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Think Tank New Patient Starts
Jess Seilheimer
SVP, Strategic Development Intouch Solutions jess.seilheimer@intouchg.com
Providing the right recommendations for patients with special needs, whether that be a rare disease or those with nuanced accessibility requirements starts with the right research. In a world with no
time or budget constraints, ethnographic research is one of the best approaches to understanding special needs.
Unlike traditional market research IDI (in-depth interviews fielded via video/phone), ethnography is a subset of human anthropology that involves trying to understand how people live their lives. Anthropological researchers visit patients in their homes to observe their behavior, on their terms.
While this observational method is time intensive, it surfaces nuanced context around how a customer would use a new product/ program and the meaning that product might hold in their lives— which may be missed in a phone interview. Ethnography’s other main benefit is delivering a detailed and truthful representation of users’ behaviors and attitudes, uncovering and analyzing relevant attitudes and emotional states. The results help the strategist, UX, and design team truly understand the problem and design a more personalized solution that can scale to the entire patient population.
The Intersection of CX and Innovation
Cultural shifts across consumer, technology, and environmental areas inform new trends in innovation. Technological advancements are only proven successful when human behavior and adoption follow. The marketing world has shifted from building insular brand experiences to creating compelling customer experiences that are seamless, orchestrated, impactful, and satisfying.
Innovative ways to drive product adoption and usage (especially
in today’s remote climate) can include allowing for enrollment via
the EMR at time of diagnosis/discharge. Also, Alexa-powered AI personalized assistants can offer in-home remote check-ins via SMS to ensure personalized connection and adherence. This approach collects behavioral data (in aggregate) to help build future state look-a-like predictive models that will segment and accelerate patient enrollment and offer unique content and personalized engagement.
50 pm360 magazine / September 2020
Sandra Graham-Mason
Director, Marketing Regeneron
As a Patient Marketing Director, understanding the different aspect of the patient journey is
a crucial part of my role. Only after deeply understanding the customer am I able to communicate with them in the most authentic way. When I set out to create a patient starter kit, I first determine where in the overall strategy it fits in and what unmet need I am solving for. The most important components include information that is relevant to the patient delivered in a way they want to consume information. Ultimately, we create a trusted resource from a trusted source.
The Limitations of Patient Starter Kits
Patient starter kits are a great resource, but sometimes they lack the basic information that patients are looking for such as disease education, basic treatment information, and patient support programs. We’ve also found that some physicians have restrictions against distributing starter kits to patients in their offices, so it’s important to use multiple channels to appropriately communicate the existence of the kits and provide alternative ways for patients to receive them.
Designing Kits that Resonate
To ensure kits are designed to fit patients’ needs, go directly to the source: The patients themselves. After one kit we made had been designed, we talked to patients and caregivers and discussed the components to ensure they resonated. The feedback was positive. The group was impressed we listened to their needs and followed through with their suggestions. We were especially happy to hear that everyone in the group said they would use the patient starter kit and wished they had access to it when they were first prescribed treatment.