White Paper Available! Telehealth Solutions Enhance Health Outcomes and Reduce Healthcare Costs

White paper: Can we enhance health outcomes with telehealth?

There is intense pressure for the life sciences industry to demonstrate that treatments enhance health outcomes and decrease healthcare costs. Life science companies need tools to track patient outcomes, and gather data that demonstrates the impact a treatment has on health outcomes.

Telehealth solutions can be customized to gather patient vital signs and interview data based on the patient’s health condition. This information can be used in many ways to enhance health outcomes and reduce costs.

This white paper provides an overview of what telehealth is, factors driving the healthcare industry to focus on increasing outcomes and reducing costs, how telehealth solutions can enhance health outcomes and reduce costs, benefits life science companies can expect from telehealth solutions, as well as share results from two key studies of telehealth solutions.

If you’d like a copy of the white paper titled “Telehealth Solutions Enhance Health Outcomes and Reduce Healthcare Costs”, please click to request it. I’d love to hear what you think of this latest white paper—is it helpful or not? Also, please share with me areas you’d like to see more information and recommendations on.

Look to the Future: Physicians Recommend Mobile Apps

Apps for Health Management

Early-adopting physicians recommend mobile apps to enhance patient compliance and outcomes

There is evidence that adults in the US are using cell phones and smartphones to manage their health, and use is growing at a moderate pace. A recent blog post shared results from the Mobile Health 2012 survey, which was published by The Pew Internet and American Life Project. The findings from this survey offer significant insights into how US consumers use their cell phones and smartphones to access health information and health apps. Two key findings that jumped out to me are…

* 31% of cell phone users use their phone to search for health information (in 2010 it was only 17%)

* 19% of smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone. Exercise, diet, and weight apps are the most popular

As the healthcare industry shifts to outcomes-based payment models, healthcare providers and payers will look for effective and economical ways to help patients better manage their health. Increasing patient adherence to treatment is a primary area that healthcare providers and payers are interested in impacting.

Recently, a post titled “When the Rx is an App” was published on the American Medical News blog (which is published by the American Medical Association). This post focuses on forward-thinking physicians recommending apps to help patients manage their condition, track medication adherence, and monitor their symptoms and vital signs. There are no definitive numbers on how many physicians recommend apps to their patients, but no doubt there is opportunity for apps as a part of a comprehensive patient adherence program. App-based health management tools are convenient and the learning curve for many patients is minimal. Patients carry their smartphones with them and are in the habit of using their smartphones to access e-mail, apps, and search for information.

As the life science industry continues to focus on patient outcomes, with an emphasis on adherence and compliance, there are opportunities for life science companies to provide significant value to patients, healthcare providers, and payers. App-based health management tools are just one component of a potential solution. Effective solutions will include various components so patients can select the tools they are most comfortable with including mobile health sites, telehealth devices, educational websites, and nurse educator programs that provide 24/7 assistance to answer patient questions.

Currently, there are apps that collect patient information such as heart rate, weight, calories burned, calories consumed, etc. that can be shared with healthcare providers during office visits. In the future, technologies such as telehealth devices and apps will summarize collected patient information, send it to healthcare providers, and upload the information directly into electronic health records. With these advances healthcare providers receive accurate patient-specific information that can be used to guide treatment discussions and decisions.

At Tunstall AMAC we are focused on helping build and maintain relationships with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to drive awareness and knowledge, support patient adherence, and empower patients to take charge of their health. We offer a wide-variety of personal emergency response and telehealth devices that can be used in the home-setting, and we provide 24/7 monitoring and click-to-chat support services to provide support, information, and educational materials to patients, providers, and payers.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on the use of apps to manage an individual’s health. Do you use healthcare-related apps? Is your company providing these services now? Is your company likely to provide them in the future? Please share your questions and comments, and let’s all learn from each other.

Smartphones: Fertile Ground for Health Information

Interesting stats on smartphone usage - more below

Pew Internet and American Life Project finds half of smartphone owners use their devices to get health information.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently published results from the Mobile Health 2012 survey. The findings from this survey offer significant insights into how US consumers use their smartphones to access health information and health apps. These findings are evidence that life science companies have significant opportunities to provide value-added services and products that help patients improve their health.

Key findings from the Mobile Health 2012 survey include…

* 85% of US adults own a cell phone
  - 53% are smartphones

* 31% of cell phone users use their phone to search for health information
  - In 2010 only 17% of cell phone users used their phones to search for health information
  - 52% of smartphone owners access health information via their smartphone

* 19% of smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone
  - Exercise, diet, and weight apps are the most popular

* 9% of cell phone owners receive text updates and alerts about their health or medical issues
  - 80% of cell phone owners send and receive text messages

*  Those most likely to have signed up for health text alerts...
  - Women between the ages of 30 and 64
  - Smartphone owners

* Those most likely to use cell phones to search for health information…
  - Caregivers
  - Those who recently faced a medical crisis
  - Those who recently experienced a significant change in their physical health

Clearly adults in the US are more often using their cell phones and smartphones to manage their health, and use is growing at a moderate pace. As the life science industry continues to focus on patient outcomes, with an emphasis on adherence and compliance, there are opportunities for life science companies to provide mobile healthcare apps and services that provide significant value to patients, healthcare providers, and payers.

