CheckedUp has received Media Rating Council accreditation for its ad delivery reporting methodology, covering two distinct metrics across its specialty point of care network - a move that brings independent audit validation to a healthcare advertising channel that has operated largely without it.

What the accreditation covers

CheckedUp today announced it has received accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its ad delivery reporting methodology related to TV Video Ad Plays and Explorer Waiting Room TV Engagement across its point of care network. The announcement was made on June 10, 2026. The accreditation follows an audit conducted by an independent CPA firm engaged by MRC, according to CheckedUp.

The scope is precise. CheckedUp's current MRC accreditation specifically covers two metrics: TV Video Ad Plays and Explorer Waiting Room TV Engagement. Neither metric had previously carried third-party MRC validation. That distinction matters for media buyers and pharmaceutical brand teams that require independently certified figures before committing budget.

The audit covered methodologies, operational controls, data handling, filtration procedures, and reporting practices, according to CheckedUp. That list mirrors the audit requirements applied across other MRC accreditation processes, whether for digital display, CTV viewability, or programmatic inventory measurement. The CPA firm conducting the audit was engaged directly by the MRC rather than by CheckedUp - an arrangement that preserves the independence of the review.

The Explorer Waiting Room TV product

CheckedUp's Explorer Waiting Room TV is a screen-based media product consisting of CheckedUp-managed television displays installed in point of care healthcare locations across the United States, primarily positioned within patient waiting rooms. According to CheckedUp's published methodology documentation, the Explorer Waiting Room TV Count metric reflects, for each unique location in a report, the number of unique Device IDs that are both installed at that location per installation status in the CheckedUp content management system and active during the reporting month as indicated by the device's last-activity timestamp. The metric represents operational devices within the network and does not necessarily correspond to the number of devices that recorded plays of a selected ad, as a device may be active without delivering a specific campaign asset.

That granularity - separating installed devices from ad-delivering devices - is the kind of operational distinction that auditors examine closely. It prevents overcounting and gives advertisers a traceable path from media buy to delivery confirmation.

The Proof of Play Report, which the accreditation validates, confirms the number of healthcare provider locations where campaign ads were played, the total number of ad plays at each location, and detailed counts of healthcare professionals practicing at each location. The report is designed so that advertisers have clear visibility into whether a media buy was fulfilled according to campaign goals.

How MRC accreditation works

The Media Rating Council is a non-profit industry association of leading television, radio, print, out of home, and digital media companies, advertisers, advertising agencies, and trade associations. It was established in 1963. Its function is to develop media measurement standards and guidelines for the media industry, as well as conduct measurement audits to ensure MRC-accredited services produce measurement that is valid, reliable, and effective.

Accreditation is voluntary. An audit is required on an annual basis to maintain MRC accreditation of any service. The process is not a one-time certification - it requires ongoing operational discipline to sustain. As PPC Land has documented across multiple accreditation events, the MRC requires services to meet minimum standards through independent audits conducted by certified public accounting firms, and the bar for those audits is consistent regardless of the media channel involved.

Currently approximately 110 research products carry MRC accreditation, according to the council. The list spans digital display and video, CTV viewability, invalid traffic detection, location-based advertising, attention measurement, and TV audience ratings. CheckedUp's accreditation adds point of care waiting room TV to that set.

"At CheckedUp, we believe trust and transparency are fundamental to the future of healthcare media," said Dr. Richard Awdeh, Co-founder and CEO of CheckedUp. "Achieving MRC accreditation reinforces our commitment to delivering independently validated ad delivery reporting that our pharmaceutical and agency partners can confidently rely on for planning, optimization, and reporting."

The operational requirements to reach that point were substantial. "Earning MRC accreditation required a deep operational commitment across our organization," said Jason Dennie, Chief Operating Officer of CheckedUp. "From onboarding and validating office locations, to monitoring device functionality and maintaining reporting integrity controls, every aspect of our measurement framework was evaluated to ensure the metrics we provide are transparent, traceable, and trusted."

