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WHITE PAPER PATIENT JOURNEY A new foundation for designing winning brand strategies The Patient Journey re-envisioned AUThoRS: MAneeSh GUpTA, SiMone SeiTeR, heATheR Von AllMen And hoWARd JAffe TM

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Page 1: A new foundation for designing winning brand strategiesveranstaltungen.handelsblatt.com/health/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/... · A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND ... brand

WHITE PAPERPATIENT JOURNEY

A new foundation for designingwinning brand strategies The Patient Journey re-envisionedAuthors: MAneesh GuptA, siMone seiter, heAther von AllMen And howArd JAffe

TM

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2A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES

iMs ConsultinG Group

Medicine has been described as a “science of uncertainty and anart of probability.” The same can be said of marketing –particularly when it comes to developing the foundation of thebrand strategy – the Patient Journey. The Journey is a powerfulframework for understanding the market and designing winningstrategies. However, several practical issues in building and usingthe Patient Journey have limited marketing teams in harnessingthe potential of this concept.

With the availability of the latest, comprehensive methods forunderstanding the Patient Journey, companies can proceed withnew-found confidence in the foundation for their brand plans.Using a combination of innovative techniques including Real-World Evidence analysis, social media listening platforms,and projective techniques to understand the underlyingemotions that drive behavior, brand teams can uncover unmetneeds, spot growth opportunities, and position their product in away that resonates favorably with providers, payers, and patients.

In the following pages we will share our observations on issueswe have seen the industry face as they build and use PatientJourneys. We will offer our recommendations on how to get themost out of these efforts by taking advantage of the latestmethodologies and tools. We’ll also provide tips on how best toensure that the resulting insights are used downstream forcommercial success.

For further information, please contact Maneesh Gupta at [email protected] or Simone Seiter at [email protected]

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 3

white pAper | the pAtient Journey

“Good enough” no longer is The years immediately preceding a pharmaceutical product launch are arguably one of the riskiestperiods in business. “Getting it right” has never been more essential – nor more challenging – givenincreasing development costs, shrinking pipelines and growing patent losses. And even once a product islaunched, the amount of change in the marketplace dictates that brand teams must constantly refreshtheir understanding of current conditions and alter their strategy accordingly.

Brand teams rely heavily on the results of research into the current state of the market to set and revisetheir brand strategy and to develop corresponding tactics. While the traditional methods for assessingthe market through an understanding of the Patient Journey may have sufficed in another era, they nolonger serve companies well in the existing, dynamic market environment. Times have changed, and somust companies’ research standards and practices. “Good enough” no longer is.

Conducting qualitative studies with a few dozen physicians followed by quantitative research among ahundred or so more is simply inadequate for building a successful product strategy; too much is leftunexplored – including integrating the patient and payer perspectives into a single view. It is impossibleto gain insight from physicians about the beginnings of the Patient Journey – before the patient presentsin a consultation – or the aftermath of the physician visit, for example.

The foundation for the brand’s go-to-market strategy may therefore either be skewed, sending a productoff in the wrong direction, or incomplete, preventing the product from realizing its full potential.

Regardless of the quality of a company’s researchinto the Patient Journey, many companies faceanother stumbling block in converting the brandstrategy to deployable tactics. Often, opportunitiesare overlooked when objectives are set, andfrequently, the behavioral objectives that are set arenot even tracked, even as the brand team focuses itsresources on somewhat disconnected ATU(Awareness, Trial and Usage) studies.

Several brand teams in the industry recognize thechallenge with the current approach. Polling from arecent IMS Patient Journey webinar (Figure 1)indicates that incorporating the ‘physician, payer,and patient into a single view’ and ‘quantifying theJourney’ remain to be the biggest challenges in theindustry.

The art and science of building and using PatientJourneys is a journey by itself. We have seen clientsalong the continuum with some clients using thelatest techniques, where as others are still focusingon primary across research with physicians. IMSresearch suggests that nine out of ten brand teamsdo not use the latest practices for building and usingPatient Journeys, leaving gaps in marketunderstanding or strategy execution and ultimatelyyielding sub-optimal brand performance.

fiGure 1: severAl brAnd teAMs in theindustry reCoGnize the ChAllenGe with theCurrent ApproACh

Polling from a recent IMS Patient Journeywebinar indicates that incorporating the‘physician, payer and patient into a singleview and quantifying the Journey’ remains tobe a big challenges in the industry.

Where do you see your biggest area of challengein building and using the Patient Journey?

Based on 70 votes.

