This article originally appeared in Fierce Pharma online.
By Natalia Gallur
Pharmaceutical companies are undergoing a profound transformation. No longer confined to merely developing treatments, companies are assuming a partnership role to collaborate with healthcare providers and patients through their healthcare journey to foster optimal outcomes.
Companies such as AbbVie, Takeda, UCB, and others are implementing patient-centric initiatives through websites, mobile apps, wearable devices, and smart technology that address medication adherence and health management challenges.
However, despite this evolution, many patient support programs remain underutilized. Addressing this challenge requires constant analysis and optimization.
3 Principles of Effective Patient Support Programs
Our work with pharmaceutical leaders has found these guidelines essential.
1. Measure to understand. The first step requires understanding the most imperative unmet needs of the patient and establishing baselines, objectives, and services to address them. This is usually done through focus groups, patient discussions, etc. Then, implement key performance indicators that measure the program’s impact and allow you to make informed decisions.
2. Listen to what patients and HCPs tell you and act on the right information. This is key in ensuring your patient support program is part of the connected care ecosystem. Addressing obstacles with simple, common-sense solutions often has a bigger impact than complex behavioral analysis. For example, programs can provide guidance about how to travel with medications, access non-public bathrooms for patients suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease, manage needle waste, etc.
3. Embrace partnerships. Some of the most refreshing and promising alliances are pharmaceutical companies teaming up to provide best-in-class agnostic health technology tools and solutions. Examples include Novo Nordisk and Abbott’s partnership to enhance diabetes support. Including health technology in the connected care ecosystem is a huge step in fostering patient empowerment, understanding disease evolution and management, and improving patient adherence.
