Driving Impact, Better Access and Achieving Equitable Access with Patient Centricity and Holistic Care

Is there a world where patients can swiftly access the right specialist and care team, understand complex lines of therapies and navigate insurance and access barriers with ease?

The simple answer is – We will get there.

In today's world, patients and consumers are tech-savvy stakeholders who demand efficiency in care and transparency in treatment. However, despite advancements in patient-minded innovation, the life sciences industry and healthcare ecosystem often leave patients frustrated with unresolved challenges, delays and outdated workflows.

I’ve been working in this space for the past 18+ years, both as a marketer and now as a strategist supporting large-to-mid & small pharma only to realize that patients are no longer passive recipients of care. Patients may not be looking for what a pharmaceutical company’s value proposition is, but looking to improve their own value proposition, their care points and their journey and making it more meaningful. Patients are actively seeking answers to what will help drive better engagement and experience for them, and that’s when, as a marketer, I can step in and provide few conceptual frameworks focused around the essential 4Cs and applied trends to help pharma and the health care system drive better outcomes with:

• Clarity
• Connection
• Cost
• Convenience

Let’s look to deconstruct these aspects one-by-one, applying the Direct-to-Patient (DTP) concept, to foster an improved relationship between life sciences brands and our patients.

Clarity: Making communication clear and concise

Compelling and clear DTP campaigns look to operate across three overarching categories for effective brand marketing:

• Who/What We Show: These include recommendations regarding inclusive visual representation of patients, caregivers, and doctors across all channels and formats.
• How We Talk: These are recommendations about inclusive language and easy to understand messaging, cultural sensitivity, and avoidance of stereotypes.
• Where We Can Act: These are recommendations of strategic interventions that may enhance the patient experience or brand/category perceptions.

Putting in Context: By portraying realistic patient lifestyles, with appropriate occupational imageries showing associated risks, combined with disease ed content, will help patients understand and identify strategies to cope more effectively. Including practical knowledge bites (multi-formats) for employed patients to effectively manage their treatment alongside their work commitments is another effective communication strategy.

Connection: Making care more integrated and personalized

With advancements in genomics and data analytics, healthcare systems have paved the way for personalized medicine and coordinated care, where treatments, care plans, and multi-disciplinary care teams are tailored to the individual characteristics of each patient. This approach enhances the efficacy of therapies and minimizes adverse effects.

A Health Segmentation Survey from 2024 noted that 62% of consumers wanted services connected within the same experience rather than using different brands and services for different needs and almost 68% of patients wanted helpful hints of day-to-day things to do each day.

Putting in Context: Multiple digital health platforms integrate various health services, such as appointment scheduling, prescription management, and patient education, into a single interface. These cohesive digital solutions not only enhance patient engagement but also helps streamline the coordination of care.

Cost: Making medications and support accessible and affordable

We all know that patients and consumers are proactively looking for the cost of medication, therapy, diagnostic tests, and allied services, but often reactively or unsuccessfully look for ways to identify payment support programs to save on therapy.

We need to meet patients and consumers where they are in their care journey and actively provide them with cost-related information. While manufacturer websites are communicating about coupons, savings cards, affordability messages, co-pays, and out-of-pockets, we still need to build credibility with reliable communicators and sources.

Putting in Context: Empowered patients are more likely to engage in their health management actively. Successful delivery of equitable access and affordability messages can be achieved through HCP education, Point-of-Care/EHR messaging, HCP & Patient websites, social media, influencer models, advocacy groups, and frequenting pharma websites.

Convenience: Making the experience easy and seamless

With the increased adoption of telehealth and virtual care services, providing patients with convenient access to medical professionals from the comfort of their homes to pharmaceutical companies offering home delivery services for medications, ensuring that patients receive their treatments without the hassle of visiting a pharmacy – I am starting to see a monumental shift in the DTP model hyper-focused on eliminating geographical barriers, reducing wait times, improving adherence to medication regimens, and simplifying the management of their health journeys.

We know that accessibility to practical resources and cost-effective services will help address convenience concerns, driving an easier and better healthcare experience for patients and consumers.

Putting in Context: With rising awareness of mental health issues, DTP models like telepsychiatry and online counseling sessions are now part of accessible and timely mental health support offerings.
In addition to that, wearable devices, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, enable patients to monitor health metrics in real-time and allows HCPs to track patient progress remotely.

In Closing Thoughts

As an astute observer of the industry for the past two decades, I firmly believe that these DTP approaches will continue to disrupt and drive transformation, will evolve, create, and hold prominence to meet the needs of us and our modern patients, and equip commercial models with robust support systems and streamlined processes to improve overall clinical outcomes.

From my point of view, we just need to keep focus and stay ahead of the curve, to ensure every DTP engagement is relevant and timely, and that we hope to never find ourselves in a volatile situation when it comes to accessing health and health care support.