Key areas to consider when planning mobile health initiatives …

Mobile health sites and apps can have a significant impact; however, these are just two components of a potential solution. There are new technologies, such as telehealth devices that are powerful tools or capturing and sharing information between patients and healthcare providers. Additionally, don’t overlook the importance of educational websites and nurse educator programs that provide 24/7 assistance to answer patient questions.

At Tunstall AMAC we are focused on helping build and maintain relationships with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to drive awareness and knowledge, support patient adherence, and empower patients to take charge of their health. We offer a wide-variety of personal emergency response and telehealth devices that can be used in the home-setting, and we provide 24/7 monitoring and click-to-chat support services to provide support, information, and educational materials to patients, providers, and payers.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on mobile health information. Is this something you’re doing or considering as a value-added service? Please share your questions and comments, and let’s all learn from each other.

Look to the Future: Sharing Physician Visit Notes with Patients Improves Engagement and Adherence

More transparency and sharing of information is the way of the future in healthcare. A simple option is to allow patient’s access to their visit notes that physicians keep as a part of their medical record. Patients have a right to see their entire medical record including physician’s notes; however, this doesn’t regularly happen.

Very little is known about the impact on physicians and patients when they are allowed to read physician’s notes from their visits. There are a number of questions including…

1)  Would patients be confused or offended by the information included in physician’s notes?

2)  Would physicians feel they need to spend more time in writing their notes and would they experience increases in the number of questions they receive from patients?

To answer these questions a year-long study was launched to provide patients with electronic access to the physician’s notes from their visits. The study results were recently published on-line in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Below are the key takeaways from this important study…

* 105 physicians and 13,564 patients participated from three sites in the US

* 11,797 patients (87%) opened at least one physician visit note

*  Of the 11,797 patients that opened at least one note, 5,391 (47%) completed a post-intervention survey

* Of the patients completing post-intervention surveys…
   - 77% to 87% of patients across the three sites reported that open notes helped them feel more in control of their care
   - 60% to 78% of those taking medications reported increased medication adherence
   - 1% to 8% reported that the notes caused confusion, worry, or offense
   - 20% to 42% of patients reported sharing notes with others

* The physicians reported...
   - The volume of electronic messages from patients did not change
   - 0% to 5% from the three study sites had longer patient visits
   - 0% to 8% from the three sites increased time spent addressing patients’ questions outside of visits
   - 3% to 36% changed documentation content
   - 0% to 21% took more time to write visit notes

This study is important because it demonstrates that increased information sharing between physicians and patients increases patient engagement. The impact of this study is…

* A significant number of patients (ie, 60% to 78%) reported increased adherence to medications. Historically, only 43% of patients that start a prescription therapy are continuing that therapy 6 months later.

* The majority of patients (77% to 87%) felt that open notes helped them to feel more in control of their care. This is incredibly meaningful and a key component to empowering patients to take control of their health.

* Overall physicians saw no more than a modest effect on their work lives by sharing their visit notes with patients. This data should help physicians overcome concerns they have in adopting this practice.

 Changes in the healthcare industry are driving the emphasis on decreasing healthcare costs and enhancing patient outcomes. Patient engagement and adherence are critical to achieving these goals, and this study supports open sharing of physician visit notes can have an impact with little additional time investment from physicians.

In the future, the industry must support initiatives that empower patients to take responsibility for managing their health. This is a very personal issue, and what motivates one individual may not work to motivate another. Innovative ideas are needed. Ultimately, many approaches will be combined to form a customized solution that is effective for an individual patient.

At Tunstall AMAC we are focused on helping build and maintain relationships with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to drive awareness and knowledge, support patient adherence, and empower patients to take charge of their health. We offer a wide-variety of personal emergency response and telehealth devices that can be used in the home-setting, and we provide 24/7 monitoring and click-to-chat support services to provide support, information, and educational materials to patients, providers, and payers. Our services combined with open sharing of physician’s notes can increase patient empowerment.

We recently published a white paper on how to develop successful patient and caregiver support programs, as well as emerging trends being used to deliver customized and personalized experiences for patients. If you’d like a copy of the white paper titled “Increase Patient Adherence and Do More with Less”, please click to request it.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on the open notes study. Do you think this practice is likely to be widely adopted by physicians? What other innovative solutions do you see for empowering patients to take responsibility for managing their health?

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Full-Speed Ahead: The Shift to Patient-Centric and Personalized Marketing Programs

Read a new article in PharmaVOICE magazine about segmentation advances and the value of personalizing marketing programs

Changes in the industry are shifting the goals of marketing programs to focus on the patient, and to provide meaningful outcomes. To do this, the focus must be on getting the right patient on the right treatment. Advances in technology are fueling exciting changes in how effectively marketers segment and message to their audiences. Real-time data capture empowers decision-making and increases the effectiveness of marketing programs.

The industry has used the decile model for segmentation for years, and in a world of hard-to-reach and no-see physicians this approach is no longer effective. Technological advances provide…  

     * Insights into the number of “appropriate” patients a provider has in their practice 
     * A better understanding of patient behavior so that marketers can deliver more
        compelling messages and valuable programs

As the industry continues to evolve marketing programs to be more patient-centric, delivering personalized information and messages takes on an even greater importance. The key to effective marketing programs is delivering value, and the starting point is to understand patient behavior. This understanding allows marketers to provide programs that meet their needs and helps them overcome their challenges. Valuable and relevant programs foster patient commitment and trust.