Incorporating the patient payer and physician into a single view2 24.2%

Quantifying the Journey2 28.5%

Understanding the potential evolution in future11.4%

Identifying all potential opportunities and challenges15.7%

Ensuring connection between objectives and execution12.8%

Tracking against objectives7.1%

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES

iMs ConsultinG Group

4

the importance of the patient Journey The “Patient Journey” is a description of how patients experience a disease or condition from their firstawareness of symptoms through all stages of presentation, diagnosis, referral and treatment, fulfillment,monitoring, adherence, and follow ups. At each juncture along the way, it reflects the decisions made and hurdles faced by patients and providers, the rationale behind those decisions, and the emotions felt.A comprehensive depiction of the Patient Journey will provide both quantitative data surrounding eachmilestone on the Journey as well as qualitative data on what patients, caregivers, and providers arethinking and feeling along the way.

These insights provide answers to a long list ofquestions that must be answered before acompany can devise an effective productstrategy (See Sidebar 1). Most companies,therefore, must first seek an understanding ofthe Patient Journey when a compound is still inPhase II of clinical development and thereforeseveral years from entering the market.

Because the market is dynamic, one’sunderstanding of it cannot be static; the PatientJourney should then be revisited when launch isimminent and routinely thereafter once theproduct is on the market. We recommend thatthe Patient Journey be refreshed at least everytwo years, or more often if market events (suchas a competitive launch, for example) occur tochange physicians’ or patients’ perceptions andpractices.

The Patient Journey lays the foundation for thebrand strategy and informs downstreamdecisions including segmentation and targeting;product positioning and messaging; andphysician, patient, and payer engagementmodels as seen in Figure 2.

Sidebar 1: Questions to answer with thePatient Journey

Companies should undertake building thePatient Journey with six objectives in mind

1. Understand “what is happening” i.e., thefull patient experience (from awarenessthrough adherence) along the Journey; roleof physicians, payers, nurses, pharmacists,and caregivers; their unmet needs and;decisions made along the continuum

2. Gain insight into the “why” behind thedecisions made throughout the Journey

3. Understand “how often” byunderstanding number of patients andphysicians at each step and sub-step in the Journey

4. Estimate “how” the typical Patient Journeywill evolve over the next several years,especially in pre-launch situations andmake the patient, health care provider, orpayer experience better, while drivingbrand uptake

5. Align on “where to add value” within thePatient Journey and design strategies andtactics to win in the marketplace

6. Ensure that the team answers “how do weknow we are winning” by measuringprogress against the prioritized objectiveswithin the Journey

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 5

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IMS Health research suggests that nine out of ten brand teams do not use the latest practices forbuilding and using Patient Journeys, leaving gaps in market understanding or strategy executionand ultimately yielding sub-optimal brand performance.

fiGure 2: the pAtient Journey lAys the foundAtion for A stronG brAnd strAteGy

UNDERSTANDING

Strategy

PatientJourney

Tactics

PLANNING

Aligning the brand’s value with unmet needs of the market

Based on the outcome of each step, earlier steps need to be constantly re-assessed

EXECUTION

Segmentation TargetSegments

Positioning Messaging PromotionMix

PerformanceTracking

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 6

iMs ConsultinG Group

early JourneysFor many years, companies have built their Patient Journeys on data collected via primary research withphysicians. These studies, typically consisting of interviews with a few dozen physicians followed by aquantitative survey of a few hundred physicians, were at one time the soundest approach available.However, even as the market environment has evolved considerably, and patients, caregivers, and payershave become important decision makers, the approach to building and using Patient Journeys hasremained broadly the same. This introduces inherent shortcomings that limit their usefulness in forminganything as business-critical as a brand plan – particularly as other, more comprehensive methodologieshave become available.

Relying on decades-old approaches in building Patient Journeys in today’s market is no longerrecommended, since they often:

• Produce biased results. Conclusions are drawn from a small sample of physicians who respond toquestions based on their memory and their perceptions.

• Omit direct input from patients and payers. Ironically, the Patient Journey is often built frominformation gathered from physicians and does not incorporate feedback directly from patients orpayers, both extremely important stakeholders today.

• Cover only a portion of the Journey. Because physicians are often the primary source of information,little can be learned about what happens outside of the physician’s office, both pre- and post-diagnosis. So, questions pertaining to the impact of managed care, fulfillment of prescriptions at thepharmacy, adherence, the cost burden of treatment, and so forth cannot be answered. Physicians donot always even have complete information about patients’ co-morbidities, time between steps, orreferrals between specialties.

• Provide limited insight into the “why’s” of behavior. How successful interviews are at uncovering theemotional drivers behind decisions is heavily dependent upon the skills of the researcher and thetechniques used. Often, people’s motivations are subconscious, and straight questioning fails tosurface them.

