Why would an Electronic Health Record (EHR) company want to execute a commercial program with a life science company? There is no doubt the opportunity to generate revenue. Life science companies have large budgets dedicated to delivering content and EHRs have large networks of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) and consumers.
However, EHRs are more than technology companies. They are healthcare service and solution providers. Their primary mission is to help their clients deliver high-quality healthcare. “Advertising” programs are unlikely to be widely accepted because they distract from this primary mission.
So to spark interest from EHR companies you need to put yourself in their customer’s shoes. Think about the problems HCPs face today and which of those problems they turn to their EHR company to solve?
A look at the EHR companies’ websites will give you a clue: Population health, Meaningful Use, better outcomes and efficiency. These are the value propositions EHR companies are using to attract new customers and satisfy the needs of their current users. If you design programs that help EHR companies solve these problems, you are more likely to find interest.
Here’s a practical example. Many healthcare practitioners have just started using their EHR product in the past few years. They are comfortable with the basics but have yet to use the more advanced EHR tools that provide the real “bang for the buck.” Tools like clinical decision support, patient engagement and population health management dramatically increase health outcomes while making healthcare practitioners more efficient.
EHR companies therefore spend significant resources raising awareness of these tools and educating their customers on how to incorporate them into the clinical workflow.
The use of these EHR tools could dramatically improve the appropriate use of your product. Identification of patients, education on proper use, increased adherence and easier access to patient assistance programs are examples of how EHR tools increase your product’s performance.
Approaching EHR companies with proposals for education and awareness programs that increase the use of these EHR tools would benefit the EHR companies, benefit their customers and help you meet your business objective.
Life science companies bring more than just a checkbook to the table. Our products are a critical component of high-quality healthcare and we have deep clinical and healthcare provider knowledge.
A marketing or commercial program aligned with the mission of EHR companies can be a success for all stakeholders. EHR companies achieve their value proposition as healthcare service and solution providers; healthcare practitioners more effectively and efficiently deliver healthcare; and more appropriate patients receive your product and use it to its full benefit. That’s a successful program for everyone.
So if you want to place a successful program in the EHR channel. It’s easy. Just think like their customers.
