Leveraging communication touchpoints with HCPs and patients along the patient journey

The concept of the patient journey encompasses the full spectrum of experiences and interactions that a person undergoes from the onset of symptoms to the cure of their condition or ongoing long-term treatment, sometimes for life. This journey is multifaceted and includes not only diagnosis and treatment, but also the emotional, psychological, and social dimensions of dealing with illness. Understanding the patient journey can be a great tool for pharma and medical device companies to plan communication strategies with the patient and importantly, the other stakeholders with whom the patient interacts during this journey.

In this article, I take you through the journey of a patient with cardiac disease (this journey will also apply to most other lifestyle diseases particularly metabolic diseases). We will see the communication touchpoint opportunities for the pharma and medical devices industry along this journey. The journey could begin with either a patient visiting the primary care physician or a specialist with symptoms or an illness being detected during routine check-ups and examinations.

For this article, let us assume a patient is diagnosed with hypertension and requires a stent following a myocardial infarction a few years down the line. We will list the steps of the journey and the stakeholders (s)he would have possibly interacted with. At each step, I will list some examples of ideas for communication with the patient and the stakeholder.

1. Primary care physician: The high blood pressure would likely be detected here and the patient might be referred to a specialist for further evaluation once the diagnosis is confirmed after 3 readings. Here there is an opportunity for distributing patient education material about what is high blood pressure and why it is important not to ignore it and follow the advice provided by the doctor. There could be some information on what the specialist is likely to do. This could be a very basic level of education so that the patient does not ignore the specialist visit suggested by the primary care physician. For a medical device company, this is an opportunity to share information about measuring blood pressure at home and the right way of measuring it. There is also an opportunity to share new scientific information on hypertension and its diagnosis and treatment through various channels.
2. Specialist: The patient reaches the cardiologist in our example. Here, a more advanced level of information can be shared such as the importance of medication, regular and timely dosing, what to do if a dose is missed, likely complications of hypertension, lifestyle changes, and the importance of regular follow-up. At this level, the HCP level of engagement needs to be more advanced not just focusing on hypertension but focusing on all cardiac diseases. The channels also need to be more than just in-clinic handouts. Here is the best opportunity for omnichannel marketing and the channels could be a mix of emails, online workshops or webinars, interactive e-learning modules, online discussion forums, live interviews or Q&A sessions with renowned experts, podcasts or videos, real-world medical cases, publications, collaborative research projects, and many others, which will be covered in a separate edition.
3. Pathologist: The patient is likely to be referred to a pathologist and here there could be patient brochures in the waiting room explaining the various tests, why they are done, how they correlate with high BP, and the importance of repeating them as advised.
4. Dietician: The patient is also likely to be referred to a dietician whether for weight loss or for adopting healthy food habits. While pharma and medical device companies might often ignore this space if they do not have relevant products in the nutraceuticals category, this can be an opportunity for brand building of the company. There is a need for a lot of awareness about healthy eating and while a lot of resources are available, they are not customized to local food habits and this is what most patients and even dieticians struggle with. Both would appreciate practically implementable information customized to local dietary patterns.
5. Gym trainer: Patients might join gyms as they are encouraged to exercise regularly. At this level, there is a need for information about do's and don'ts as there is plenty of misinformation all over the internet and lots of myths abound. One could share information about easy exercises at home, the right way of doing them, how to manage the exercise schedule when traveling, exercises to be done with caution, when to stop, checking with a cardiologist before embarking on intense exercise etc.
6. Social media including social media influencers: There is no end to what can be shared here. The downside is that there is already information overload. What is required is sorting the grain from the chaff. All the types of information mentioned above could be made more authentic either by directing people to the company website where the information is scientifically validated or by using KOLs as social media influencers to share the information to convince people of the authenticity.
7. Interventional cardiologist: Patients undergoing an intervention procedure and their families often deal with a lot of anxiety and questions about the procedure, recovery after the procedure, long-term outlook, changes in their life because of the procedure, do's and don'ts etc. This is an opportunity to compile practical booklets that answer these questions and can be taken home by patients as ready reckoners.
8. Paramedical staff, especially nurses: Most questions mentioned under point number 7 are usually faced by the paramedical staff, especially nurses when the patient is admitted. It is important to sensitize them to the anxieties of patients and families and train them to answer these questions correctly. Interventional cardiologists will highly appreciate if this responsibility is taken up by a pharma/ medical device company.

This was a very short example of a patient journey and very few examples of communication strategies that can be planned around a patient journey. However, before any communication plans for the year are made, it is imperative to write down the patient's journey as this will often help come up with ideas that can differentiate one from competitors and help build strong customer relationships.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

#medicalaffairs?#medicalwriting?#medicalwriter? #medicalcommunications?#brandplan

#healthcarecommunications?#scientificwriting?

#freelancemedicalwriter?#scicomms #medcomms #advisoryboard