There is an article in the October 2012 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine (it’s available on-line) that shares expert insights on advances in segmenting and personalizing marketing efforts. The article provides an excellent overview of the technological changes that empower better segmentation, as well as insights into the impact personalization can have in enhancing the effectiveness of programs.

There are many options for personalized marketing programs. As a pharmaceutical call center, we provide opportunities for patients and caregivers to interact personally with our nurse educators and care counselors at their convenience.

I’d like to hear how you are personalizing your marketing activities. Also, are you using advances in technology to fine-tune your market segmentation activities? If so, what insights have you found along the way that helped you to better understand the patient journey? Did you incorporate these findings into your programs?

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Evolving Pharma Sales Models: The Customer is King

How pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device products are sold is changing and it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. There are many factors driving this change, and two of the most significant are healthcare reform changes and that healthcare providers are demanding meaningful interactions with company representatives. Life science companies are developing new sales models that aren’t solely a “sales pitch”. Rather, the interaction is “customer-centric” and based on meeting the customer’s needs and providing value.

Evolving your sales model to be focused on meeting customer needs is much more than just adapting your sales messages to address the latest concerns heard in the field. This is a fundamental mindset change, and life sciences companies have think about what it is they are offering and delivering. In the future our healthcare system will be focused on patient outcomes and cost. This environment requires the life science industry to provide programs that support treatments to improve patient outcomes, provide value, and decrease costs.

Patient adherence is an important driver in improving patient outcomes and decreasing future healthcare costs, but it is not the only one. In many disease-states and conditions there are health, wellness, and lifestyle factors that contribute to long-term improvement in outcomes and decreases in healthcare expenditures. There is an opportunity, and need, for life sciences companies to partner with patients, providers, and payers to address health, wellness, and lifestyle factors.

There are many programs that can be developed and implemented that will improve patient outcomes. To create meaningful programs patients can “stick to”, think about these areas…

* Understand the barriers patients face in remaining adherent and compliant with therapy.

* Plan programs that support patients on their treatment journey, and help them adhere to treatment.

* Develop patient support programs that are a resource and guide for patients during their treatment journey.

I encourage you to think holistically about the challenges of patients, providers, and payers and design programs to meet these broad needs. As life science companies look to evolve their sales models to meet customers’ needs and provide meaningful interactions, the need for programs that support patients, providers, and payers will increase. Provide solutions, through your product and its related services, to manage or overcome the broad healthcare challenges your customers face.

There are many options for providing programs that enhance patient outcomes. As a pharmaceutical call center, we provide as needed call-in support for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers to answer questions about a product and its side effects, enroll patients in a support program, connect patients with healthcare providers in their local area, and connect patients with co-pay assistance resources. Our experiences show that within 6 months of implementing a patient support program patient adherence increases 10% to 15%. Patient adherence to treatment decreases future healthcare costs related to treating complications from earlier non-adherence.

There was an interesting article recently published on Pharmaceutical Executive on-line that looks at the evolving nature of pharmaceutical sales forces as they evolve to a more “customer-centric” approach. If you are interested in learning more about one model for moving in this direction you can access the article here.

I’d like to hear from you. Are you adding programs to support patients as a part of your marketing and sales efforts? If you are, what kinds of initiatives and programs are you planning? Please join the conversation and share your thoughts and challenges. We can all learn from each other. Alternatively, if you have specific needs you’d like to discuss with me you can reach me directly at louis.shapiro@tunstallamac.com.

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Hit the Target to Drive Action and Engagement

Lately, I've been thinking about how to drive customer action and engagement. Given recent advances in technology there are many tools available to connect the life sciences industry with their customers on an individual level. For me, the challenge is in how to maximize the impact of these tools to meet the needs of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers.

I have seen more about behavioral marketing lately, which at its core is focused on figuring out what customers want and providing customers with that in the manner that they want it. Behavioral marketing is beautifully simple and effective, if done correctly. However, the challenging part of behavioral marketing is in answering the questions of what it is that customers want and how to deliver that.

We use behavioral marketing concepts to design programs that meet our clients’ needs and goals. These concepts can easily be implemented to design impactful programs, and below I offer a few specific and practical suggestions on how to do this.

1. Clearly articulate the program’s goals—Clear program goals empower program design and ensure that the program’s results can be measured. If the primary goals of your program are to drive customer engagement and action then behavioral marketing will help you achieve those goals.  

2. Understand the patient journey—Seek to understand how the daily lives of patients are impacted by the disease or condition, identify activities they perform each day, and understand the interactions between patients, healthcare providers, and caregivers. These insights provide valuable glimpses into challenges and unmet needs for patients, healthcare providers, and caregivers.  

3. Offer solutions to overcome patient challenges—Programs designed to help patients overcome challenges are meaningful and valuable. As you design programs think about how the program will be valuable over time. Consider and plan to evolve the program over time to remain relevant and engaging for patients.  

4. Understand how patients like to receive information and support—Seek information on how patients prefer to research information. Do they prefer to do this themselves on-line or through social media channels? Alternatively, do patients prefer to talk with someone about their educational or support needs? Knowing patients’ preferences empowers you to develop appropriate tools and resources that patients utilize, engage, and come to trust. I encourage you to think about integrating options such as robust amounts of information on-line and offering click-to-chat or toll-free telephone access to live representatives. With health and wellness concerns, it’s important not to overlook the power of personal interactions.  

