creating value through patient support programs
TRANSCRIPT
Creating value through patient
support programs
Adopting a patient-centric approach to strategy &
operations in pharma
Ashley Ocvirk
Senior Analyst
SKIM Group
The rise of the influential patient
‘Walking the talk’ in patient-centric pharma
We need to put a focus on
corporate culture and building a
community of employees who are
really focused on the patient in
everything we do.
Anne Beal, MD Chief Patient Officer, Sanofi
Driving culture change from the top
CEO
Chief Experience Officer
Patient Centric
Leaders
Culture
Process
& Ideas
P-SUITE
TRANDITIONAL FUNCTIONS
R&D RegulatoryMedical
Affairs
Market
Access
PATIENTPatient Insight Unmet Needs
“Innovation
Outline
Patient Support Programs Background
Market Research Framework
Case studies
Background
Shifting away from brand-oriented activities to
a more holistic approach to patient support
Traditional
adherence
program
Refill
reminders
Pillboxes, alarms,
compliance packagingEducational
brochures,
telephoning
Delivery
services
Financial/co-pay
services
Holistic
disease
management
program
Care Team
Assessment
Payer
Portal
Carer
Support
Care Plan
Management
Education &
Training
Patient Engagement
-financial/co-pay
services
Adherence
Management
Side Effects
Management
Clinical Support
Personalized
communication
Treatment
Management
Patient networking
programs
Basic structure of such patient support
programs
• Benefits investigation
• Copay assistance
• Injection trainings
• Education
• Nursing support
• Supplies
• Peer resources
1) Access to
medication
2) Services to
improve
outcomes
3) Living with the condition
Key benefits associated with investing in a
patient support program
Enhance patient engagement
Improve adherence & compliance
Enhance access to medication
Retain brand loyalty and bolster differentiation
Foster loyalty with key stakeholders
Thwart patient switch to generics/biosimilars or other
competitive branded products
An opportunity for patient support initiatives to
step in and help
Nobody ever went to school to be a patient,
but suddenly, upon diagnosis you have
multiple instructions to manage your disease
including appointments, tests, monitoring,
diaries, and dealing with all of the emotions.
“
”-Andrew Schorr from the cancer advocacy
group, Patient Power
Understand the patient journey and associated
needs at various stages
Initiation Control
QoLFrustration
Symptom
change
Fear about
progression
Injection training
Nurse support
Co-pay assist
Education
Nurse support
Education
Peer support
Disease education
Em
otional
Clin
ical
Key inflection points along the journey reveal
opportunities to engage with patient
Starting therapy
Changes in Copay
Experiencing side effects
Changes in dosing
Changes in insurance
New / worsening
of symptoms
Initial injection
training
24/7 Nurse
support
Finance
assistance
Tx tracking tools
Educational
program
Finance
assistance
Benefits
investigation
24/7 Nurse
support
24/7 Nurse
support
Educational
program
24/7 Nurse
support
Finance
assistance
Benefits
investigation
Market Research Framework
Stakeholders of a patient support program
13
Patient support program
“All I know is that I need help to
pay for my medication. I feel like
I’m not alone when the patient
support program trains my on
self-injection, and is there to
answer my questions.”
“Starting patients on these
biologics is a real hassle, and
patient support programs that
make this easier are appreciated.
Injection training frees me up to
do other things, and I can use
their educational materials in my
practice.”
• What does my program
need to offer?
• How can it stand out and
impact prescribing?
“I won’t prescribe a medication if I
don’t feel confident the patient
can get started on it. With that
said, all these programs seem
pretty much the same to me, and
they’re all pretty good. I don’t
know too much detail about
them.”
PATIENT MANUFACTURER
NURSE PHYSICIAN
Patient support programs are also about
helping HCPs better serve patients
RX INITIATION PROCESS FOR HCPS
ACCESS TRAINING
Insurance coverage investigation and financial
assistance
Ensures access and by assisting with obtaining
insurance coverage
Injection training, education and support
Inspires confidence that patients will initiate and maintain Tx
Nurses spend the most time on the phone and
filling out paper work.