The MRC itself confirmed the outcome. "I congratulate CheckedUp on achieving MRC accreditation, which demonstrates its in-scope ad delivery reporting is materially compliant with MRC's standards, through an independent and rigorous audit," said George Ivie, CEO and Executive Director of MRC. "We appreciate CheckedUp's support of transparency and accountability which benefits the media ecosystem overall."

The point of care channel and why measurement has lagged

Point of care advertising occupies a specific and increasingly contested position in healthcare marketing. The channel delivers messages to patients and providers inside clinical settings - waiting rooms, exam rooms, and pharmacy counters - at moments when healthcare decisions are being considered. That proximity to the decision point is the core commercial proposition.

The channel has grown considerably. Point of care ad spend in pharma topped $1 billion for the first time in a recent year and reached approximately $1.2 billion in 2025, according to preliminary data from Point of Care Marketing Association members. Sales have grown an average of 22 percent annually since 2019. That growth has brought with it increased scrutiny of measurement practices.

Unlike digital channels - where impression counting, viewability, and invalid traffic detection have been subject to MRC standards for years - point of care has historically relied on proprietary verification systems or industry trade body certifications. CheckedUp notes that it was among the first companies to have all its product lines certified under the Point of Care Marketing Association's updated Verification and Validation guidelines in 2021. The MRC accreditation takes that a step further, applying the same independent audit framework used across established advertising channels to a niche healthcare media environment.

That gap between the standards expected by pharmaceutical brand teams and what point of care networks have been able to provide has been a recurring friction point in media planning discussions. Pharmaceutical brands operate under FDA oversight for their promotional claims, and their media partners are expected to demonstrate comparable rigor in reporting. MRC accreditation provides a recognized, third-party standard that meets that bar.

Context: MRC accreditation has been expanding across channels

The CheckedUp announcement does not occur in isolation. The MRC has been methodically extending its accreditation coverage across media environments over recent years, and PPC Land has tracked that progression in detail.

In November 2025, IAS earned MRC accreditation for third-party Amazon DSP measurement, covering impression, viewability, and invalid traffic metrics on the platform - the first such certification for independent verification on Amazon's advertising ecosystem. That accreditation addressed a long-standing challenge: Amazon DSP had previously restricted independent verification, forcing advertisers to rely on internal platform reporting.

In April 2025, Comscore secured MRC accreditation for demographic TV metrics, reinforcing its position as the only measurement service accredited by the MRC in all 210 local markets. In April 2026, HUMAN Security's viewability measurement earned MRC accreditation for display and video on desktop, mobile web, and mobile app - adding another verification layer to programmatic buying.

The MRC's standards activity has been equally active. In October 2025, the council restricted the use of "brand safety" terminology to vendors with content-level capabilities including image, video, and audio analysis - a policy that took effect with a six-month grace period ending in April 2026. In September 2025, the MRC issued draft standards for digital ad auction transparency, covering display, video, audio, search, social, retail media, and CTV. In November 2025, MRC and IAB released attention measurement guidelines establishing frameworks for vendors claiming MRC compliance on attention signals.

That pattern - expanding accreditation scope while sharpening standards terminology - has placed growing pressure on media channels that previously operated outside the MRC framework. Point of care is one such channel.

What it means for pharmaceutical media buying

The implications for pharmaceutical advertising planning are direct. Media agencies placing budgets with point of care networks have lacked a consistent, independent benchmark for delivery validation. Proprietary reporting from networks can demonstrate reach and frequency claims, but without a third-party audit those figures remain unverifiable from the outside.

MRC accreditation changes that equation. Once a network's methodology carries MRC certification, its delivery reports can be evaluated against a known audit standard. That is the same framework media buyers apply when reviewing impression counts from an accredited DSP or viewability figures from an accredited verification vendor.

