From Patient Education to Product Innovation
Executive Director of Product Management Pam Munnelly on Health Union’s Patient-Centered Approach
Published Dec. 16, 2025 | 4 Minute Read
By Genevieve Herdegen, Director, Integrated Marketing, Health Union
When Pamela Munnelly, Executive Director of Product Management at Health Union, talks about innovation, she speaks with a unique blend of strategy and sensitivity. It’s an approach rooted in her history of working directly with those living with chronic and complex conditions, ensuring that every product—from AI-driven content recommendations to patient advocacy tools—is first and foremost centered on patient needs.
Bridging Empathy and Innovation: The Core of Health Union’s Product Strategy
Munnelly’s career began in patient education, specifically working with oncology patients. This experience taught her a fundamental truth: successful health engagement lies in understanding how people learn, what they are looking for, and when they are looking for information.
This belief is the foundation of Health Union’s approach, which Munnelly defines by its focus on providing information that is “easily digestible” and written in a way that ensures patients “walk away with answers and validation, not more questions.”
“I try to keep all that in mind in terms of products—that people are looking for information that’s relevant, that’s appropriately vetted, that they can really understand,” Munnelly explains.
While many endemic publishers rely heavily on editorial content, Health Union’s product development is differentiated by the marriage of editorial content with condition-specific content written by patient and caregiver advocates. This approach provides a holistic view of the patient experience. And this experience will change over time.
“When you’ve lived with, say, Crohn’s for 10 years, you might have very different needs than you did in that first three to six months,” Munnelly states. “You might have more treatment switching questions or emotional health questions… We’re able to provide a lot more of that information beyond just the newly diagnosed stage.”
Matching Patient Needs with Partner Goals
Product development at Health Union serves a dual mission: empowering patients while driving results for brand partners. For Munnelly, these goals are intrinsically aligned.
“I really believe that what’s good for our advertisers is what’s good for our patients and our community members, and vice versa,” she says. “For the most part, we all want the same thing. Patients seek reliable and actionable information. Brands want educated consumers who can have a thoughtful conversation with their provider about treatment options.”
By leveraging vast first-party (and privacy-first) data on what patients are looking for and what themes resonate, the product team effectively acts as “matchmakers” between brand partners and patients, aligning advertising with safe, relevant, and timely content.
AI, Empowerment, and the Future of Health Product Innovation
Two major factors are currently driving product innovation: the rise of AI and the increasing need for patient empowerment in the face of healthcare challenges, such as limited doctor visit times.
Responsible AI: Innovation Within a Vetted Environment
Munnelly highlights AI as a major trend. However, in healthcare, the biggest differentiator for Health Union is its commitment to responsible AI usage.
“I think we will see an increasing emphasis on using AI within within contained environments for health,” Munnelly explains. Health Union’s AI-powered products operate within its own closed environment, using only vetted Health Union content, which offers a safety and reliability advantage over big AI platforms that can pull from anywhere on the web.
A few of Health Union’s key products include My Journ.ai, which leverages machine learning to process users’ self-check results and render articles relevant to their experience. Another, Hear + Now, utilizes AI to create audio content, providing critical accessibility for users.
Empowering the Confident Patient
Acknowledging that patients only get a few minutes of face time with a provider, Health Union also develops products designed to help patients be self-advocates.
“The Confident Patient” Doctor Discussion Guide helps walk patients through preparing for HCP conversations, so they can walk in “armed with questions” and clear goals. Munnelly stresses that this toolkit is vital because “it’s really stressful to be a patient,” and it’s easy to forget key questions in the moment.
These patient-empowering products also deliver significant value to our brand partners by ensuring their messaging is placed within a trusted, high-engagement environment. By reaching patients who are actively seeking relevant information and preparing for treatment discussions, these tools position our brand partners as essential parts of the patient’s informed decision-making process. This targeted approach guarantees brands reach the right people at the right moments in their health journey, leading to more productive conversations with their healthcare providers.
Looking Ahead: The Role of Patient Leaders and Rare Disease
Looking to the future, Munnelly points to the growing rare disease space as a critical area that will shape product innovation. With increasing new drug approvals, the need for flexible products that serve these small, unique populations—who have different needs and difficulties finding information and specialized physicians—will become paramount.
She emphasizes the immense value of Health Union’s Social Health Network of patient leaders. These leaders are “hyper specific” and driven by a selfless passion to share their authentic, often vulnerable, day-to-day lives, from managing medications to changing medical devices.
“That big network really sets us apart in being able to develop products that will involve our patient leaders… in ways that are really valuable for both our clients as well as our community members,” Munnelly says.
Ultimately, every product strategy at Health Union returns to its core philosophy: community first. Pam adds, “Our patient communities are our heartbeat. They inform and shape everything we do, and they’re instrumental to the success of our clients.”
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