• Focus on the present. While understanding the status quo is certainly a primary goal of the research,many things can change between the time of an initial study and a launch. Research needs to include aforward-looking view to ensure that a brand can succeed in the future environment.

• Cost excess time and money. Primary research and chart audits take several months to complete andthe recruiting, honoraria, and interviews add to the tab significantly.

Beyond gaps in building the Patient Journeys, there are significant gaps in how they are used by brandteams. Following are some of the issues that we have commonly observed

• Opportunities and challenges are not comprehensively identified. Objectives related to timing,influencing referral patterns, and improving fulfillment rates and medication compliance are rarelyidentified since these dynamics are often not captured in the first place. At the same time, these canrepresent significant opportunities. In one case, a brand team did not realize that patients with a

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 7

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condition were not presenting for up to five years after the appearance of symptoms because theyassociated their symptoms with aging. In another case, a team understood two years after launch that40 percent of their patients were not fulfilling their scripts at the pharmacy since the overall costburden to patients was significant. In both cases, these opportunities were missed in the PatientJourneys and equated to losses of several million dollars.

• Disconnect between objectives and execution. Sometimes, behavioral objectives do not connect wellwith actual execution in the promotional mix, messaging, and field force tactics. In one example, abrand team identified improving referral patterns between primary care physicians and oncologists asan objective. However, this objective did not translate into detailed mapping of the current referralpatterns at the physician level or into tactics by the field force to improve referrals.

• Objectives not tracked. Brand teams often do not track performance on objectives rigorously. In onecase, even though a brand team had identified patient adherence as an objective, the company wastracking brand performance using conventional ATU studies. These ATUs, while useful, did not shedlight on progress against the adherence objective.

In summary, the Patient Journey is a powerful framework for understanding the market and designingwinning strategies. However, several practical issues in building and using the Patient Journey havelimited marketing teams in harnessing the potential of this concept (Figure 3). The end result is often asub-par brand strategy that is based on an expensive, time consuming, and ineffective process.

fiGure 3: CoMMon issues often underMine the end result

BUILDING THE JOURNEY USING THE JOURNEY

Patient perspective is largely ignored orbased on physicians perceptions

Issues such as funding flow and influencemapping are often not integrated into asingle view

Important dynamics such as time, referrals,patient affordability, and adherence areoften missing or misleading

Opportunities and challenges are notcomprehensively identified

disconnect between objectivesand execution

Objectives not tracked

End result:Subpar brand strategies based on anexpensive, time consuming, andineffective process

Whys behind the decisions and potentialfuture evolution are not well understood

COMMON ISSUES

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 8

iMs ConsultinG Group

A new Journey of discovery Ideally, a description of the Patient Journey will extend from disease awareness through final treatment,covering not only the current situation, but how the treatment paradigm is likely to evolve in the next fewyears. And, it will not only reveal what happens and how often it happens, but why it happens—bothfrom the physician’s and the patient’s perspective. Furthermore, once the Patient Journey is built, thebrand team needs to know where to add value and how to tell if the brand is winning.

Getting such a comprehensive view requires combining multiple research sources and methods as arediscussed below.

Real-World EvidenceFor the past decade or so, it has been possible to use a wealth of Real-World Evidence sources to analyzepatients’ touch points with providers, creating a map of how patients flow through the system from diagnosisthrough adherence. The input for these maps comes from diverse and rich databases including EMR data fromphysician offices and hospitals; diagnostic data from labs; longitudinal, patient-level databases; claims datacovering diagnosis, treatment, and adherence; and managed care data covering prescription fulfillment (Figure 4).

fiGure 4: rwe CAn Add siGnifiCAnt vAlue to pAtient Journeys

JOURNEY PHASE

Origination

• Consumer database

• Social media analytics

• Lab values data

• Longitudinal patient datafrom pharmacies

• Claims data from health plans

• EMR/physician office data

• Hospital data

• OTC data

• Scripts written by physicians

• Institutional purchases

• Managed care benefit design

• Formulary details

• Rejection/reversal data

• Incidence and prevalence• Patient demographics (age, income, education, geo)• Co-morbidities/underlying conditions

It is advisable to start building the Patient Journey with secondary data and use primaryresearch to plug in the gaps.

• Patient’s perspective – symptoms, awareness,information search, presentation decision

• diagnosis rates• Lab values• Newly diagnosed/previously diagnosed• Severity & staging• Referral and patterns

• Continuing• dynamic - new/add on/switch• Share by line of therapy• dose titration

• Substitution and abandonment• Method of payment/tiering• Co-pays and patient cost burden

• Time on therapy• Compliance and persistence

Awareness /Presentation

Diagnosis /Referral

Treatment

Fulfillment

Adherence

INFORMATION AVAILABLE DATA SOURCES (US EXAMPLE)

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 9

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drawing from an array of such robust databases that incorporate information on millions of de-identifiedpatients and thousands of physicians and payers, one can quantify the treated patient population andvarious market dynamics. In addition to providing a standardized framework that is easier to refresh thanprimary research, it provides the most accurate view of actual patient behaviors.