5. Leverage data for insights and decisions—Do not stop gathering and analyzing data. Carefully review data for insights into the needs and preferences of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Rely on data for key insights in designing your program. Once the program is designed and operating continue to seek data for insights into how the program is performing and if updates are needed.

There is an interesting article in the September 2012 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine on behavioral marketing. The article provides insights into developing successful behavioral marketing campaigns, and you can access it here.

Do you have a challenge that might benefit from a program designed with behavioral marketing concepts? If so, please post a comment and share your challenge. Alternatively, please reach out to me to discuss your situation. You can reach me directly at louis.shapiro@tunstallamac.com.

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Budget Planning: Creating Impact with Less Investment

Declining Patient Adherence is a Key Concern

It’s August and many of us are in the midst of budget planning season. We are all aware of the reality facing the life sciences industry—more drugs coming off patent leading to less revenue and increasing costs to develop new treatments. Now more than ever, life science companies are faced with the need to do more with less. For marketers this means maximizing the impact of each program.

My advice to clients is to initially focus on programs that are quick to impact such as patient retention, attracting appropriate patients to consider your product, and maximizing the efficiency of your sales force. Below are a few specific programs you should consider.

Begin with patient compliance and adherence to therapy. It has been reported that compliance to therapy averages between 50% and 65%. There is a tremendous opportunity to increase the number of patients that adhere to treatment. The added benefit is it is much less expensive to keep patients on treatment than it is to attract new patients. To increase patient compliance and adherence consider…

* Patient support programs—these programs focus on patients and help them meet their needs and overcome their challenges. As a pharmaceutical call center we have healthcare-trained representatives available 24/7 and 365 days/year to answer patient questions and provide materials about their condition, treatment, side effects, and even can direct them to reimbursement assistance programs if they need it.

Support DTC marketing efforts and make it easy for patients to act on the awareness built by the advertising campaigns. To increase the effectiveness of your DTC marketing programs consider…

* Adding pharmaceutical call center support to handle inquiries from your advertising campaigns. A pharmaceutical call center we can answer patient questions, and can also provide referrals to physicians and specialists located near the patient’s home or work.

* Including click-to-chat support through websites. Make it easy for patients to ask questions and receive quick replies when they are interacting with one of your websites. Click-to-chat functionality provides real-time interactions, which is a tremendous advantage. As a pharmaceutical call center we can provide healthcare-trained representatives to answer patient questions submitted through websites and can provide links to materials and referrals to physicians and specialists too.

Maximize your field-based sales force so they focus on providing value to healthcare providers. To increase the effectiveness of your field-force consider…

* Partnering with a pharmaceutical call center to drive action with healthcare providers such as booking appointments for sales representatives and enrolling sites in a study or patient support program.

* Shifting administrative tasks such as replenishing samples and overseeing distribution and fulfillment. Our call center representatives reach out to healthcare providers on a regular basis to ensure they have adequate supplies of samples and materials. Additionally, we can oversee database updates and targeting and cleansing activities too.

The challenge to do more with less will continue for the foreseeable future. The formula for success is to create the most value from our investments. There are many opportunities to create value, and I have shared a few of my thoughts on how a pharmaceutical call center partner can help. I’d like to hear from you. What are your challenges? How are you creating more value for your investment?

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Free Podcast: Improve Patient Adherence with Patient Support Programs

 In the latest podcast, I share my thoughts on improving patient adherence through patient support programs. Specifically, I discuss how patient support programs contribute to higher patient compliance rates, better patient health, lower healthcare expenses, and improved patient retention.

If you would like to listen to this podcast, please click to download it now. After you listen to the podcast, let me know what you think of it—is it helpful? Are you currently providing patient support programs? If so, please share your experiences and insights on these programs. This area is evolving quickly, and we can all learn from one another.

We also recently published a free white paper titled “Increase Patient Adherence and Do More with Less”. We encourage you to download this companion piece to the podcast.

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White Paper - Do More with Less—Invest in Patient and Caregiver Support Programs

A successful model

Patient adherence is a hot issue for all players (ie, payers, healthcare providers, life science companies, and patients) in the healthcare industry. Unfortunately all chronic conditions have low rates of patient compliance to therapy with the average being between 50% and 65%. Patient noncompliance is a significant problem, and for the life science industry it is particularly problematic as patients that start a therapy are not likely to continue it for the needed duration. This has a significant financial impact for life science companies as it costs six times more to attract new patients than it does to retain existing ones.

We have seen adherence rates increase by 10% to 15% after a patient and caregiver support program is implemented and maintained for one year. Increasing patient adherence is a win:win:win situation. Patients gain better health and enhanced quality of life, payers decrease expenses treating future healthcare issues that arise from non-compliance, and life science companies retain patients on therapy.

In our patient and caregiver support programs we have seen significant demand from patients for personalized experiences and information. The days of developing and disseminating materials for the masses are ending. Rather, patients want information specific to them, their condition, and needs.

Opportunities for providing patients with personalized information abound, and I have recently published a white paper on how to develop successful patient and caregiver support programs, as well as emerging trends being used to deliver customized and personalized experiences for patients. Patient and caregiver support programs can help life science companies retain patients on treatment and create real value for patients, healthcare providers, and payers.

