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CVS, UPS Team Up for Rx Drone Deliveries

April 29, 2020 0

UPS and CVS Health Corporation announced this week that they will deploy the use of drones to deliver prescription medicines to The Villages in Florida, the largest retirement community in the US. In the news release, Scott Price, UPS chief strategy and transformation officer stated: “Our new drone delivery service will help CVS provide safe and efficient deliveries of medicines to this large retirement community, enabling residents to receive medications without leaving their homes. UPS is committed to playing its part in fighting the spread of Coronavirus, and this is another way we can support our healthcare customers and individuals with innovative solutions.”

This service will begin in early May, abiding by Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 rules. This has the potential for expansion “to include deliveries from two additional CVS pharmacies in the area,” noted Monday’s announcement. “The first flights will be less than one half mile and be delivered to a location near the retirement community. Initially, a ground vehicle will complete the delivery to the resident’s door.”

UPS’ subsidiary, UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF) will use Matternet’s M2 drone system. UPS and CVS first announced such a partnership last year, completing their first successful prescription delivery in November 2019 in Cary, NC. Previously, UPS teamed up with Matternet to launch a revenue-generating drone delivery service at WakeMed’s flagship hospital and campus in Raleigh, NC; it was later followed by service at University of California San Diego Health system.

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PatientPoint, Everyday Health Partner to Revolutionize POC Content

April 29, 2020 0

PatientPoint and the Everyday Health Group have created an exclusive partnership to provide consumer and professional content in POC spaces across the country. The partnership “aims to create a more interactive, engaging and immersive point-of-care content experience – replacing fear and anxiety with community, curiosity and confidence,” stated the news announcement.

The release continued, explaining that “EverydayHealth.com consumer health and wellness content to be featured on PatientPoint digital waiting room screens and interactive exam room screens will include engaging, fun and ‘snackable’ healthcare news, interactive quizzes/polls/assessments, infographics and tips. Breaking medical news from MedPage Today will be featured on digital PatientPoint screens in the physician back office.”

Mike Collette, Founder and CEO of PatientPoint, along with Dan Stone, President of the Everyday Health Group, proudly expressed their commitment to serve patient populations and healthcare professionals by leveraging technology and engaging, informative content. Both companies continue being among those leading our industry, as providers of health information and news, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Uncategorized

CheckedUp Launches Virtual Visits to Aid POC During Pandemic

April 29, 2020 0

CheckedUp announced yesterday the launch of their new advanced telemedicine platform for specialty care. CheckedUp Virtual Visits was created by physicians to ensure that its development meets the needs and engages patients and physicians at the point of care, especially as this space and our world become increasingly digital-centric.

“From early on, our leadership team viewed the COVID-19 crisis as an unprecedented challenge requiring an innovative response,” said Mark Goethals, Vice President of Marketing, CheckedUp [via the news release]. “Our efforts are focused on a new, post-COVID healthcare delivery landscape, delivering the service and functionality of a virtual examination room to patients and enabling providers to deliver superior virtual patient care. CheckedUp Virtual Visits allows physicians to meet their patients when and where they are, while providing innovative tools for providers and patients during their digital consultation. We are also happy to extend that accessibility to our partners in the life sciences, so that they can be a part of tomorrow’s healthcare conversations.”

Dan Schwartz, the company’s Senior Vice President, Sponsorship Sales added, “Current telemedicine systems, while serving an important role today, offer very little by way of additional in-office technologies, making exceptional care possible. We expect to change that.” Evolving beyond the traditional telehealth system, the new released noted that their HIPAA-compliant innovation “simplifies scheduling and operations, allows patients to see the dedicated specialist they know and trust, and brings the same easy to use technologies physicians use in the physical exam room, into the virtual realm.” Notes and information from each consult made by the physicians will be tracked to help further streamline the administrative side of such virtual treatment.

