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Think Tank New Patient Starts
Stephen Fanuele
Associate Director, Voice of Patient & Experience Bristol Myers Squibb
Patient starter kits are valuable educational materials with components such as treatment journals and doctor discussion guides along with core product benefits information and
some type of administration or dosing guide to help patients acclimate to their new treatment behavior. All of these elements are helpful and informative, offering up a range of educational resources to support patients in the management of their new treatment.
The balance needed is identifying what information companies want to provide versus what information patients need. As marketers, we have to communicate the benefits of our brand or company and differentiate ourselves in crowded treatment categories. As patient marketers, we have a responsibility to understand what patients need at this transitional time and embrace both their clinical and emotional needs.
Offering Patients Empathy
Showing empathy through our content and our communications helps reassure patients that the company or manufacturer of their treatment is actually thinking of them
as not just a patient, but as a person. For example, identifying patient advocates who have been on therapy and featuring their messages in these welcome kits with a pre-printed letter or note to say, “I’ve been where you are now, and you will get through this...” would do volumes to connect to a patient who is frantically seeking answers and reassurance.
Another way to demonstrate empathy is to offer customized kits based on other variables such as administration type. We should not be sending the same information to patients who take a treatment orally versus patients who take that same treatment via injection. Those are different patient experiences and certain aspects of these kits need to acknowledge those differences
as well. Patients depend on these kits when a doctor is not available, so aim to provide more comprehensive support.
Nate Lucht
President & CEO
InStep Health nathan.lucht@instephealthmedia.com
Start by thinking about your introduction not as a single event, but a series of engagements across multiple channels. Everyday consumers are accustomed to learning about new products and services in a variety of physical and digital channels, so be sure you invest both in tactile and technological ways to introduce your products to a new patient.
The patient-provider relationship remains one of the most powerful starting points for awareness and interest. Life sciences companies can improve their standing in these conversations
by providing a range of both physical resources and education
for providers. Providers want to make recommendations that provide lasting benefit. Education that focuses not just on conditions but also on the importance of adherence plans inspires productive conversations.
Both Physical and Digital Resources
Brand starter kits are also a strong tool, especially when customized not just for the patient’s interests but for the HCP’s office as well. Take-home resources and in-office physical displays can seamlessly tie your brand’s message with the provider’s message, strengthening associations and better establishing a link between the recommendation and the ongoing treatment.
When the patient leaves the HCP office, they will likely soon make a trip to the pharmacy. It’s important to meet them there with education that resonates with their current concerns and interest in a new medication.
Digital education should be tied to physical wellness visits as well. Solutions that provide opt-in messaging can connect timely brand messaging to visits at HCPs’ locations. Taking
a multimedia approach that includes full-screen takeovers, short videos, links to patient portals, and smaller conventional ads will help your message be heard. Linking the physical and digital across a variety of touchpoints makes it easy for patients to appreciate how your medication will fit with their needs and individual experience.
September 2020 / pm360 magazine 47