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HCB Health Continues Growth, Opens Third Office

November 19, 2019 0

HCB Health opened their third office recently, in Parsippany, NJ. This will allow the independent, full-service healthcare agency to focus on serving large-scale pharma clients in the tri-state region. The office currently has 10 team members, and is expected to grow to 25 in the next year. According to the news release, they are “actively recruiting to fill positions in the NJ office in account services, creative, project management and digital.”

“We created this office to service existing local accounts and engage new clients in the tri-state region. Even in our virtual world, it's essential to be close to your clients,” stated HCB Health CEO Kerry Hilton in the announcement. HCB Health President Nancy Beesley added: “We're strategically located in the middle of the pharma belt – where talent, agencies and especially pharma and biotech companies converge.”

The NJ office joins their Austin and Chicago based locations. The agency utilizes technology to ensure “seamless collaboration and integration” across all of its team members as well as maintain it's quality and commitment to clients, regardless of location. The New Jersey team members are (listed according to hire date, earliest to most recent):

  • Lee Randolph, SVP Group Account Supervisor
  • Nick D’ Amore, Medical Editor
  • Mark Davis, SVP Multichannel Delivery
  • John Augenstein, Group Account Supervisor
  • Dale Fordsman, Senior Project Manager
  • Allison Musante, Senior Copywriter
  • Matthew Musick, Account Supervisor
  • Lysa Opfer, Art Supervisor
  • Alexandra Langdon, Assistant Account Executive
  • Thomas Cianci, Project Manager

A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Nov. 4th for the newest office. From left to right: (front row) President Nancy Beesley, Francesco Lucarelli, Matthew Musick, Kelsi Brown, Lee Randolph, Alexandra Langdon, John Augenstein; (back row), Travis Waggoner, Lysa Opfer, Allison Musante, Brooks Bagwell, Dale Fordsman and Mark Davis.

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DTC in FocusDTC NewsGuest Columnist

Taking Engagement Technology to the Point of Patient

October 31, 2019 0

 

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One of my favorite things about PatientPoint is that we’re always finding innovative ways to improve patient engagement. Leading the charge on the technology side is David Guthrie, Chief Product Officer at PatientPoint and one of the most interesting and best hires we’ve ever had.

David is dedicated to developing meaningful, technology-enabled solutions designed to make life better. He’s most well-known for co-founding Medcast, the platform that became WebMD—which, like point of care, helps bring doctors and patients together. David later served as an adviser on early-stage life science and technology investments, then followed that with a 14-year stint as Chief Technology Officer for PGi, the world’s largest dedicated provider of collaboration software and services.

David’s amazing career and his work at PatientPoint recently earned him recognition as a 2019 DTC Innovator by DTC Perspectives. On the heels of that prestigious award, I wanted to share his thoughts on the value of patient engagement technology—and what we should keep our eyes on in the near future.

Q: What value does engagement technology bring to the patient experience?

A: To me, it’s education, education, education. Health education helps patients better understand their condition and treatment options, making them more prepared for the overall care management related to their condition. A more educated patient has a healthier outcome and better experience when dealing with healthcare providers.

Q: What opportunities does patient engagement technology provide pharma brands over other advertising channels?

A: The big difference patient engagement solutions offer is interactivity at the point of care. It gives brands a presence in the moment when physicians and patients are making treatment decisions together. You can get some interactivity on the web, but you’re not necessarily present in the doctor’s office, right when those decisions happen.

With a comprehensive engagement platform, brands can take an umbrella approach that puts them in the waiting room, the exam room, the back office, and even beyond the office. We’ve added technologies that allow healthcare providers to send information to patients before they arrive for the visit or after the visit, based on what the provider sees in the EMR. It’s a holistic approach to patient education that’s unique to patient engagement technology versus traditional advertising channels.

Q: What should pharma brands look for in a patient engagement technology partner?

A: Technology is changing rapidly, so pharma brands need to think about how an engagement technology partner is responding to those changes. How interactive are their solutions? Are they utilizing mobile technologies and geolocation? What are they doing as far as integrating with EMRs, with voice technologies, with multiple platforms? You want a patient engagement technology partner that’s innovating in all of those areas. If they’re extending their current offerings into these spaces, that’s a partner you can really grow with.

Q: You have a unique insider view of the medical technology industry. What’s on the horizon for patient engagement technology that you’re eager to explore?