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Matt McNally Joins The Ad Council Board of Directors, Helps Launch Campaign Thanking Essential Workers

April 29, 2020 0

It was announced yesterday that Matt McNally, CEO of Outcome Health, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Ad Council. McNally joins “a prestigious group of senior marketing and media executives who provide expertise, insights and financial support to ensure the Ad Council’s social good communication campaigns are effective and impactful,” stated the non-profit organization’s news release.

“For Outcome Health this relationship with the Ad Council as an opportunity for new partnerships in areas like content creation, access to new expert content and distribution through our Point of Care network and other new channels,” explains Matt McNally, CEO, Outcome Health. “I have always admired what the Ad Council has done during times of health crisis, from Polio to HIV/AIDS and most recently COVID-19. Our company is looking forward to collaborating with the Ad Council board and its members to advance social change, particularly during this time of unprecedented public health crisis and economic uncertainty.”

According to an industry press announcement, “Outcome Health is the only healthcare platform working with the Ad Council to launch and distribute ‘Out There for Us,’ a campaign that thanks all essential workers for their dedication, resilience and courage amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. By distributing the campaign at Point of Care, Outcome Health is giving doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, allied healthcare workers, pharmacy and support staff on the frontlines a better chance to see these special acknowledgements.” The Ad Council announced the “Out There for Us” campaign this past Monday (April 27th). As an extension of their current and on-going COVID-19 efforts, this campaign will feature “Good Job”, a new song from fifteen-time Grammy winner and musician Alicia Keys. In addition to the POC distribution via Outcome Health, the campaign will also utilize social media, video assets, and digital OOH ads. These will be “strategically placed on route to hospitals, highway road signs and outside grocery stores in cities facing heavy surges of the virus. … a take over within New York City’s Times Square and one of the largest OOH billboards in America, located at the junction of I-10 and 100 in Los Angeles.” The media has been donated from the Ad Council’s partners and the creative agency, R/GA developed the work pro bono.

This is the latest work from Outcome Health. The point of care company has been partnering with “nonprofit organizations, health advocacy groups, industry content creators, and its own original content created with information from the CDC and federal and state Departments of Health” to provide accurate and timely information to patients and healthcare professionals. Some of their work has also focused on vulnerable or at-risk populations, including children or domestic abuse sufferers.

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POC3 Addresses Industry Concerns with COVID-19

April 29, 2020 0

Point of care has always been a critical stage for reaching consumers and patients in their healthcare journey – and now, that has amplified since the emergence of COVID-19. As Mark Boidman, Head of Media & Tech Services at PJ Solomon told Karen Newmark, Executive Director of the Point of Care Communication Council (PoC3) in a recent interview, “there is no better place than the POC setting because it’s an authoritative setting, it’s a trustworthy setting, and it’s a setting where consumers are going to look for information and trust it and listen to it.”

When addressing media buys and inventory at large, Boidman acknowledged that some advertisers have paused, postponed, or cancelled their inventory purchases. But he expressed “the hope is that this is a short-term pause and that things will come back quickly once we come around to the other side of this virus.” He also predicts, when patients resume more normal doctor visits, that point of care will see an increase in traffic as people “realize that health is everything.”

PoC3 issued a message earlier this month to its members and our community at large, recommending four key “important considerations” to DTC marketers: “1. Know that this public health crisis is temporary. … 2. Look at the specifics for your brand and business to guide you in decision making. … 3. ROI and efficiency matter. … 4. Consider appropriate strategic evolutions or shifts within your POC plan.” The association group reminds us that each situation is “unique and will change over time through the course of the pandemic.” Being nimble and accommodating will help best serve patients, healthcare providers, and our industry.

POC3 will also be releasing a COVID-19 study as it relates to the point of care space in the coming weeks. This survey of executives from top POC marketing companies will reveal how such businesses are adapting in a post-COVID-19 world as well as what they are doing to support the healthcare and pharma community during this crisis.

