InStep Health Unveils Patient Inbox™ — A New DTC Channel Built Inside the EHR

The company's new solution delivers brand education to the Patient Portal inbox, shifting DTC from broad outreach to in-context, care-adjacent messaging.

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, February 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- InStep Health, the clinically integrated messaging platform, today announced the launch of Patient Inbox, a breakthrough Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) solution designed to help life science brands engage patients in the most trusted digital environment in healthcare: the EHR Patient Portal.

For decades, DTC has relied on channels that sit outside the care experience, driving patients to search, click away, and self-navigate complex information across disparate sites and touchpoints. Patient Inbox changes that dynamic by bringing high-quality patient education directly into the same portal inbox that patients already rely on to manage their health. The result is a new kind of DTC engagement, moving beyond passive awareness to show up within patients’ care workflows at moments of real medical need.

Patient Inbox supports the modern care experience, turning education into action through secure, in-portal messages delivered as a natural extension of care. Outreach is triggered by real clinical signals, including ICD-10 and NDC criteria, so brands reach qualified patients at the right time, without relying on modeled audiences. Transparent reporting tracks engagement activity and allows for messaging refinement. Built to scale, programs can activate across a population of more than 80M patients.

“Patient Inbox brings a completely new paradigm for those seeking patient engagement – one that’s deterministic, clinically relevant, and systematically integrated,” said Dan Wilmer, Chief Product Officer at InStep Health. “Built on our Integrated EHR infrastructure, Patient Inbox gives health consumers access to timely support, treatment advice, and medical best practices related to their condition in a trusted, permission-based, HIPAA-compliant environment.”

More than a message, it’s an always-on touchpoint between medical appointments that helps brands guide patients from information to action, with measurement built in from day one.

“Patient Inbox opens a more relevant DTC opportunity for pharma: supporting the patient with timely education and support programs that help them take the next step in their care journey. It is built for the use cases that drive real impact, from disease awareness to brand education to copay support,” said Shaun Urban, InStep Health’s Chief Client Officer. “And it gives marketers the reporting they need to continuously optimize campaigns for stronger ROI results.”

Mark Goethals
InStep Health
mark.goethals@instephealth.com
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