This research will answer questions such as:

• How many patients reach each step of the Journey? How much time elapses between points along the Journey?

• Are there patients who never get drug treatment?

• What is the opportunity for a non-first line therapy choice?

• How many patients move through multiple treatments, and what are the mostcommon treatment pathways?

• What percent of the population seems to have success with the first treatment selectedfor them?

• What co-morbidities do patients suffer? How could these impact their treatment choices? Might thesecreate an opportunity for a Fixed-dose Combination that treats both conditions?

• do patients fill their scripts and adhere to their treatment regimen?

• Regardless of physician intent, what are the actual prescription fulfillment behaviors exhibited by thepatient? does fulfillment differ from intent?

• How does the cost burden influence patient behavior? does it differ by patient characteristics, such asincome levels, geography, or education?

• What are the patterns in how and when physicians refer patients to one another? Once a physicianinitiates treatment, is the referred to physician likely to change the therapy?

It is now possible to use a wealth of Real-World Evidence to create a rigorous, granular andcomprehensive patient flow maps from diagnosis through adherence. Beyond relying onperceptions of a few physicians, Journeys can be now be built based on millions of actual decisions.

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 10

iMs ConsultinG Group

fiGure 5: reAl-world evidenCe sourCes CAn help understAnd the pAtient Journey And thetrue opportunity for A produCt

In this summarized view of the diagnosis and treatment phases of a Patient Journey, one is able to easily see thepower of Real-World Evidence. Note that the size of the diagnosed hypercholesterolemia population availablethrough longitudinal data, including those who were newly diagnosed during the 12-month observation period, is64 million patients. Among those diagnosed, visibility is also provided to the treated population, and theopportunities for first-line treatment (newly treated, n=6.7million). Among all patients, the total opportunity fornon-first line patients (add/switch) is also captured, showing that 8.1million patients changed therapy, and thatmultiple types of changes may have occurred during the observation period. However, when discounting forchanges that involved a titration in therapy or patients discontinuing all therapy, the opportunity is reduced, with6.2 million switches or adds occurring. For a product that is being introduced to this market as a non-first linetherapy, having this information provides valuable input into the opportunity, as the details of patient treatmentare revealed. The real opportunity for a new product is 6.2 million therapy change encounters (i.e., switch and add-on) and not the 29.5 million patients (all Rx treated patients) that an assessment without doing this type ofanalysis may suggest. This could be further reduced if the product is only considered when a specific type of switchor add is occurring.

Origination

Ful�llment

Stain Mono 5.0m

Switched Med 4.1m

Add on Med 2.1m

Titrate Dose 3.3m

Discontinuationof Therapy 3.0m

X Mono 0.07m

X Mono 0.3m

Adherence

Treatment

DiagnosisFlow

Newly Diagnosed

10.4m

Untreated

36.0mExisting Tx

22.8m

Change in Tx

8.1mAll Rx Tc Pts

29.5m

No Change in Tx

21.4m

Newly Initiatedon Rx Tx

6.7m

Total Diagnosed

64.1mPreviously Diagnosed

53.7m

Sample includesmillions of patients

Perceivedopportunity fornew drug

Granular breakdownof Tx !ow

Actual opportunityfor new drug

Reason forChange

RxTreatment

Flow -Hyperlipidemia

Market

Awareness/Presentation

Diagnosis/Referral

D

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 11

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Social Media Listening Platforms The Pew Internet & American Life Project has been measuring “peer-to-peer healthcare,” the tendency ofpatients to “lend a hand, lend an ear, lend advice,” using the speed and scale of the Internet. According toPew, patients turn to fellow patients, friends, and family far more (59 percent of the time) than to medicalprofessionals (30 percent of the time) when seeking emotional support for a health issue.1 The rise ofsocial networking has given patients an electronic avenue for that outreach. In fact, patients can becomemembers of online communities through such sites as PatientsLikeMe.com, MedHelp.org, andCureTogether.com, which instantly connect them to fellow sufferers. They can participate in forums andexchange private messages with others who have stories and advice to share.

At a minimum, companies can “listen in” to public conversations conducted via online forums to get asense of what is on patients’ minds. Ensuring, of course, that all laws and FdA guidelines are followed,companies can gain more systematic insight into conversations conducted in social media through dataaggregators. These companies scan social media key words which are then coded and analyzed for trends.