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Conference NewsDTC National

DTC National Postponed Until August 20-21, 2020

March 6, 2020 0

After careful consideration of the health, safety, and enjoyment of our attendees, we have decided to postpone this year’s DTC National Conference until August 20-21. Rather than hold an event that, despite our best efforts, would not be up to par from an attendance or engagement standpoint, we felt it best to postpone the event to a time when COVID-19 is less likely to make an impact on people’s travel plans and enjoyment of the event.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Last year’s DTC National had record attendance and our registrations to this point this year are vastly exceeding it, even with the bad news about the virus on the top of everyone’s mind. The conference will be full of outstanding content and networking opportunities at an even better time of year to be in Boston, as it remains the leading conference on pharmaceutical marketing for now 20 years.

Please update your calendar with the new DTC National dates. An updated agenda will be posted ASAP as we reschedule speakers.

If you have any questions about the status of our event please contact our COO Scott Ehrlich at scott@dtcperspectives.com. It’s important for us to bring to you the quality of events we have brought you for the last 19 years and we are quite confident that we will be able to do so in August.

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DTC in FocusDTC News

Skin Medicinals Unites Doctors in the Fight for Affordable Medications

February 28, 2020 0

As out of pocket healthcare costs grow, consumers and patients are sometimes faced with the challenge of being able to afford and take their medication as prescribed. Within the past two years, dermatologist Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, FAAD had a situation where he had prescribed an anti-fungal cream to a patient. In a follow-up, he discovered that a treatment that should have cost her less than $8 ended up costing $1,200.

“I have drugs that I used to prescribe to patients that were $4. And now they’re $800 to $2,000. The same drug. It’s getting unsustainable,” he told Business Insider. (In 2019, several lawsuits were filed against multiple generic pharmaceutical manufacturers for alleged price-fixing.) As the Business Insider article noted, “Though [doctors] write prescriptions, most don’t know what drugs will cost their patient. That is, unless they hear back about issues.” Connecting with other dermatologists who were experiencing similar situations with their patients, Dr. Bhanusali ultimately founded Skin Medicinals to help combat this issue.

The medical entrepreneur had previously launched a platform to compare prices between different local pharmacies as well as an EMR platform for Dermatologists and even helped launch Amazon’s first private skincare brand. Skin Medicinals, an online platform that utilizes compounding pharmacies to specially mix medications for patients, emerged as a result of that work. Dr. Bhanusali is also an instructor in the Mount Sinai Health System and works in private practice in NYC.

While not entirely welcomed by some in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Bhanusali told DTC Perspectives that “overall, people understand the mission and respect what we are trying to do.” He added, “We are coming directly from the end users who WANT to reduce prices, and this platform is showing it is possible.” Since having launched Skin Medicinals in August 2018, the network has nearly 3,000 healthcare providers and dermatologists registered, as well as 73,000 patients. (A doctor must be registered with the platform before their patient can create an online account and begin ordering their medication for home delivery.) “This has demonstrated a true unifying of the field and become a mission for patient care nationally,” he noted.

Awareness and growth about this enterprise has been “organic” thus far. Dr. Bhanusali informed DTC Perspectives, that while there may be the possibility to do more direct marketing in the future, so far “this has been a grassroots effort from physicians to educate patients (and ourselves) about the rising drug costs.”

“We handle everything from Rosacea to pigment conditions, warts to chemotherapeutics. We also regularly provide options for inflammatory conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and more. [We] want to start with dermatology and hopefully inspire physicians in other fields to create similar [help for patients],” concluded Dr. Bhanusali in our interview. “While physician-led innovation tends to be rare, this is one of the first times that such a large number has come together so fast, showing the absolute need for innovation in the space. As prices continue to rise, it will be interesting to see if Skin Medicinals becomes a viable alternative to traditional pharma, one in which the physicians take control to better the access for patients.”

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DTC in FocusDTC News

Ogilvy Health Launches Year-Long Campaign in the Fight Against Cancer

February 28, 2020 0

Earlier this month, Ogilvy Health kicked off their #EverydayMatters campaign, setting in motion a long-term commitment to “make an impact on cancer”. The endeavor began with a public relations and communications teammate suggesting the agency do something to support World Cancer Day as so many people across the globe are affected by cancer – whether it be patients themselves or maybe you know someone suffering from the disease.