If you’d like a copy of the white paper titled “Increase Patient Adherence and Do More with Less,” please click to download it. Please let me know what you think of this latest white paper—is it helpful or not? Also, let me know what areas you’d like to see more information and recommendations on.

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Keep it Simple: Focus on the Patient with Adherence Programs

Hi, I'm Moriah Weissman and I'm a Clinical Director at Tunstall AMAC. I work with Lou and our life science company clients to provide clinical insights for the development of patient, caregiver, and healthcare provider support and communication programs. Lou invited me to contribute to the blog, and I look forward to sharing insights and thoughts with you, as well as learning more about your challenges.

In working with our clients there is a lot of interest in life science companies about maintaining patients on a treatment. A number of articles and studies have been published about patient adherence, and I certainly believe patient adherence can be a driver in your business. In looking at many of the patient adherence articles that have been published two thoughts come to my mind…

1. Why do most patient adherence programs seem so complicated?
2. Patient adherence programs are expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to implement!

Many of the patient adherence articles quickly become lost in the data, in analysis paralysis, or in defining whether or not a program is truly patient adherence based solely on whether or not it’s driving “behavior change”.

Perhaps I have over simplified the definition of patient adherence. To me, patient adherence is keeping a patient on a specific treatment. There are many ways this can be done, and certainly I agree that it’s important to embark on a discovery process that helps you to understand the patient journey and a patient’s desire to manage their condition. Without this it’s easy to develop a program that doesn’t drive the right actions. In fact an earlier blog post by Lou Shapiro provided suggestions for understanding the patient journey and resources for understanding a patient’s desire to manage their condition.

I believe two critical success factors for effective patient adherence programs are…

1. Develop meaningful programs that engage patients.
2. Collect feedback and data so the program can be continuously improved.

We offer four straightforward solutions to help our clients build effective patient adherence programs. These include…

1. Our focus is the patient. Start with the patient and keep them, and their needs, at the center of your solution.

2. Our AMAC Medical Advisory Board. We have relationships with healthcare providers in a number of therapeutic areas. We engage these experts to help us understand a particular disease-state/condition, current care delivery models as well as patient needs and challenges. We then work with our Medical Advisory Board to develop custom healthcare communication solutions that meet patients’ needs.

3. Our clinical program directors. They have advanced life science degrees in nursing and pharmacy. We tap into their clinical expertise to understand the patient journey and barriers to treatment as well.

4. Our pharmaceutical call center operators. They talk with healthcare providers and their offices, as well as patients and caregivers each day. They hear first-hand about the challenges patients have in managing their condition. Whether the challenges have to do with side effects, dosing, or cost, our call center operators can describe in detail what the obstacles are that patients face.

To build an effective program we take these insights and evaluate them against the product’s goals and needs. Next, we start putting together solutions that we, as a pharmaceutical call center, can provide. We also work with our clients to integrate other services, such as customized direct mail fulfillment, as appropriate.

Of course, I’ve simplified our development process for the sake of keeping this post brief. And my point is this: patient adherence programs are not rocket science. They can be straightforward and still be effective. I’m willing to bet that if you keep the patient, and their needs, at the center of your solution it will be a success.

Now, I want to hear from you. Do you agree, or do you think my oversimplified approach is wrong? Join the conversation and share your thoughts, challenges and questions.

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The Double Dip - Deliver Impact and Flexibility with Tele-Sales Solutions

The sales function in life science companies continues to evolve and become more complex. The pressure to increase sales in a cost-effective manner grows by the day and sales executives are eagerly searching for innovative and impactful ways to grow sales.

Tele-sales programs are flexible programs that efficiently and effectively augment sales and promotional activities in many ways including…

1) Scheduling visits with a field-based representatives to provide 1-on-1 interaction when it’s needed

2) Expanding territories and coverage to ensure all healthcare providers in a given territory have regular interactions with company representatives

3) Supporting promotional programs for new indications and offers such as support groups or prescription rebates

4) Building relationships with office staff to provide a venue for answers to their questions and for requesting samples and educational materials

5) Providing responsive handling of scientific and/or clinical questions by healthcare-trained representatives when the caller wants and needs it

I recently recorded a Podcast through PharmaVOICE sharing insights we’ve gathered from tele-sales programs we’ve worked on for our clients. Also, we recently published a White Paper on this topic. The White Paper offers three case studies that demonstrate how tele-sales solutions can be customized to meet a number of promotional needs and audiences including physicians, their office staff, and patients and caregivers.

If you’d like to listen to the podcast titled “Insights from the Field: Tele-Sales Solutions”, please click here to download. Additionally, if you are interested in a copy of the white paper titled "Seize the Moment: Tele-Sales Solutions Delivering Impact and Flexibility", please click here to request it. Please let us know what you think of these two resources—are they helpful or not? Also, would you like to have additional resources in other areas? If so, please let us know what areas interest you.

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Three Must-See Sessions at DTC Perspectives in April

The DTC Perspectives Conference starts next Tuesday, April 10 in Washington DC. The agenda looks great. I’m looking forward to hearing from executives at several life science companies on how they are changing their DTC programs to move away from brand promotion and awareness to focus on what patients need and want. When programs focus on what patients need and want we build engagement that can lead to commitment and loyalty.

There are three sessions that I’m particularly looking forward to...  