Through this data mining, we can learn the answers to such questions as

• What are the topics that patients, caregivers and physicians talk about most often as they go through the Journey?

• What experiences and feelings do patients share with one another about the disease,diagnosis, treatment options, drug efficacy, side effects, and co-pays?

• What do patients and physicians really think about the product? About the competition?

• What are the questions and frustrations that patients have?

• What are the unmet needs that surface online?

• What is the patient profile by age, gender, and ethnicity?

• What are the attitudes of different profiles?

• What is the mindset surrounding pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical options?

• Why do or don’t patients switch brands?

• What are the issues that different patients face on a day-to-day basis? How do they manage these issues?

• How do patients adjust to their condition/resulting limitations? What behavioral and emotional changes do they experience?

• Are there ideas in dealing with the condition from which other patients may benefit?

• What are physicians communicating to patients? How satisfied are patients with the communication?

• What are the online sources of information that patients use?

• Who are the social advocates that patients listen to most often?

• What are they saying? What are their interests and views?

• What are the interests and views of key social opinion leaders?

• What are ideas for product innovation and patient services beyond the pill?

REFERENCE:1 Fox, Susannah, “Mind the Gap: Peer-to-Peer Healthcare,” Pew Internet & American Life Project, February 28, 2011.

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 12

iMs ConsultinG Group

Patients and caregivers are becoming increasingly vocal about their experiences along the Journey, even indebilitating diseases such as cancer. As seen in the example below, a patient describes her experience on socialmedia. She talks about her melanoma mis-diagnosis, diagnosis, experience on different drugs including IL-2,temodar, ipilimumab (Yervoy®) and vemurafenib (Zelboraf®). The patient discusses efficacy, outcomes, side-effects,and even persistence on treatment over a period of eight years.

Social media can add a another dimension of patient perspectives to the Patient Journey.

Outcome

Efficacy

Misdiagnosed

Rediagnosed Stage Iv

Reappearance ofMelanoma

4 rounds of chemoStartedTemodaranddocitaxel

IL - 2

Tumor in leftleg, somelymph nodes,bowel, andgroin

Ipilimumab

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011

Positive Partial Partial

Persistence

Treatment

diagnosis

Timeline

Switch toother

treatment

Remission forone and half

years

Resistant tumor in leg;waited for lpilimumab

approvalStarting

vemurafenib

2009

Stuck to drugin spite ofhaving sideeffects likediarrhea,stomach pain,tiredness,exhaustion

Positive

Stopped afterthree cyclesdue tocongestiveheart failure

Not effective

fiGure 6: pAtient eXperienCe As GleAned froM soCiAl MediA

The internet and social media have become key influencers. Health information has become thethird most popular online pursuit (Pew Survey) while 30-40% US adults are likely to be influencedby social media in their choice of providers, therapies, and insurance plans.

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 13

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Importance of Emotional Drivers for Patients’ and Physicians’ BehaviorsExperiences, opinions, and decision-making exist in two domains, the rational and emotional. Often,individuals are unaware of the important emotional drivers of their behaviors, as many act on asubconscious level and influence the more easily observed rational processes. However, it is essential toget to the underlying emotional themes that drive patient and physician decisions, but it is generallynecessary to use less direct research techniques to do so. Under direct questioning, respondents do notalways speak the truth; they can be embarrassed, they can anticipate the answer the interviewer isseeking, or they can be unaware of their inner emotions and only present rationale explanations for their behavior.

One recommended solution is to use projective techniques as a research tool with patients andphysicians. Projective techniques are frequently used in psychological diagnosis and treatment,specifically because they access underlying emotional influences on behaviors. Projective researchtechniques to understand emotions and feelings complement the standard interview or surveytechniques that emphasize rational and behavioral aspects and are best implemented as a parallel seriesof interviews, usually with a smaller number of subjects (perhaps half the number who are interviewed).

These techniques are “projective” because those interviewed are prompted to project their beliefs andfeelings onto an ambiguous stimulus – such as an incomplete picture or story. Projective research, whenconducted by trained therapists, is quite successful in eliciting the subject’s emotions – emotions thatmay never otherwise have been expressed.

There is a large body of science behind these techniques, and a battery of different types of tests hasbeen standardized, and their interpretation validated. If, for example, people are asked to add details to asilhouette drawing that symbolizes their own body, therapists can read meaning into their choice ofmedia, their choice of colors, and what they draw…as well as what they omit.

Projective techniques can be used to discover how patients and physicians experience a disease, thetreatment process, and their relationship to one another from an emotional (and often subconscious)perspective.

different approaches can be taken to answer questions such as

• How adequate are the current therapeutic options?

• What treatment criteria are most important to patients?

• How do physicians and patients perceive specific products?

• How do physicians and patients relate to one another?

