Ensuring patients are at the center of their healthcare journey is easier said than done. But new ways of analyzing patient engagement data, and connecting that data to interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs), can bring brand marketers one step closer.
Patients and caregivers are playing a more informed and influential role in their own health decisions, from research about their disease to education about their treatment. Increasingly, this journey begins with a search for information online, before they visit a doctor, where they might browse brand pages or see targeted ads. It has a real impact in the doctor’s office, as well: more than 75% of patients are likely to ask an HCP about a medication they saw advertised, according to the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.1
For brand marketers, however, connecting the dots from patient visits to brand websites and follow-up HCP interactions—let alone influencing those conversations—has been difficult, if not impossible. Until now.
Better Patient Engagement Data, Better Omnichannel Engagement
Privacy-safe patient engagement data is a unique way to draw clear connections between patient interactions with a brand’s website and subsequent visits to an HCP. This data allows marketers to connect HCPs, at the NPI-level, to patients who have visited their brand website. This kind of visibility offers brand managers several benefits, from in-person engagement to non-personal promotion.
First and foremost, brand managers can use this data to feed “next best action” engines and reach out to HCPs with additional support materials and timely information when they are most receptive. This not only strengthens the relationship with the HCP, it also helps connect patients to the information they are already seeking. In the case of rare diseases, connecting even one patient to the right treatment has significant potential upside. And for brands, this data provides valuable insight into when and where DTC messages are having an impact.
Connect with HCPs and Patients at the Right Time
Bayer is using patient engagement data to deliver on its goal of exceptional customer engagement for HCPs, patients, and caregivers.2 “At an anonymized, aggregate level, we can see how patients interact with our website and whether they have follow-up conversations with their doctors. We’re using data about patients engaging with our content and then having those important conversations with a specialist or primary care physician,” said Nick Lucente, Senior Director, Oncology Digital Marketing, Bayer.
This data can also fuel non-personal promotion strategies with HCPs through email or targeted, programmatic digital advertising to reinforce key messages when they are discussing the brand with patients. But that engagement doesn’t need to be limited to HCPs on your target list. One company used patient engagement data to identify 8% additional, relevant prescribers they would have otherwise missed.
Patient data is increasingly robust and can fill critical gaps in your omnichannel engagement strategy. Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with HCPs when they are most receptive to your message and help connect patients to the information they need.
References:
1. https://www.jabfm.org/content/33/2/279.
2. https://www.veeva.com/customer-stories/bayer-putting-omnichannel-marketing-practices-into-practice.
