pharmacies increased 17% in 2024 alone. The disruption can be felt in thousands of brick-and-mortar pharmacy closures in the U.S. this year, but the entire supply chain is impacted.

Consumers have shifted away from traditional in-office physician visits, with a decline of 25% according to Harvard Medical School, in part due to inconvenience. With the physician shortage expected to grow by 30% over the next ten years, appointments are increasingly challenging to secure; the average wait time for the next available appointment is 38 days according to Becker’s Hospital Review. Meanwhile, treatments that previously obligated an in-person visit are now offered by digital pharmacies in a matter of hours. What began as teledocs writing birth control or antibiotics has expanded into access to controlled substances, GLP-1, antipsychotics and other medications for more complex conditions. A greater diversity of medications is becoming available via digital heath platforms, aligned with growing consumer interest; according to McKinsey, more than half of consumers who use these services are recent adopters and their numbers are growing.

Growing consumer expectations regarding speed to access are affecting the entire retail chain, pharmacy included. As major U.S. retailers like Walmart have trained consumers to expect availability and accessibility, new retailers are delivering with paradigm-shifting velocity, and consumers have taken notice; Temu’s parent company reported their annual revenue has nearly doubled year over year.

As consumer expectations are validated by experience, each expedited order raises the stakes for retailers of all kinds. With patients primed by the broader marketplace, hurdles from traditional pharmacies like reimbursement, inventory and workflow become that much more arduous for consumers to contend with.

AI will revolutionize the way people access and action on information. While it may have been seen as a path to operational efficiencies a year ago, AI is starting to prove out its myriad revolutions – discovery among them.

In health, how patients have looked for information has evolved significantly but AI is set to be the greatest upheaval in the space – ever. Despite consumers searching on new platforms, like TikTok, search for health information on traditional platforms isn’t decreasing. Health search volume on Google has actually increased 17% from early 2023. What is decreasing is click through rates to Open Web. While not all Google searches produce AI Overviews, Health as an industry has one of the highest percentage queries resulting in overviews at 50.3%, meaning we may see the steepest drop in traffic due to the volume of zero click searches.

Consumers are also searching for information on other AI-powered platforms, with consumer expectation for precision and speed are skyrocketing alongside adoption. ChatGPT’s accuracy improved by 20 points over the course of just two months for the same test and, at launch, reached 1 million users in just five days – a record-breaking adoption rate surpassing those of platforms like TikTok. In October 2024, ChatGPT added a search function to its interface, providing links to websites in addition to generative AI responses. Considering ChatGPT’s exiting user base of 200 million weekly average users, ChatGPT is positioned to be an emerging destination for search.

As we look to the future, the way people look for health information will be upended. As the deluge of information grows — the amount of medical information is said to double every 73 days – patients will be further empowered to do their own research, potentially educating themselves using studies and medical papers that were formerly out of reach, now easily digested using AI-powered tools.

With 2025’s administration changes likely to disrupt multiple sectors, the impacts of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as the Chairman of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could be significant, potentially seismic, for healthcare marketing. Though his nomination is subject to Senate confirmation, Kennedy has stated intentions to “Make America Healthy Again,” in part by “review[ing] direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ad guidelines” or as he said on X, “banning pharmaceutical advertising on television.” While restrictions would most likely take aim at mass market campaigns, new regulations should shape the marketplace permanently. Consider that pharma’s investment in media is the second-largest overall in the U.S., overtaking tech’s spend last year. Any changing dynamics would impact how people receive health information, but more broadly could force revenues down for major networks and publishers as pharma spend recedes on those channels.

Further economic impacts could follow; Kennedy has shared his intentions to significantly reduce the workforce at the FDA, which would be under his purview if confirmed, telling staffers to be prepared to “pack your bags” via X. Terminations and subsequent staff departures in response could result in slowed bureaucracy, and sluggish drug-approval decisions, limiting differentiated treatments for patients and impacting overall economic growth with potential losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. The current paradigm sees manufacturers paying more than 45% of the agency’s budget to maintain momentum and testing rigor. Though Kennedy seeks to change this system, a replacement system has not been proposed – leading many to wonder if a ‘new FDA’ could be slowed to a near halt.