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Think Tank New Patient Starts
Ross Quinn
Director of Customer Solutions
YuzuYello, an FCB Health Network company ross.quinn@fcb.com
Onboarding and choosing to continue treatment are ongoing decisions for patients. As such, we need to provide experiences that create an ongoing relationship between the patients and their treatment.
Nowadays patients are looking for support services that will match the ones they experience in their “consumer life.”
These superior services in health need to stem from strong behavioral models at their core in order to diagnose behaviors, their associated influences, and how they interact over time
to affect the patient experience. Those models are not “one size fits all”—they need to be carefully selected and expansive in their investigation, like the eight dimensions of wellness (physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, vocational, financial, and environmental). Importantly, behavioral models should not live on their own—they need to be accompanied
by learning and designing guidelines so that we can infuse motivation and empathy at each touchpoint and create a lasting brand impression. Ultimately, that is when value is created and the patient-brand relationship thrives.
How to Improve Your Approach to New Patient Starts
Always start from a place of empathy, consider the environment, and carefully select behavioral models that expand the exploration for patient areas of needs that are often beyond the transactional aspects of getting on the medication. Along with behavior models, interweave motivational interviewing and shared decision-making throughout the building of the patient experience.
From there, a strong data engine and predictive analytics help focus resources where they are best deployed and used. If we learned anything from COVID-19, it’s that we need to promptly respond to environmental changes, especially in the situation where a patient is faced with a new medication. Mastering the digital space is key to timely intervention, as long as it allows for human interaction, if desired.
Andrea Geppert
Director, Marketing Strongbridge Biopharma
You have to understand the concerns of the patient community—there is no one size fits all strategy. Take a proactive review of a patient’s journey to diagnosis and treatment as well as their perceptions about therapy to help identify underlying concerns. Patients want specialized communication, so use that as a guiding principle as you structure your program—provide interactive resources such as doctor discussion guides and symptom trackers, both digitally and in print, to help allow patients to customize their questions and disease management.
Ask Patients What They Want
A massive market research project isn’t needed to do this. Through approved alternatives, you can email a survey or share it on social media, listen to insights from your specialty pharmacy partner(s), have a virtual or in-person patient advisory board, or ask for insights from patient advocacy groups. And then, keep asking for feedback—don’t make this a one-time exercise at launch.
You can also establish a patient ambassador group or advisory board, where patients engaged in their community can provide you incredibly detailed feedback to identify ways to enhance your onboarding program. The best strategies are those based on the needs of the patients—so make sure you are taking the time to listen and evolve your program.
Patients want specialized communication, so use that as a guiding principle as you structure your program.
52 pm360 magazine / September 2020