Physicians may need to hire staff to
handle authorizations.
Nurses are freed from providing training
themselves.
Key questions and relevant experience for
each stakeholder
KEY QUESTION RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
PH
YS
ICIA
N
STAKEHOLDER
PA
TIE
NT
NU
RS
E
What is the actual impact on prescribing?
• Ultimately responsible for prescribing
• May take different programs into account
How do different programs compare in alleviating the burden of getting patients
started?
• Most interaction with support programs
• Deeper understanding of different programs
What feelings does patient support invoke? How do those feelings impact
brand loyalty?
• Rely on programs for starting and staying with Tx
• Programs provide assistance and comfort
Research overview
PHASE 1
PHASE 2
PHASE 3
Exploratory
Qualitative
Immersion Session
with the Brand Team
Validate with Quantitative
Competitive Intel
Phase 1a: Exploratory Qualitative
Individual Interviews Online Bulletin Board Focus Groups
Establishing a range of experiences
Broad exploration of individual experiences
Projective exercises for unstated feelings and unmet
needs
In-depth reflection and descriptive accounts
Ideation and co-creation
Assess extent of unmet needs
MOST APPROPRIATE STAKEHOLDERS MOST APPROPRIATE STAKEHOLDERS MOST APPROPRIATE STAKEHOLDERS
PATIENT NURSE PHYSICIAN PATIENT NURSEPATIENT
Phase 1b: Competitive intelligence
• HCPs typically work with
multiple brands
• Therefore, competitive
intel is relatively easy to
obtain
• Current patients with past
experiences on other brands
• Former patients who have
switched
• Competitor patients who
have never been treated with
the Rx in question
HCPs PATIENTS
Phase 2: Immersion Session with the Brand
Team
Discuss the qualitative
outcomes deemed
relevant
Identify relevant
service offering
packages
Align the outcomes of
the quantification phase
with brand team
needs and
expectations
Phase 3: Validate with Quantitative
Metrics to assess current
servicesClassification exercise
Measure impact on
loyalty
Current Services
Potential New Services
UNNECESSARY
NICE TO HAVE
ESSENTIAL
Awareness Importance
SatisfactionUtilization
Baseline of
engagement / loyalty
Compare optimization
strategies against
baseline
Case Studies
Case study example 1
Characteristics
Examples
Considerations
Chronic conditions that can be managed with treatment and lifestyle
modification
Diabetes, hypertension, asthma, COPD
Enrollment and adherence are the
key focus. This could include
services that healthcare providers
can promote to enroll patients in
services that will lead to beneficial
outcomes, such as adherence
support and behavioral modification
support to live a healthier lifestyle.
Case study example 2
Characteristics
Examples
Considerations
Conditions that involve expensive biologics/injectables, and require ongoing
emotional support due to their degenerative and progressive nature, or because
of their uncertain course
Multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer
Due to the progressive nature of these
conditions, patient and caregiver
needs should not only focus on
accessing and starting therapy but
also staying on therapy, as physical,
emotional and financial demands can
change with time. Patient experiences
are unique and diverse, so program
offerings are often personalized to
individual needs.
Key takeaways
Map out the patient journey to identify where best to
intervene with the support program
Remember patients are often experts in their disease - they
live with it everyday
Patient support programs are also about helping HCPs
better serve patients
Ensure a program is sustainable in some way, not
around for six months and gone once a product launch
is over
Continuously improve the program through
performance monitoring to evaluate awareness,
engagement, importance and satisfaction of service
offerings and act on learnings
Patient-centric research: an opportunity for MR
to get a ‘seat at the table’ with other depts
Contact
26
skimgroup.com
SKIM: Decision Behavior Specialists
Ashley Ocvirk
Senior Analyst
Based in New York