PM360 DECEMBER 2010

CASE STUDY

MOTIVATING ACTION

Do marketers truly expect that by merely making patients aware of a medical device or procedure, they’ll be ready and able to call their physicians, schedule appointments, and sign up for surgery? Motivating patients to take action requires a more targeted approach.

By Jay H. Bolling

Many companies have employed traditional DTC advertising to pull through patient volume, but this approach is based on the simple premise that awareness leads to action. Most patients can be aware of a brand or procedure but aren’t ready to take action. So rather than awareness, acceptance is the real key to effective DTC communications.

But the concept of patient acceptance isn’t a single event, it’s a psychosocial process—we know this through landmark studies such as the Health Belief Model and the work done by Drs. Kubler-Ross and Prochaska—that patients go through prior to making the decision to proceed. Some patients are in denial and need to be communicated with differently than those who are soul searching or at the point of assessing treatment options.

A successful DTC strategy requires not only the ability to stimulate awareness of the device or procedure but also effectively execute patient communication strategies that guarantee acceptance. Satisfying this critical prerequisite makes patients more proactive about managing their condition. DTC/DTP communications must be so personable the patients see themselves and their symptoms, move through their denial and soul searching, and open themselves to assessing and embracing options that can dramatically improve their health and quality of life.

Successful medical device marketing requires full integration of consumer and professional push/pull marketing tactics that leverage this new DTC/DTP marketing model to:

• Reach only qualified prospects
• Raise awareness of the device or procedure
• Gain acceptance of the need
• Motivate the prospects to take action (to get additional information and connect with qualified doctors).

Understanding the Emotional Triggers

Aging Baby Boomers are not about to fade quietly into their golden years without a fight. As they age, they require more aggressive healthcare intervention, often medical devices, to help them sustain the pace and vitality that has always been the hallmark of this generation. As devices evolve and applications for improved health and quality of life become available, the market potential is exploding.

And as consumers are asked to pay more of the cost for elective surgeries, they are doing their homework before arriving at the doctor’s office. Patients want the biggest benefit for their medical dollar and this is reflected in recent trends in elective surgeries. For example, big-ticket plastic surgeries have declined by about 20% in the past 10 years, but less-invasive cosmetic procedures have skyrocketed with a 99% growth curve between 2000 and 2009 (ASPS, 2000/2008/2009 National Plastic Surgery Statistics). The demand for the benefits of plastic surgery is clearly still there, but patients are opting for less-expensive procedures. This consumer trend toward achieving the biggest benefits at the lowest cost from elective surgeries cuts across all healthcare segments.

These savvy consumers are willing to pay for the privilege of maintaining active, vital lifestyles but demand a lot for their money. Understanding consumer drivers is just one piece of the puzzle. Medical device marketers must also prepare the market by enlisting physicians to engage in these DTC/DTP marketing efforts.

What Drives Physicians?

Doctors are under greater pressure to motivate these increasingly discerning elective surgery patients in order to grow their practices. Physicians have to play an active role in helping patients shift from a “living with the problem” mindset, to take action to make their life and their health better through appropriate medical treatment. DTC advertising that focuses on patient acceptance can help.

It’s also critical to be aware of the fact that surgeons who use medical devices as the bread and butter of their practices have their careers tied up in the quality of the devices they use to manage patients’ disease states. As a result, the relationship between device representatives and surgeons goes deep as doctors (and their entire scrub teams) often spend days with their reps in classroom training in device installation. It is common for device reps to be in the operating room with the surgeon to provide real-time counsel and advice during a procedure. The devices a surgeon uses are at the core of a physician’s career development and professional success.

This deeply rooted connection between the medical device and the success of a physician’s practice requires medical device marketers to embrace a vastly different approach than one would embrace for a primary-care physician who is simply writing scripts for their patients. “Push” marketing techniques, like sell sheets and product demonstrations to drive product adoption among surgeons, have always been the industry standard. However, the economic realities of recent months have pushed elective surgeries into a significant decline and limited the contact somewhat between device reps and the physicians they call on. Smart marketers can overcome these challenges by using targeted DTC advertising and patient relationship marketing that help:

• Find the most qualified patients
• Make them aware of elective surgery options that will address their health condition(s)
• Get them to accept the benefits, and stimulate them to take action
• Provide them with additional information, and connect them with trained physicians who can deliver on the promise of improving their health, vitality, and quality of life.

Two companies embraced this progressive marketing approach and achieved good results.

BAUSCH & LOMB: Background

Bausch & Lomb launched Crystalens, a surgically implantable lens that not only resolves cataracts but also can correct presbyopia, the loss of near and intermediate vision caused by aging. While three million cataract procedures are done in the U.S. annually, less than 5% of patients are aware of Crystalens as an option in treating cataracts.