A: I’m interested in solutions that foster more effective communications before and after the doctor visit—education and tools that are tailored specifically to the patient. Today’s engagement technology is at the point of care; I want to get us to the point of patient.

For example, I may be at an oncologist for lymphoma and seeing point-of-care education about all types of cancer, but lymphoma education is all that’s relevant to me. If we take the engagement tools available inside the physician office, extend them out and make them more precise, we can deliver only the information that’s most relevant and valuable to an individual patient.

Q: Last question: What’s the best vacation you’ve ever had?

A: Beaver Creek, Colorado with my family for the summer. Hiking, four-wheeling, horseback riding, rafting, paragliding, zip lining—it’s an outdoor summer paradise. People think of Colorado for skiing or snow sports, but we started going out there in the summer and it became one of our top places. It’s great in winter and spring, but summer in Colorado is just amazing.

Linda Ruschau

DTC in FocusDTC News

PoC3 Releases Official Verification and Validation Guidance

October 31, 2019 0

The official Verification and Validation Guidance was released in mid-October for the Point of Care Communication Council (Poc3). The Guidance will “serve as a unified set of industry standards that will define best practices, engender trust among those who transact at the point of care, and provide a clear and standardized mechanism enabling media buyers to determine which POC media vendors are certified and adhering to the auditing requirements set by PoC3,” as per the news release.

“The PoC3 Verification and Validation Guidance is pivotal to the POC industry at large,” said PoC3 Co-Chair Larry Newman (also Chief Operating Officer of Health Media Network) in the release. “As the channel continues to grow and advance at an accelerated rate, having a unified set of checks and balances will help buyers understand POC opportunities and have confidence in program implementations and results.”

Input and insights were collected from PoC3 member companies, pharmaceutical companies, advertising agencies, and other stakeholders, as well as “public feedback collected over the summer during an open comment period” to help shape the Guidance. In addition, PoC3 will certify those in compliance with a PoC3 Certification Seal. According to the Guidance, Completed on an annual basis, the Seal “represents compliance with all areas within this document labeled as ‘requirements' and marked with an asterisk in the Table of Contents … [and] a company's Network Audit success at the 92.5% audit success criteria as part of the Overall Auditing Requirements within this guidance, as well as an aggregate of Campaign Audit success at the same 92.5% audit success criteria.”

“Ensuring that all industry stakeholders had the opportunity to contribute and provide input was critically important in developing this guidance. Our hope is that all POC media companies will strive to become PoC3 Certified. It's a high bar requiring substantial investment in external independent auditing, improved operational processes and IT reporting systems. This collective effort continues to elevate the industry, and we've been seeing ongoing momentum and energy as a result,” added PoC3 Co-Chair Mike Collette (Founder and CEO of PatientPoint).

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DTC in FocusDTC News

Healthline Media, Nitika Chopra Host Chronicon

October 31, 2019 0

More than 200 influencers attended Chronicon, a first of its kind day-long event co-produced by Healthline Media and Nitika Chopra, a healthcare advocate living with psoriasis. Held this past Tuesday in Union Park East in NYC, Chronicon served as an “open forum to address the needs of those living with chronic conditions and their support communities,” stated the news release. Healthline readers, Healthline's and Chopra's community members, as well as the general public were invited to hear sessions throughout the day – which ranged from personal stories to advice and recommendations on self-care, advocating for yourself, and coping with the emotions of a chronic condition. The agenda included a number of informative and engaging panels, a keynote interview with TV host/style icon Stacy London (conducted by Chopra), musical performances, and fun networking events.

Through her own struggles with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis since she was 10 years old, Chopra was inspired to create Chronicon to help sufferers seeking support and community. “People with chronic conditions – regardless of their condition, ethnic background, or gender – often feel isolated and without any community,” Chopra said. “Through Chronicon, we're showing them that they are not alone. We're changing lives by spreading the power of self-care, creating communities, and engendering support for people with chronic conditions.”

“The most important aspect of Chronicon has been to hear from those on the front lines of the vibrant communities of those living with chronic health conditions,” said Healthline Media Senior Vice President of Marketing Tracy Rosecrans. “The next phase is to bring these deeper understandings and learnings to healthcare marketers and pharmaceutical executives to help improve support resources, treatment and health outcomes.”

