For life science companies, being provider-focused is out. Patient centricity is in.
Two factors are driving this trend:
- Policymakers and payers looking to influence costs using real-world evidence, comparative effectiveness studies, and big data and
- Patients expecting increasingly personalized healthcare content, engaging digital technology, and being more involved in their health decision making.
Thus, life sciences companies are adopting more agile systems and promoting innovative business models in response to pricing pressures and declining drug profitability. They are also incorporating the voice of the patient in decision making from drug discovery to post-launch disease management. This can include developing clinical trial recruitment models that lower costs and increase patient retention from the onset to completion of the trial as well as post launch medication adherence tools that directly improve patient outcomes backed by advanced analytics.
Patient recruitment is a critical cost in clinical trials with research showing that it comprises nearly a third of the expenses. A Hexaware study has noted that a phase III trial costs around $20 million ($41,000 per patient), and trials can often be terminated because of enrollment difficulties. Indeed, 85% of trials fail due to recruitment challenges and missing enrollment deadlines.
Furthermore, 30% of patients demonstrate non-adherence to the medications needed for symptom management, and 40% of patients don’t adhere to drug and non-pharmacological intervention regimens designed to avoid additional health problems. Similar patterns are seen with long term medication adherence with 50% of patients not adhering to the prescribed regimen. These behaviors result in significant revenue loss, patients feeling unsupported during critical times, and worse patient outcomes. Integrating innovative digital technologies throughout the patient’s clinical trial journey can support medication adherence and healthcare education to increase trial enrollment and lower dropout rates.
A 2018 survey of 650 patients showed that 92% of patients want healthcare to prioritize improving the patient experience during clinical trials by leveraging innovative technologies. Pharma companies have begun developing their digital engagement strategies which focus on empowering patients and enhancing their experiences through intuitive and engaging portals that broaden the potential reach of the trial to a larger pool of candidates.
Pharma companies are adopting measures to increase patient’s digital and health literacy via deploying patient portals housing lay summaries and engagement tools to create a more patient-centric experience and ultimately improve patient outcomes. New disruptive technologies including gamification apps and interactive adherence and educational portals are growing in the pharma industry and changing the relationship between healthcare professionals, regulators, and patients.
Pharma companies partner with technology companies to test, refine, and implement innovative solutions that enable collaboration with patients to improve clinical trial recruitment and retention. A more patient centric ecosystem from onboarding to ongoing therapy will help patients to maximize benefit from the product, improve their quality of life, and personalize their support. Interaction analytics provide a feedback loop from the patients to the pharma companies allowing them to optimize strategies and programs. Is your team ready to embrace the digital transformation? BaseCase Portal cloud-based platform was designed to enable life sciences companies to provide rapid access to externalized content in a fully branded environment with the confidence afforded by powerful analytics. Using BaseCase Portal is the fastest way to create and deploy collaborative patient engagement content.
References:
- Karen Taylor, Hanno Ronte, John Haughey Director Centre for Health Solutions Monitor, Deloitte LSHC partner, North West Europe LSHC Lead partner
- Pharma and the connected patient | How digital technology is enabling patient centricity https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/life-sciences-health-care/deloitte-uk-pharma-and-the-connected-patient.pdfa
- Transforming Patient Journey in Clinical Trials – Hexaware https://engage.diaglobal.org/rs/349-SVJ-068/images/Hexaware-WP_Transforming.pdf
- Cecelia Health. Demonstrating Value Beyond the Pill and the Injectable. https://www.ceceliahealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Cecelia-Health-Demonstrating-Value-Beyond-the-Pill-and-the-Injectable.pdf
- Medical Affairs Professional Society. White Paper: A Guide to Insights Management and virtual patient engagement. BEST PRACTICES for MEDICAL AFFAIRS TEAMS: A Guide to Insights Management and Virtual Patient Engagement. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://medicalaffairs.org/white-paper-insights-management-virtual-patient-engagement/
- The nine elements of effective patient engagement. Wolters Kluwer. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/the-nine-elements-of-effective-patient-engagement. Published November 16, 2018. Accessed November 30, 2022.
- Fogel DB. Factors associated with clinical trials that fail and opportunities for improving the likelihood of success: A review. Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2018;11:156-164. Published 2018 Aug 7. doi:10.1016/j.conctc.2018.08.001
- Coravos A, “Decentralized clinical trials”. Elektra Labs, November 12, 2018.
- “Update on clinical trials disrupted due to covid-19”. GlobalData Healthcare, May 14, 2020