The Approach

Bausch & Lomb crafted a DTC/DTP campaign that educates people about the treatment, targets the most qualified audiences, and then connects interested (“accepting”) patients with physicians trained in this procedure. In a three-market test, the company used a sophisticated tracking tool called Thimble River Analytics to gauge which campaigns actually drove patients to the phone. Television was the most powerful driver, while the Internet campaign offered the lowest cost per call. Radio didn’t deliver enough interest to justify the ad spend, so it was eliminated from the program, allowing more marketing dollars to flow to the channels that had a bigger impact. The technology also enabled Bausch & Lomb to tell surgeons how many calls the marketing efforts brought to their offices and when. The advanced analytics even measured how long the calls were and where they were coming from so future campaigns could be tailored to reach the most viable patients.

Results

The campaign reached prospects with pinpoint accuracy, educated them thoroughly, helped them accept that this device was right for them, and measured which channels were most effective in prompting patients to take action. The detailed metrics motivated surgeons to engage in the marketing plan because the benefits to their practice were clear and easy to track. Bausch & Lomb was able to fine-tune its outreach to capture the greatest ROI. The test was a phenomenal success for both consumers and surgeons, and the marketing effort was expanded to 10 additional markets.

ACCLARENT: Background

Acclarent develops innovative devices that meet the needs of chronic sinusitis patients, including novel endoscopic, catheter-based tools called Balloon Sinuplasty devices. Acclarent’s Balloon Sinuplasty System enables qualified otolaryngologists (ENTs) to dilate obstructed sinus ostia in patients suffering from sinusitis. The system is based on flexible catheter and wire technology specifically designed to navigate the sinus anatomy with minimal trauma. This product has been commercially available for more than three years, and thousands of ENT surgeons in the U.S. are trained in the use of this technology.

Balloon Sinuplasty is appropriate for patients with chronic sinusitis who don’t adequately respond to Rx medication and for whom conventional sinus surgery is the next best option. The fact that this is a major operation that often requires bone/tissue removal to open blocked sinuses is a huge deterrent.

For the vast majority, 64%, of chronic sinusitis patients who have opted to live with their condition rather than undergo conventional sinus surgery, Acclarent’s Balloon Sinuplasty System is the long- awaited solution. Despite their choice to live with this condition, chronic sinusitis patients do not suffer in silence. They continue to voice significant frustration over feeling miserable and being limited by their condition, and they constantly seek new treatment options that might make them feel better.

The Approach

To meet the patients’ needs for information on new treatment options and better solutions, Acclarent piloted a DTC campaign this year to help meet the following objectives:

• Identify chronic sinusitis sufferers who are potential candidates
• Raise awareness of Balloon Sinuplasty and its benefits
• Provide patients access to trained ENTs in their community who offer Balloon Sinuplasty.

To pilot the program, the brand team and agency identified specific Opportunity Zones throughout the U.S. based on the concentration of multiple variables, including:

• Physician champions (trained on Balloon Sinuplasty)
• Physician referrers (PCPs, ENTs)
• Patient demographics
• Allergy-related measures (e.g., Air Quality Index).
• Rx volume (chronic sinusitis)
• Presence of sales representatives (prescriber focus)

A test plan was developed to assess the best performing media, messaging, and response channels, and a combination of different tactics was tested in each geographic market (TV, radio, outdoor, transit, and paid search) to measure the ability to drive:

• Calls (candidates who respond via phone or online)
• Leads (candidates who access the physician locater)
• Transfers (candidates who call a trained physician)

Messaging was created not only to stimulate awareness, but to drive patient acceptance (through adopting a more proactive mindset toward the management of their condition), assessment of Balloon Sinuplasty as a new option for sinus surgery, acknowledgment that it’s right for them, and action by contacting a trained ENT surgeon.

Results

To maximize ROI, Acclarent continues to optimize the DTC campaign through a process of testing, measurement, and analysis. The company now understands which media vehicles drive the most leads, calls, and transfers; what types of messages best resonate with prospective patients to increase awareness, acceptance, and action; and how and when most patients connect with trained surgeons to explore the possibility of sinus surgery with Balloon Sinuplasty technology.

Conclusion

Raising awareness just isn’t good enough when marketing devices to consumers. Understanding what motivates patients to accept a device or procedure and take action is a critical component of successful marketing. Recognizing the emotional triggers of the broadest target markets for medical devices and using them to move patients from denial to assessment to action is a necessary step. Understanding that surgeons’ livelihoods and reputations are intertwined with the efficacy of the devices they use is also enormously important to an effective campaign. Combine this knowledge with smart utilization of well-chosen channels, a strategic approach built on satisfying the needs of the patients and their doctors, a brand acceptance model that bridges the gap between awareness and action, and metrics to gauge success, and you have the keys to unlocking the brand’s full potential.

To comment on this article, contact Jay Bolling, President and CEO of Roska Healthcare, at HYPERLINK "mailto:jbolling@roskahealthcare.com"jbolling@roskahealthcare.com