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DTC in FocusDTC News

Outcome Health, Unity Consortium, & Patient Advocates Team Up on Vaccine Education

October 31, 2019 0

Ethan Lindenberger made headlines this past year when, at the age of 18, he went against his parents' wishes and chose to get vaccinations. According to the news release, “Ethan grew up being told that vaccines cause autism, brain damage, and do not benefit the health and safety of society despite the fact such opinions have been debunked numerous times by the scientific community.” Through his own research, he learned about the benefits of vaccines and was able to debunk myths and misinformation. The now 19-year old has become an activist know for his “opposition to vaccine misinformation efforts” and has thus joined Unity Consortium to be featured as a member of their Voice of AYA (Adolescents and Young Adults) campaign.

Unity's Voices of AYA encourages young adults and teens to get and stay up-to-date with recommended vaccinations and helps them identify misinformation online. Outcome Health has partnered up with the non-profit organization to produce video spots featuring Ethan and Dr. Laura Offutt, an expert source and teen health advocate. Outcome Health has worked with Unity since 2018, but this is their first collaboration on a joint video campaign (video spots can be seen here and here). As part of the initiative, the videos will run on Outcome Health's doctor office screens nationwide and Unity's advocacy network, be shared through social media, and Ethan will post a number of blogs over the coming months.

According to the news announcement: “With new outbreaks in diseases, such as the measles epidemics that have hit multiple states in the US, it’s important to spread the word about the importance of vaccinations. A Unity survey conducted by Harris poll found that 4 in 10 parents and nearly 6 in 10 teens believe teens should only see a doctor for an illness, which likely reduces opportunities for physicians to discuss preventive health measures, such as vaccination. Similarly, the survey showed that 1 in 4 parents and teens believe that vaccines are for babies and not as important for teens.”

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DTC in FocusDTC News

Healthgrades Launches PatientConnect Video

October 31, 2019 0

PatientConnect Video was launched by Healthgrades earlier this month to provide not only education video programming about specific health conditions, but to then connect patients with qualified, local specialists. According to the news release, “PatientConnect Video eliminates the uncertainty for patients who don't know where to access care.”

Coupling proprietary AI technology with their innovative solution suite, this online video solution provides content along with relevant healthcare provider information. “For example, patients watching video content about rheumatoid arthritis are dynamically provided with listings of rheumatologists closest to their location along with the physicians’ accepted insurance, patient reviews, contact information and more.”

According to John Mangano, Senior Vice President, Business Intelligence for Healthgrades, this takes things a step further than the usual ‘ask your doctor for more information' instruction typically found in ads by actually “helping the patient find their doctor. After viewing an ad online, Healthgrades delivers individually localized contact information, along with patient reviews of the provider, so each patient can connect with the right practitioner.”

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DTC in FocusDTC NewsGuest ColumnistSponsored Content

Impacting the Opioid Epidemic at the Point of Care

September 25, 2019 0

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I know the pain of losing a loved one to opioid addiction. My family continues to grieve the loss of an incredible young man who, after an awful car accident, began a decade-long battle against addiction to his prescribed painkillers. Three years ago, he lost that battle.

Countless other families have experienced similar losses due to our nationwide opioid crisis. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), more than 130 people die from opioid overdoses every day. It’s a devastating epidemic that impacts people of any age and from all walks of life.

To help combat opioid addiction, PatientPoint® collaborated with Shatterproof – a nonprofit organization focused on ending the stigma of addiction and improving addiction treatment – to create a powerful opioid education program at the point of care. It launched nationwide in October 2017 across the digital PatientPoint engagement platform, reaching an estimated 15 million patients and caregivers each month in waiting rooms, exam rooms, and in the physician back office. The content is designed to increase the awareness of opioid addiction and encourage doctor-patient discussions about other treatment options.

And the best news is, it is working and we are making a difference. An independent analysis by Symphony Health revealed that each of the 20,793 physicians who had the education program in their practices distributed 142 fewer opioid prescriptions over the eight-month study period than closely matched, non-participating physicians. That adds up to nearly 3 million fewer pills prescribed. If that doesn’t prove the effectiveness of messaging to physicians and patients at the point of care, I don’t know what will.

I often talk about the power of messaging at the point of care, but the results of PatientPoint-Shatterproof campaign really drive it home. I encourage you to read the case study for more details about this fantastic campaign and its impact on the fight against opioid addiction. You can find here.

Linda Ruschau

DTC in FocusDTC NewsSponsored Content

Are DTC Marketers Committed to Patient Interaction?