• How do patients view their physician’s role? How do physicians view their own role?

• How do patients cope with the burden of illness?

• How does the disease or condition affect the patient’s sense of self? How does this change as a disease progresses?

• What would a successful treatment mean to a patient?

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 14

iMs ConsultinG Group

Perhaps the best way to understand the power of projective research techniques in adding dimension toan understanding of the Patient Journey is through a few examples:

• When asked to draw a map of their route to work, patients with Over-Active Bladder (OAB) voluntarilydrew in every public bathroom on the route—a very tangible expression of how their lives arecircumscribed by their condition.

• When asked to depict their treatment of patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) usingthe prop of an aquarium in the illustration, physicians showed patients as little fish in the aquariumwith an aggressive, big fish. They drew themselves as feeding the little fish from a distance. Thisillustrated that physicians felt impotent in treating these patients and related to them at arm’s length.

• When asked to draw themselves with cancer patients, oncologists drew dramatically different picturesat different stages in the disease progression. Initially, they showed themselves as holding the patient’shand. Once the cancer had recurred, they added space between their figure and the patient’s. Oncethe tumor had metastasized, physicians stopped drawing the patient’s facial features and portrayedthe tumor as the patient’s dominant feature. This reflected physicians’ need to disengage emotionallyas they lost control of the fight against the cancer. Ultimately, the cancer came to define the patient inphysicians’ eyes (Figure 7).

fiGure 7: proJeCtive teChniques help Get to deeper drivers of behAvior

Therapy choice: patient andphysician are close, patient can feelsafe knowing she will be cared for

Progression: patient and physicianare further apart, patient feels aloneand feels that she has no future

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 15

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Trained clinicians (typically doctoral-level psychologists with a master’s degree in art therapy, or board-certified art therapists) have the necessary insight to design tasks that will generate emotional responsesfrom the subject and to provide expert interpretation. drawings are categorized according to thepresence and omission of indicators such as positioning, color, affect, size, and quality of shape and line.

Placement of forms, erasures, and manipulation of materials also reveal nonverbal attitudes and levels ofemotions. Additional information gleaned from the personal observation of the drawing process is alsosignificant and might go unrecognized if the tasks were not observed by a trained clinican.

Such insights are a goldmine for brand teams looking for unmet needs or hoping to strike a chord withtheir audience in their messages.

While having a comprehensive Patient Journey in hand is essential to creating an effective brand strategy,that alone is no guarantee of success. Companies must be able to translate the insights from the brandplan into a strategy and then into tactics that are actually implemented and measured.

Two elements of Patient Journeys support important opportunities for many biopharmaceuticalcompanies.

Connecting objectives, strategies, and tacticsMost pharmacos do a satisfactory job of identifying and prioritizing behavioral objectives in the Patient Journey. However, when it comes to laying out action plans behind these behavioral objectives,we have seen several brand teams falter. Many times the Patient Journey effort is stopped prematurelyafter the behavioral objectives are identified. In reality, aligning on the behavioral objectives is just thefoundation to winning in the marketplace. As seen in Figure 8, it is important to lay out current anddesired behaviors clearly and to support strategies that will achieve the desired state with a detailed listof tactical action items.

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 16

iMs ConsultinG Group

Tracking performance against objectives?Even though brand teams typically conduct ATU studies throughout the year, there is often not enoughattention paid to tracking performance on behavioral objectives.

Brand teams can follow the five step process outlined below and illustrated in Figure 9 to ensure that thebrand is winning in the marketplace.

1. Identify and define leverage points (e.g., patient adherence)

2. design and implement tactics to influence (e.g., co-programs with hospitals and health systems,patient apps, and text message reminders)

3. develop methodology and definitions for performance tracking including defining the targets (e.g., ensuring that 80 percent of patients stay on therapy after three months, as seen in longitudinal,patient-level data)

4. develop dashboard for performance communication (e.g., looking at persistence curves monthly)

5. design and implement a performance mitigation plan (e.g., email blasts if persistence is below 70 percentafter three months, or initiate kick-off market research to understand why patients are not adherent)

fiGure 8: An eXAMple ConneCtinG obJeCtives, strAteGies And tACtiCs for enCourAGinGpAtients to be Adherent on therApy

Desiredbehavior

Currentbehavior

Drivers

Patients remain on therapy to manage their diabetes

• 75% of adults fail to adhere to, or comply with physician prescribed treatment regimens• Patients drop o" therapy overtime

Patients are motivated tobeat diatetes

Engagement of patient advocacy groups around topic

Encouraging patients to share experiences online and o#ine

SMS reminders to patient/caregiver cell phones

Apps to track symptoms, vitals, medication intake, progress,exercise, and nutrition intake

