Digital Technologies in Healthcare
October 20, 2011
Intercontinental Hotel, Singapore
Request a copy of the presentation slides detailed below.
Paper 1: Maximizing Sales Force Effectiveness – Marc Yates, Managing Director of Research Partnership Singapore
Marc’s insightful discussion looked at the difficulties faced by marketers in trying to achieve brand message penetration and retention in an often crowded marketplace where HCPs have little time and are becoming more sceptical of brand messages. To ensure that detail aids are going to be able to cut through the noise of competitor brands and deliver the most impactful message, market research testing is vital. Marc demonstrated, through the use of case studies, various effective qualitative and quantitative techniques, such as turf analysis, which would help deliver the optimum performing detail aid. Sales force effectiveness however, is not just about developing an effective detail aid, it is also about getting buy-in from the sales rep, the physician and all other relevant stakeholder about the brand. Rep and physician market research interviews can offer an objective and crucial understanding of how the brand messages are being delivered and received. These insights can be used to change any parts of the strategy which aren’t working, improve sales force effectiveness and drive market success.
Paper 2: Message Penetration and Retention – Agustin Ramirez, Senior Planner McCann Healthcare Worldwide
Agustin began an engaging presentation with two key facts that highlight the crux of the challenge:
• “64% of physicians think there is nothing new to discuss with reps”
• “80% of reps that visit a practice do not get to speak to a physician” With this in mind then, it seems that there are 2 key challenges facing marketers today, namely message penetration and message retention. Agustin explained how digital platforms have the power to improve brand message penetration and retention. As well as being easy to deploy, cost effective and interesting/engaging, a digital detail aid can be tailored to the needs of a specific doctor/sales situation. Message impact can be maximized on a per doctor basis. The digital “bespoke” or “custom built” detail aid is therefore a critical key tool in ensuring optimum message penetration and retention.
Paper 3: Patient compliance and adherence – Kah Huey, Research Director of Research Partnership Singapore
Kah Huey’s engaging discussion explored the importance of understanding the drivers behind non-adherence using effective market research .
Our recent patient study, Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, revealed that compliance remains an issue in pharma, with 54% of patients admitting they had at one time missed a dose. Kah Huey believes that the root of the problem may be in part due to pharma marketers focussing on increasing compliance rather than improving adherence. Compliance, by definition “implies an involuntary act of submission to authority, to achieve desired health outcomes” whereby adherence requires an “active and collaborative involvement of the patient in a mutually acceptable course of behaviour to produce a therapeutic result”. Adherence then promotes a more adult-to-adult than parent-to-child interaction between doctor and patient and allows the patient to engage more fully with their condition.
To create a targeted adherence program it is important to understand how adherence differs by patient segments and tailor communications according to patient needs. Kah Huey’s discussion provided a stimulating introduction to the importance of market intelligence to inform and guide the design of effective adherence program.
Paper 4: Digital Technology to improve compliance and adherence – Darren Magick, Managing Director McCann Healthcare Worldwide Singapore
Darren’s presentation informed us of how digital content is addressing the challenge of patient compliance/adherence. Darren started his presentation by outlining the three different patient mind-sets and compliance objectives.
He explained that the success of mobile applications to help compliance lies in ensuring the digital platform is aligned with the mind-set of the patient you are targeting.
Darren provided some thought-provoking examples of compliance apps already developed by the healthcare industry and how each has its place within the three compliance objectives:
• Education- “My healthcare” app provides free symptom check for men who defer or avoid hospital visits
• Functional support-“The Bant Book” app enables type I diabetes patients to visually track their blood glucose levels throughout the day
• Emotional support- the “health tap” app is a network of 5,000 real time doctors that can answer patient’s healthcare concerns
Darren concluded by referring that numerous studies have proven that compliance programs do work and are effective at addressing compliance issues. However, for digital to succeed in improving compliance and clinical outcomes, it needs to be insight-based, driven by patient needs and aligned to patient mind-sets.