Speaking with DTC Perspectives, Amy Graham and Sherry Novembre shared that this is currently a year-long project about which they are highly passionate, with each month highlighting a different type or types of cancer. Novembre, SVP, Management Supervisor at Ogilvy Health, shared that “the spirit of what we are doing is … small, regular gains that add up.” March’s effort sees the agency’s Young Professionals Network leading a colored band-aid drive for children to benefit the Rutgers Cancer Institute of NJ’s Pediatric Wing. An additional focus in March will highlight colorectal cancer: an educational poster created to generate awareness among Ogilvy Health employees is now being shared publicly to help bring awareness to the masses, allowing other companies to access and distribute the poster share with and educate their staff.

Graham, client engagement officer at Ogilvy Health, detailed that another way they are trying to educate is through psychosocial aspects: why a patient may choose to be treated or not, or the challenges of navigating information during what many find to be overwhelming or could be a crisis-time, for example. By better understanding how decisions are made for treatments and during a treatment cycle, they are able to reshape education and support to better help those affected through a difficult time.

The #EverydayMatters campaign will be constantly evolving to ensure they are providing much needed education or support appropriately. Future elements will include walks/runs and other distribution materials. Novembre also shared that the team is in talks to partner with advocacy groups, partially via Ogilvy Health’s oncology business, “on activities to help amplify their voices through our channels.” Thinking in the long-term, this has the potential to take things beyond one year or beyond just the US, said Graham. The team is also exploring ways they may partner with their global offices to further efforts. The ultimate goal is to push the conversation further and create a strong call to action in a “lifelong endeavor,” Graham remarked.

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Conference NewsDTC AwardsDTC National

DTC Perspectives Announces 2020 Top 25 Marketers of the Year

January 27, 2020 0

DTC Perspectives, the leading forum for direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising thought leaders names its 19th Annual list of the “Top 25 DTC Marketers of the Year.”

This year’s class will be honored during a ceremony dinner on the evening of October 20th sponsored by PatientPoint, at the 2020 DTC National taking place in virtually. It includes representatives from more than 15 different manufacturing companies, with each marketer championing both the interests of the patient and brand.

“PatientPoint and I congratulate the 2020 Top 25 DTC Marketers of the Year. These industry leaders have positioned their brand as true partners to patients throughout the care journey with innovative solutions that enrich the entire healthcare experience. We look forward to honoring their impressive achievements at the DTC National Conference and partnering with them on continued success,” says Linda Ruschau, Chief Client Officer of PatientPoint.