Patient and caregiver education materials, provided throughphysician o$ces

Co-programs with hospitals, payers and health systems stressingthe importance of adherence

Show patients results by providing encouragement to them through tools, educationalprograms and support services that help them better understand how therapy keepsthem healthy over time and reduces complications

Nurse hotlines

Patients cannot see short term resultsand do not receive positive feedback

John Feb

Jill Feb

Raj Apr

Chris Mar

Laurie Jun

Yu Aug

Howard Aug

Barriers

Strategies

Tactics

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 17

white pAper | the pAtient Journey

recommended Approach to building and using the patient Journey The following methodical approach will allow you to take full advantage of the Patient Journey inmeeting your business objectives (Figure 10):

1. Understand “what,” “why,” “how often,” and “how will it evolve”As discussed above, first ensure that the Patient Journey presents a realistic and comprehensive viewof how the patient “flows” through the healthcare system and includes the “why’s” that drive behavioras well as a view of how the future is likely to unfold.

Use a rich combination of social media listening platforms, epidemiological, diagnostic, script,longitudinal patient level, managed care, claims data, and targeted primary and projective research toanswer these questions. Then, analyze the Journey for what it reveals about the unmet needs, drivers, andbarriers to a patient’s progress through all the stages of their experience – today and tomorrow.

fiGure 9: trACk obJeCtives to ensure thAt the brAnd is winninG in the MArketplACe

6 month patientadherence for target

patient cohort

Identify and defineleverage point

Launch research tounderstand ‘why’ if

adherence benchmarksnot met at 6 months

design and implementperformance

mitigation plan

Monthly custompersistence curves

(email blasts onupdate)

develop dashboardfor performancecommunication

Tracking persistence/compliance in

patient-level data

developmethodology for

performance tracking

design andimplement tactics toinfluence behavior

Patient adherenceprograms

OBSERVATIONS ARE FED BACK

INTO THEBRAND PLAN

Example

Process

1

2

34

5

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A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGNING WINNING BRAND STRATEGIES 18

iMs ConsultinG Group

2. Align on “where to add value”Identify points in the Patient Journey that can be leveraged to ensure that the brand will win in themarketplace of tomorrow. develop realistic, but challenging objectives for the brand by beinginnovative and holistic at the same time. These goals might be, for instance, to increase awarenessrates, decrease time to presentation, improve referrals, increase prescribing, increase/decreaseswitching, enhance fulfillment, and improve compliance or persistence. Thereafter, it is important toprioritize the objectives based on their impact on the brand and the effort needed to achieve the goal.

Then, devise supporting strategies and tactics for achieving the prioritized objectives. At this stage, it is,of course, critical to ensure that those creating the tactics have the necessary expertise in pricing andmarket access, HEOR, marketing, sales, and medical affairs to develop realistic tactics. Knowledge ofwhat has worked in other launches with analog products is very useful.

3. Make sure the “brand is winning”After developing the detailed tactics, it is important to align the methodology and definitions forperformance tracking against the objectives. develop dashboards that will allow the organization tomonitor its progress at a glance and then proceed to do so with secondary and primary data inputs.Finally, feed the observations that come out of performance tracking back into the brand strategy andtactics so that potential issues can be resolved quickly and effectively.

fiGure 10: usinG best prACtiCe to Answer key questions

D

‘What’, ‘why’, ‘how often’and ‘how it evolves’

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amew

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Understand the currentand future journeycomprehensively

Rigorous and realistic viewof the Patient Journey• Comprehensive understanding of events, decisions, stakeholders and, their needs• View of the future evolution

Prioritized objectives alongthe Patient Journey• Drivers and barriers• Supporting strategies and tactics• Implementation plan

Ensuring execution on strategy• Metric de�nitions• Benchmarks and dashboards• Process to handle issues

Identify objectives,supporting strategy and, tactics

Track performanceagainst objectives

Where and how toadd value?

Are we winning?

PHASE 3PHASE 2PHASE 1

E

Secondary data case study

Approach Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Sample includes

millions of patients

Granular breakdown of Tx flow

Actual opportunity for

new drug

Perceived opportunity for

new drug

Large sample size and granularity provided rigor and realism dancoeS

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Track objectives to ensure that the brand is winning in the marketplace

Observations are fed back into the

brand plan

Develop methodology for

performance tracking

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communication

Design and implement

performance mitigation plan

Launch research to understand ‘why’

if adherence benchmarks not

met at t+X

Monthly custom persistence curves (email blasts on

update)

