Jeremy T. Shepler
Sr. Director, Diabetes and Obesity Marketing
Novo Nordisk Inc.
Patient Support Pioneer
Above all else, Jeremy Shepler believes his role at Novo Nordisk is to ensure the patient’s voice is not only heard, but that it also directly affects the actions of the company. More so, these actions should be about driving innovation to deliver the best possible patient experience and the best outcomes. Jeremy is without question succeeding in that role.
Based on the insight that patients really don’t have a plan of how to be successful when leaving their healthcare professional’s office, which likely leads to poor adherence to therapy, Jeremy and his team launched the Diabetes Health Coach as part of the Cornerstones4Care program. Co-developed with a renowned diabetes center, this unprecedented offering provides patients with tailored modules that help them cope with diabetes. After understanding the patient’s skills, knowledge and confidence in treating diabetes through a health assessment, the program adjusts to each patient and provides information on exactly what they need help with, whether it is getting through the emotional aspects of diabetes, healthy eating tips or help taking their medication.
Even though Diabetes Health Coach is available to any person with diabetes, Novo Nordisk offers outbound phone calls from a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) for patients with type 2 diabetes starting on a Novo Nordisk medication. The CDE reaches out to the patient within a few days to help them get started on therapy and make lifestyle changes—then helps them remain successful and hopefully more adherent through on-going check-ins. Patients were almost dumbfounded to be receiving this much support from a pharma company. One patient told a CDE, “I’m so glad to have this—and also glad that a company offers something like this to help their customers.”
Of course, that is just music to Jeremy’s ears. And he hopes to hear a lot more stories like that in his career—a career for which he has big plans. “I have an insatiable desire to help patients, to drive business, and to win,” Jeremy says. “And eventually, someday down the line, I see myself running a company in the pharmaceutical or biotech space.”