1) The New DTC: Using Technology to Build Relevance and Engagement with Paul Ewing and Todd Kolm at Pfizer. They are taking a case study approach to share insights into efforts to innovate consumer marketing at Pfizer.  

2) Effectively Reaching and Supporting Patients: A Novo Nordisk Case Study with Jeremy Shepler at Novo Nordisk and Rob Rebak at QualityHealth. They will be sharing key learnings from an integrated multichannel DTC program to drive educated doctor-patient interactions.  

3) Wake Up! Really, We Need to Wake Up! With Brian Lange at GSK. This presentation promises to help us recognize the cold hard reality that is in front of us each day, and will share tools to help us prepare for the next generation of DTC marketing initiatives.

I always look forward to learning from others, and the DTC Perspectives Conference is a great opportunity to engage with leaders that are boldly trying new things.

No doubt we live in exciting times. The opportunities to engage with patients and caregivers are rapidly changing, and the challenge is to develop patient programs that are meaningful and valuable. At PhoneScreen and AMAC we have been working with our life science company clients on a number of projects including tele-sales programs and patient support programs. These programs have the ability to quickly gather insights on the needs and challenges of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers in managing a disease-state or condition. These insights enable our clients (and us) to develop meaningful programs.

If you are going to DTC Perspectives, please stop by our exhibit booth (look for the AMAC booth, which is number 29) and we’ll be happy to share with you how our programs can be customized to gather meaningful insights into what patients and caregivers need. If you would like to set up a time to meet at the DTC Perspectives meeting, please send me an e-mail and we’ll schedule a time to get together.

Hope to see you in Washington DC!

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Engaging HCPs, Patients, and Caregivers to Shape Your Initiatives

Gaining Valuable Insights from Daily Interactions

Designing and implementing effective marketing programs starts with understanding what your customers need most. This knowledge will help you develop impactful and desired programs that customers seek out. The idea of including the “voice of the customer” (or VOC) has been around for many years, and is becoming standard practice when developing new initiatives and programs.

We live in exciting times and there are limitless new opportunities to interact with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. The challenge is to engage your customers quickly and to obtain meaningful insights. Some life science companies have experimented with using social media to reach patients and caregivers as a channel to understand their needs. This is a viable solution; however, with social media communications you lack “real-time” interactions and the ability to ask questions and probe for further understanding.

At PhoneScreen and AMAC we have been working with our life science company clients on a number of projects including tele-sales programs and patient support programs. One of the unforeseen benefits of these programs has been the ability to quickly gather insights on the needs and challenges of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers in managing a disease-state or condition. These insights enable our clients (and us) to develop meaningful programs.

Our representatives speak directly with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers each day. Through the course of these interactions they develop relationships that provide meaningful insights into what these audiences need. We take these insights, share them with our clients, and either integrate them into our existing programs or develop new initiatives.

Examples of how these insights have been leveraged into our programs include..

* Including new questions in our FAQ information
* Updating our call scripts to include information that is often asked
* Developing a resource sheet that is shared with patients and caregivers

Three tips I can share with you for success are…

1) Careful documentation of questions. We use our database technology to capture this information
2) On-going analysis on questions that are coming up. On a regular basis we look at the questions we are being asked
3) Act on the findings. We report our findings and provide recommendations to our clients for how we can act on these insights

How are you gathering insights and input from patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers? Are you using these insights to design more meaningful programs? Please share your experiences, successes, and challenges.

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New Options for Building Relationships with Healthcare Providers

Read a new article in PharmaVOICE magazine about new options for gaining access to physicians

In the last few weeks I’ve had numerous discussions with sales and marketing executives in life science companies about new ways to reach healthcare providers (particularly physicians) to build relationships and provide educational information on their products. This is always a topic of interest with our clients, but the frequency and intensity of these conversations has increased dramatically.

There is an article in the March 2012 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine (it’s available on-line now) that shares best practices on gaining access to physicians . The article shares findings on a study conducted by Temple University, and presented at the International Health Economic Association Congress in June 2011, on the ramifications of decreased access on new product uptake and prescribing. The findings provide evidence that patients are at greater risk when physicians are slow to prescribe beneficial new medications. Additionally, the majority of physicians feel that sales representatives are an important source of product information.

We all know very well the changes in how healthcare is delivered, including the emphasis on seeing more patients and limiting access to sales representatives. Now, with the Temple University study, we have data that supports what we also know is true, that sales representatives play a critical role in educating healthcare providers about new products. So, the important question is this…How do we deliver valuable education to healthcare providers within the reality of the physician’s office?

The PharmaVOICE article provides several recommendations, and the three listed below jumped out to me. They include…

1) Physician targeting—I prefer to think of this as segmentation, which is identifying healthcare providers that have a relationship with the company and/or brand and those that don’t. The healthcare providers that do have a relationship with the company and/or brand need on-going interactions with sales representatives. Healthcare providers that do not have an existing relationship with the company and/or brand need to be introduced to the company and/or brand and perhaps a relationship can be cultivated. With healthcare providers that don’t have an existing relationship there are several options including tele-detailing and e-detailing that can be effective in cultivating relationships with them.

2) Provide relevant information—this is commonly referred to as “providing value”, and “value” is uniquely personal to each individual. What is most needed is to understand the individual healthcare provider, their practice setting, the types of patients they treat, and the challenges they face in practice. To be successful a relationship must be established, and the sales representative must provide small “nuggets” of valuable information with each interaction.