The Top 25 DTC Marketers of the Year for 2020 are…

  • Jay Appel, Executive Director, Worldwide Engagement and Channel Planning, Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Carrie Chaffee, Media Strategy Lead / DUPIXENT, Sanofi Genzyme
  • John Colucci, Assistant Director, Urology, Astellas Pharma US
  • Laurie DeMille, Marketing Director, Respiratory, GSK US Pharmaceuticals
  • Karen Femino, Consumer Lead, US Brands, Upjohn, A Pfizer Division
  • Renee Giangrasso, Senior Associate Director, IPF Marketing, Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Martha Harper, Director, Consumer Marketing, Eliquis, Pfizer
  • Jenn Harrington, Director, GLP-1 Patient Marketing, Novo Nordisk
  • Lyndi M. Hirsch, formerly Senior Director, Head of Consumer Marketing, Dermira (currently Chief Marketing Officer, AdhereTech)
  • W. Akil Hunte, formerly Senior Brand Manager, INGREZZA, Neurocrine Biosciences (currently Director, Patient Empowerment, Retrophin)
  • Michele Kemp, Senior Director, Patient Marketing, Harmony Biosciences
  • Ali Kresge, Director, US Oncology Consumer Marketing, Merck & Co.
  • Nicholas Lucente, Associate Director, Marketing, BRILINTA, AstraZeneca
  • Stephanie Maresh, Director, Migraine Consumer Marketing, Eli Lilly and Company
  • Kathleen McGinley, Otezla Consumer Marketing, Associate Director, Amgen
  • Nicole Merlo, Director, Patient Marketing, Insmed Incorporated
  • Bonnie Perkins, Lead, Patient Engagement and Marketing, US Commercial, Alexion Pharmaceuticals
  • Kusal Senanayake, Director – Lupus Nephritis Launch and Life Cycle Management, BENLYSTA, GSK Pharmaceuticals LLC
  • Sandy Sexton, Senior Director, Consumer Marketing, DUPIXENT ®, Regeneron
  • Denise Vosseller, formerly Associate Director, Consumer Marketing, Sage Therapeutics (currently Associate Director, Consumer Marketing, Biogen)
  • Josie Waters, Sr. Director Consumer Marketing, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
  • Kristie Whitehouse, Consumer Brand Lead, Neurodevelopment, Takeda
  • Molly H. Wilson, MBA, Senior Director, Sleep Marketing, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
  • Chrystie Yodice, Director, Customer Activation, Cosentyx Marketing, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
  • Peter Zenobi, Deputy Director, Consumer Marketing, Sanofi Pasteur

“These elite pharmaceutical marketing professionals are this year’s top contributors to the advancement of patient outcomes via direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical education and marketing,” adds DTC Perspectives Chairman and CEO Robert Ehrlich. “We would like to recognize the faces behind prominent DTC campaigns, because their hard work and dedication to fostering the industry is often not recognized. The awardees were selected from many worthy candidates.”

Click here to register for the DTC National Conference or contact the DTC Perspectives office at 770-302-6273.

Celebrate with the Industry’s Best

Congratulate the Top 25 DTC Marketers in-person and in our publications! DTC Perspectives offers reserved tables with seating for 10 at the Top 25/Hall of Fame and Advertising Awards ceremonies as well as congrats ads opportunities in our DTC Perspectives Magazine/DTC National Conference Guide, on our website, and in Email announcements. Click here to view awards packages and congratulate a Top Marketer/DTC Hall of Fame inductee today.

Print congrats ad deadline: Friday, March 20, 2020

Purchase Tables & Congrats Ads

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DTC in FocusDTC News

American Oncology Network Selects PatientPoint for its Growing Network of Practices

December 10, 2019 0

It was announced last week that the American Oncology Network, LLC (AON) has chosen PatientPoint to “educate, inform, and improve communication among oncology patients, care partners and providers” for its growing network of community oncology practices. AON, founded in 2018, is an “alliance of physicians and seasoned healthcare leaders partnering to ensure the long-term success of community oncology.” It is led by the leadership team responsible for the success of Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, the nation’s largest independent community oncology practice. The group is quickly growing as it currently represents 58 physicians and 20 nurse practitioners and physician assistants across ten states.

“PatientPoint allows us to customize information at so many different touchpoints to ensure patients, caregivers and providers alike are receiving the specific and appropriate information they need to know to feel truly informed,” said American Oncology Network Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Shelly Glenn. “We are confident that PatientPoint solutions will help AON practices foster that same personalized, engaged and informed experience that is the hallmark of community oncology.”

Patient programs include digital waiting room screens with custom, engaging content; interactive exam room touchscreens with videos and 3D learning tools for more than 20 cancer types; the ability to easily share the information via text and email. These tools will also allow AON to “highlight key practice initiatives, quality scores, and keep providers and staff up to date.”

“PatientPoint is proud to offer cutting-edge digital engagement solutions to AON to help their practices educate and inform patients in the waiting room, exam room and beyond the four walls of the office to help ensure better outcomes,” said PatientPoint Chief Provider Officer and President, Hospital Chris Martini. “We look forward to partnering with AON to make a positive impact on patients, care partners and providers at these key touchpoints and beyond for many years to come.”

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