The pharmaceutical category faces particular measurement pressure. PPC Land has reported on the significant shift in pharma TV spend following FDA enforcement activity, and on Google's changes to prescription drug ad policies that altered the programmatic landscape for healthcare advertisers. Point of care sits in a different regulatory context - it reaches patients and physicians in clinical settings rather than through consumer media - but the demand for traceable, audited delivery data is the same.

StackAdapt's January 2026 launch of self-serve NPI targeting for pharmaceutical advertisers illustrated the direction the broader healthcare advertising technology market has been moving: more deterministic targeting, more granular HCP-level measurement, and tighter integration between ad delivery and clinical workflow data. CheckedUp's MRC accreditation fits that trajectory. It brings a level of audit rigour to waiting room TV delivery reporting that aligns the channel with the standards increasingly expected from digital healthcare advertising.

The accreditation also carries implications for competitive positioning within the point of care market. As pharmaceutical brands and healthcare media agencies seek independently validated measurement standards comparable to those used across other established advertising channels, networks that cannot demonstrate equivalent validation face a structural disadvantage in media planning conversations.

Operational audit scope

The MRC audit of CheckedUp covered the full operational stack, not just the output metrics. According to CheckedUp, the process examined onboarding and validation of office locations, device functionality monitoring, and reporting integrity controls. Every aspect of the measurement framework was evaluated to ensure metrics are transparent, traceable, and trusted.

That operational breadth is consistent with how MRC audits function. The MRC's minimum standards require that accredited services demonstrate valid, reliable, and effective measurement - which in practice means auditors examine not just whether the numbers are calculated correctly, but whether the underlying data collection, filtration, and reporting infrastructure supports those calculations under real-world conditions.

For a network like CheckedUp's, which operates television displays across specialty practices nationwide, that means verifying device installation records, confirming that ad play counts reflect actual screen activity rather than scheduled delivery, and establishing that location-level reporting maps accurately to the physical network. Those are non-trivial operational requirements. They demand investment in content management systems, device monitoring infrastructure, and data governance processes before an audit can even begin.

About CheckedUp

CheckedUp describes itself as the leading specialty point of care education platform, connecting pharmaceutical brands, healthcare providers, and patients through clinically relevant engagement inside specialty care environments. The company is physician-founded, with Dr. Richard Awdeh serving as Co-founder and CEO. Its product suite spans waiting room TV screens, exam room wallboards, and patient guide delivery via email, covering the patient encounter from waiting room to post-visit follow-up.

CheckedUp appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies for the fourth time in 2025, with three-year revenue growth of 268 percent, according to CheckedUp. The company is a member of the Point of Care Marketing Association and holds BPA Worldwide certification. The MRC accreditation announced today represents an additional and distinct layer of independent validation on top of those existing certifications.

Timeline

Summary

Who: CheckedUp, a specialty point of care education platform founded by Dr. Richard Awdeh, received MRC accreditation. The Media Rating Council, a non-profit industry body established in 1963 and led by CEO George Ivie, conducted the oversight process via an independent CPA firm.

What: CheckedUp received accreditation for its ad delivery reporting methodology covering two specific metrics - TV Video Ad Plays and Explorer Waiting Room TV Engagement - across its network of television displays in specialty healthcare waiting rooms. The accreditation follows a comprehensive independent audit of methodologies, operational controls, data handling, filtration procedures, and reporting practices.

When: The accreditation was announced on June 10, 2026. MRC accreditation requires an annual independent audit to be maintained.

Where: CheckedUp operates a network of screen-based television displays installed in specialty healthcare practices across the United States, primarily in patient waiting rooms.

Why: Pharmaceutical brands and healthcare media agencies have sought independently validated measurement standards for point of care media comparable to those used across established advertising channels. MRC accreditation addresses that need by providing third-party validation that CheckedUp's delivery reporting is materially compliant with MRC standards - giving media buyers and pharma brand teams a traceable, audited basis for evaluating delivery claims in a channel that previously lacked that independent verification layer.