3) Healthcare providers are becoming more comfortable seeking out information on their own. Commonly used secondary channels are product and company websites, tele-detailing, e-detailing, and mobile applications. The key take-away is to have multiple opportunities for healthcare providers to seek and gain information at their convenience and according to their own preferences.

There are a number of options that can be implemented to increase access to healthcare providers. At PhoneScreen and AMAC we provide pharmaceutical call center solutions that help you build relationships with patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Tele-detailing programs are an effective tool for providing information. Tele-detailing programs are complementary to field-based sales representatives and can be designed to provided 24/7 access to information and clinical expertise at the convenience of the healthcare provider.

Take a few minutes to review the PharmaVOICE article . After you read it, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it. Additionally, what new initiatives are you considering or implementing to expand healthcare provider access to product information and company representatives?

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Re-Writing the Winning Formula for Patient Support Programs

BMS Orencia “One Patient at a Time” Campaign Receives Two Coveted Industry Awards

Helping patients begin and stay on a treatment requires support and helping them overcome their concerns with the treatment. Today, more than ever, there is a need to support patients and help them adhere to treatment. To date, patient support programs haven’t been very engaging. They mostly provide generic product and disease information and “reminders”.

I want to share with you a unique program we have had the pleasure of working with Bristol-Myers Squibb on for Orencia (abatacept). The campaign is called "One Patient at a Time” and it puts the patient at the center and tailors the materials to fit each patient's individual needs. The campaign has shown positive results including patient requests to their doctors for Orencia increased by 55%, conversion rates increased by 30%, and communication engagement rates are 17 times higher than historical rates.

Orencia is indicted for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which because of its autoimmune nature can make it difficult for healthcare providers to choose the right treatment option.

This comprehensive campaign is the first dynamically generated, full dialogue enabled relationship marketing program. There are two critically important components of the program including…

* Orencia Care Counselors, which are healthcare-trained professionals, that stay in touch with patients throughout the program
* Customized direct mail communication materials

Through the course of a patient’s journey, the Orencia Care Counselors partner with patients and provide personalized guidance. The Orencia Care Counselors will address…

* Patient concerns
* Patient questions
* Coaching patients on how to talk with healthcare providers

Direct mail materials are an important component of the program. The imagery, content, tone, and delivery order of the communications materials are aligned to the treatment cycle of each individual patient. This alignment maximizes the impact of the program. "The One Patient at a Time” campaign is extremely comprehensive, creative, and provides the information needed to understand the safety and efficacy of the product, empower patients to have effective conversations with their healthcare providers, and the support to ensure patients successfully begin treatment. To date there are more than 17,000 variations of the communication materials.

Recently Bristol-Myers Squibb was awarded with a PM360 Trailblazer Award 2011 for the Best Direct Mail campaign for Orencia: “One Patient at a Time”. Additionally, Bristol-Myers Squibb received a Gold MM&M Award 2011 for Best Use of Direct Marketing to Consumers.

The Orencia: “One Patient at a Time” campaign is a collaborative effort between Bristol-Myers Squibb, Proximo Gen, BMStudio, and AMAC. AMAC provides Orencia Care Counselors, which are healthcare-trained professionals, to stay in touch with patients throughout the program.

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Essential Elements for Impactful Patient Adherence Programs

Keys to Patient Adherence

 My last few posts have focused on the opportunities increased patient adherence offers. I hope I have provided convincing information and that you are committed to either developing a patient adherence program (if one does not exist) or to bolstering an existing patient adherence program.

Here are my top 7 critical success factors for implementing successful patient adherence programs:

1. Elevate patient adherence to be a driver in your business. Patient adherence rates are low (on average are around 50% to 65%) and opportunities abound to increase patient adherence and retain patients on therapy.

2. Establish clear goals for your patient adherence program. Patient adherence is part of a product’s value proposition. Ideally, consider patient adherence early in product development. If your product is on the market that’s OK. It’s never too late to support patient adherence.

3. Appoint an owner. To ensure success there needs to be someone driving the program and accountable for its results whether in house or as an outsourced program manager.

4. Understand the patient journey. Patient adherence is a complex issue and requires a thorough understanding of the root causes of discontinuing treatment. Develop a holistic view of the behaviors and challenges in treating the condition.

5. Segment patients based on their desire to manage their condition. Use the Patient Activation Meter (PAM) to help you identify the “right” patients. Next, focus on these patients and their needs. Spend your time and resources reaching out to the “right” patients. For more information on the PAM, please review an earlier blog post on this topic.

6. Engage patients through enriching experiences. Understanding the patient journey, and those patients that want help, allows your program to provide more effective and meaningful materials and support services. Meaningful engagement drives compliance and adherence.

7. Collect data and continuously improve the program. Analyze the data and act on the learning’s to improve the program. Patient adherence programs have the potential to provide win:win solutions for patients and manufacturers.

This list was developed based on my experiences working with AMAC to develop effective communications and patient adherence programs for our clients. AMAC offers a wide-variety of patient monitoring devices used in the home setting, and provides 24/7 call center and click-to-chat support services to provide information and educational materials to patients, providers, and payers.

Do you agree with these critical success factors? Do you have additional ones to share? Join the conversation and share your questions, challenges, and best practices.