Identify and define leverage point

6 month patient adherence for target patient

cohort

Example

Patient adherence programs

Tracking persistence/

compliance in patient-level data

Design and implement tactics

to influence

Process

1

2

4 3

5

Approach Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

IMS’ Patient Journey

Approach Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Hypertension Patient Persistence can be assessed and different types of therapy can be compared, in this example anti-hypertensives

Average remaining PersistentAverage remaining Persistent

In the UK ARBs and Diuretics associated with best persistence on therapy

Period assessed:1st May 2001 – 30th April 2004 N= 144,240 Drop-off defined as discontinuation of therapy for at least 60 days One patient may be represented more than once in the analysis (if prescribed multiple therapies)

Source: IMS® Disease Analyzer UK

IMS’ Patient Journey

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Identify opportunity to add value

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Current Behavior

•!75% of adults fail to adhere to, or comply with physician prescribed treatment regimens •!Patients drop off therapy overtime

Desired Behavior

Patients remain on therapy to managed their diabetes

Drivers

Patients are motivated to beat diabetes

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Patients cannot see short term results and do not receive positive feedback

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Show patients results by providing encouragement to them through tools, educational programs and support services that help them better understand how therapy keeps them healthy over time and reduces complications

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•!Co-programs with hospitals, payers and health systems stressing the importance of adherence

John Feb

•!Nurse hotlines John Feb

•!Patient & caregiver education materials, provided through physician offices

John Feb

•!Apps to track symptoms, vitals, medication intake, progress, exercise and nutrition intake

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•!SMS reminders to patient/ caregiver cell-phones John Feb

•!Encouraging patients to share experiences online and offline John Feb

•!Engagement of patient advocacy groups around topic John Feb

Detailed tactics Approach Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Therapy choice: patient andphysician are close, patient can feelsafe knowing she will be looked after

Progression: patient and physicianare further apart, patient feels aloneand feels that she has no future

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THE PATIENT JOURNEY RE-ENvISIONEd 19

white pAper | the pAtient Journey

ConclusionCombining the latest research methodologies and Real-World Evidence, and insights from physicians,payers and patients will produce the most comprehensive, rigorous, and actionable Patient Journeypossible. Such a well-designed and thoroughly researched Patient Journey will give companies the basicfoundation for formulating a successful brand strategy. Beyond identifying the objectives for success,companies must then use a systematic process for achieving success: outlining tactics, tracking progressagainst those goals, and closing the loop by making adjustments to the plan as indicated.

biographiesManeesh Gupta Senior Principal, Brand and Commercial StrategyManeesh Gupta leads the Patient Journey offering globally at IMS Consulting Group and has beenhelping clients build and use Patient Journeys effectively for over eight years. His papers on the topicand on launch excellence have been published in several industry journals.Maneesh has over 17 years of experience in consulting, strategy, marketing and productmanagement. He earned an MBA, with a concentration in Marketing, from the University of NorthCarolina, where he was invited to join Beta Gamma Sigma Honor society. Maneesh also holds a BSc inChemical Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected]

Heather von Allmen Senior Principal, IMS HealthHeather works closely with clients to help build rigorous and granular Patient Journeys through Real-World Evidence. With over 30 years experience working with anonymized patient level data, shespecializes in designing unique solutions for analyzing and tracking complex patient flows. Herresearch experience spans multiple therapeutic categories and markets, includingautoimmune/biologics; vaccines; HIv; HCv; and diabetes. Heather is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of theCollege of Wooster, where she earned a B.A. with honors in Sociology. She can be reached at [email protected]

Simone Seiter vice President, IMS Consulting GroupSimone leads the Launch Excellence platform globally and supports clients in optimizing thecommercialization of brands. She has over 14 years of experience in consulting, strategy, marketingand product management. Simone is a board certified dermatologist and has spend several yearsworking as a clinician before starting work as a consultant. Therefore, she brings in a critical mix ofclinical and commercial skills to Patient Journey engagements. Besides a Md in dermatology, Simonehas a business degree with a concentration in Healthcare Management. She can be reached at [email protected]

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About iMs Consulting Group

iMsCG is the leading global consultingfirm focused exclusively on life sciences. Our clients range from large pharmaceutical andbiotech companies to entrepreneurial companiespreparing for their first launch.  We collaborate withour clients to make critical business decisions, buildcommercial excellence, and grow their businessesin an increasingly challenging environment. 

We believe we can help pioneer new approaches tohealthcare by understanding and challengingcurrent pathways. Our senior team is intimatelyinvolved in every project, which means that clientspartner with the people who create and proposethe work we do at every stage of the process.Seniors do not merely steward, they do.

Our depth of expertise across commercial functionsand therapeutic areas, our presence in local marketsacross five continents, and privileged access to IMSdata enables us to support distinctive analysis,provide global insights, and implementrecommendations that are unparalleled among ourcompetition. 

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