Healthcare advertising CPA

Healthcare spans three survey rows. Physicians and surgeons average $40.04 per lead, health and fitness $67.36, dental $72.97. Physician CPAs run low because conversion rates are high: 12.43% of clicks book. The policy layer, not the auction, is the healthcare-specific cost.

Google restricts healthcare and medicine advertising by category and geography, with certification requirements for pharmacies and limits on sensitive-condition targeting (Google's healthcare ads policy; see the register row's source). Platforms also prohibit personalization based on health conditions, which removes the retargeting and lookalike tools other verticals lean on. Practical effect: healthcare buys broader, colder audiences than its competitors in other industries, pushing acquisition weight onto search intent, where the physician row's 12.43% conversion rate shows how well need converts when it is allowed to search for you.

• Optimize to booked appointments (calls, scheduled slots), not form submissions; no-show-prone form leads make cheap CPAs that never become patients (the action gap).
• Patient lifetime value carries the math: a dental patient on a hygiene cadence justifies $72.97 per lead many times over. Model it with the repeat-rate ceiling.
• Track calls as conversions: healthcare converts by phone at rates other verticals do not. Missing call tracking understates conversions and overstates CPA (denominator discipline).

Full table: benchmarks hub. Lever ranking: how to lower CPA.