- Lou Shapiro

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24/7 The New Norm: HCPs Require Instant Access to Reps and Information

Read a new article in PharmaVOICE magazine about how call centers provide a vital link for HCPs and life science companies

The February 2012 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine is available on-line. In the Showcase Feature section they discuss outsourcing R&D, manufacturing, and sales functions to 3rd-parties to reduce in-house costs and accelerate timelines. I contributed a brief article on how pharmaceutical call centers build relationships with healthcare providers and patients. The primary benefit of a call center is to provide on-demand and as-needed access to information and company representatives on a 24/7 basis.

Pharmaceutical call centers can support the life science industry to…
• Provide on-demand support to answer questions from healthcare providers and patients
• Increase patient adherence to treatments and clinical trials
• Supplement field-based promotional activities
• Boost patient recruitment and referral for clinical trials
• Process sample requests
• Set appointments between sales representatives and healthcare providers

Download the PharmaVOICE article. After you read it, I’d like to hear your thoughts on it. Also, are you currently using partners to outsource your information and sales activities? If so, in what areas are you doing this? What challenges and hurdles have you run into? Are you happy with the results you’ve seen?

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Trends in Patient Adherence Programs: Personalized Information and Experiences

The search for valuable information is a common theme for healthcare providers and patients. In the last several blog posts I have focused on healthcare providers, and in this post I’ll shift to patients. Patients are looking for information to help them manage their health conditions, and the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries have the knowledge to be a trusted source of information. Patients are using online resources and networks for healthcare education and support. This is driving the demand for personalized materials and educational experiences. Patients no longer will settle for materials developed for the masses. Rather, they demand information that is specific to them, their condition, and their needs.

How do you deliver this customized information? Options abound, and what is most important is that manufacturers recognize their role in developing effective patient adherence programs. Some of the newest trends being used in patient adherence programs include:

• On-demand live call center support

• Online resources through websites and social networking sites

• Click-to-chat support through websites

• Mobile sites and applications

• Patient monitoring devices

The heart of a successful patient adherence programs is communication. And pharmaceutical call centers can be an invaluable resource to provide 24/7 access to live operators to answer questions, send educational materials, and follow-up with patients to remind them about appointment and prescription refills. For more information on selecting a pharmaceutical call center partner, please see this earlier blog post.

Online resources play an important role in effective patient adherence programs. Online resources such as websites, click-to-chat support, and social networking sites are ideally suited to provide individualized and targeted information based on patient characteristics. However, many pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies are reluctant to move quickly and deeply into providing online resources given the lack of regulatory guidance, concerns about patient privacy and well-being, and the cost of implementing these programs.

Additionally, mobile applications are being used more often to access information, communicate alerts about a particular product, and provide reminders to patients about appointments and refills.

There are numerous patient monitoring devices available for use in the home setting. These monitoring devices provide physicians and healthcare providers with timely information on a patient’s condition. This information allows physicians and healthcare providers to make immediate changes, if necessary. Let’s think about this for a minute. The technology exists for physicians and their healthcare staff to monitor the blood glucose levels, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and temperature of patients in their homes, and to make changes that could have a profound impact on their health today and in the future.

The future of patient adherence is centered on empowering patients to take an active role in managing their conditions. Patients need information, support, and guidance from their physicians and healthcare providers. This can be an overwhelming task for physicians and healthcare providers given the demands on their time. Opportunities exist for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies to provide information and educational materials.

At American Medical Alert Company (AMAC), we are in a unique position to support patient adherence programs. AMAC offers a wide-range of patient monitoring devices that can be used in the home setting, and provides 24/7 call center and click-to-chat support options to share information and educational materials with patients, providers, and payers. We have helped numerous clients design and build successful patient adherence programs.

Please share your thoughts on the emerging trends in patient adherence programs. Are you considering, or have you tried any of these new tools? If so, what are the factors driving your decision to use a new tool or not? Join the conversation and share your questions, challenges, and best practices.

Visit our website for more information on patient adherence and other topics.

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Adding Value to Your Pharma Sales Model

Several of my early blog posts focused on the value of tele-detailing in providing information to healthcare providers. With all of the pressures on the industry we must find new, more cost-effective channels for communicating with healthcare providers. Tele-detailing is an effective promotional channel, and it complements the daily activities of field-based representatives.

Physicians and healthcare providers are demanding valuable interactions with company representatives. One channel for providing valuable interactions to physicians is through tele-detailing programs. These programs provide physicians and healthcare providers with an efficient and knowledgeable means to learn about pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device products and to obtain answers to their questions at their convenience. In November 2010, Cegedim published a report on the promotional spending trends in new media (including tele-detailing, internet detailing, and web advertising) from US pharmaceutical companies. They found that 49% of the spending in new media is on tele-detailing programs.

I recently recorded a podcast through PharmaVOICE on how tele-detailing can help pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies provide value to healthcare providers. Also, we recently published a white paper on this topic. The White Paper offers suggestions for how tele-detailing programs augment and complement the activities of sales representatives, how to determine if tele-detailing is right for your product, and how to shift the role of sales representatives from salesperson to an “Advisor.”

Please let us know what you think of the podcast and white paper — are they helpful or not? Also, would you like to have additional resources in other areas? If so, please let us know what areas interest you.

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