September 25, 2019 0

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In pharmaceutical marketing circles, we hear sporadic boasts of a successful social campaign, award-winning content marketing, or insights drawn from a patient community platform. The ambitious brand manager takes these case studies back to the conference room, ready to formulate a new playbook, only to be overwhelmed by the complexities of operating in our highly regulated industry.

Progressive brand strategies shouldn’t be devised to win awards or dominate the marketing trades, but if done well, they certainly deserve accolades. More importantly, meeting your patients wherever they are while offering them interactive content, and adapting your message to service their needs, paves the road to better patient outcomes and higher return-on-investment.

Merck’s VERSED campaign is a great example of activating the system described above, to raise awareness around HPV vaccination. VERSED combines content marketing (versedhpv.com), with short form social posts, interactive questions, and community guidelines for adverse event reporting.

While the campaign clearly put patients first, Merck and Klick Health also won the industry recognition they deserved.

Pharmaceutical campaigns that try to combine cutting-edge marketing technologies are often derailed by the breadth of stakeholders involved in the process. To limit disruption in creativity and execution, marketers should seek out cross-discipline solution providers, who can fast track the process. In its broader framework, The Tylt has been recognized as a pioneer in this space and the applications for healthcare are inspiring.

The Tylt is the fastest growing social polling and opinion platform on the web helping marketers create conversation, understand sentiment, and activate on vote-based data. Using patented technology, The Tylt collects opinions and relative influence data from our site and social channels in real-time. In partnership with brands, The Tylt can help achieve awareness and engagement goals by creating new content or reformatting current content for maximum interaction. Informed by voting behavior, marketers can extend the impact of a Tylt campaign by messaging audiences based on the vote they made.

For healthcare campaigns, the process begins with locating the right patient and encouraging them to share their opinion on a personally meaningful health topic. Patient advocacy becomes democratized when declared sentiments, informed by supporting evidence, are shared socially. By bringing structure to health conversations as they trend across social, patient insights can be identified and addressed in the next wave of interactive content, positioning the brand as a partner in the journey to better health.

For example, a multiple sclerosis brand may want to initiate patient interactions with a simple question: “To combat cognitive fatigue, what game do you prefer to play to keep your mind active?”

Answering that question in hashtag form (#SudokuForMS or #CrosswordForMS) creates a unique campaign identifier that allows for insights collection, as votes are shared across social media. The original question reaches an MS population with standard targeting models, whether they receive the poll on social media, as a display ad, or as a polling widget on brand.com or our partnered sites. While the brand itself may display sponsorship logos or embed assets throughout the campaign, the campaign value multiplies over time, by engaging patients after they’ve provided self-reported data.

The pharmaceutical marketing industry’s reliance on traditional media has reached the point of stagnation. With TV, print, or digital display, the highest spender wins share-of-voice, and if the product is effective, it gains market share. The only way to disrupt this model is to stay focused on innovations that add value through personalization, platform agnosticism, and a relentless focus on patient interaction.

To learn more about activating The Tylt in your next pharmaceutical marketing campaign, contact Jason Lotkowictz (JasonL@Advance360.com).

Jason Lotkowictz

DTC in FocusDTC News

Vraylar Launches New Campaign to Portray, Destigmatize Bipolar I

September 25, 2019 1

In its ongoing commitment to raising awareness of mental health conditions and treatments and to help the millions of suffering adults, Allergan launched a new campaign for VRAYLAR earlier this month. To represent the ups and downs of mood swings associated with bipolar I disorder, the campaign showcases a woman viewing various episodes of her life as she rides up and down in a shaky elevator.

In “The Ups and Downs Campaign,” upon entering the elevator and pressing the button to her floor, all of the button lights begin to flicker rapidly. The elevator plummets down, with the doors then opening to show her crying on the edge of her bed, before surging back up high, where the doors open on a scene of her arguing with a man. The elevator screen then shows the arrows pointing in both directions, as the doors open to reveal her clothes shopping in a panicked state. After taking VRAYLAR, the elevator ride steadies before stopping in her current life moment where she cleans up the mess in her bedroom, and then takes a smooth elevator ride to meet her date in the lobby.

The creative was shaped by “insights and anecdotes shared by” bipolar I disorder patients, according to the public relations team. “Using physical metaphors taken from how patients describe the condition,” this illustration helps describe the mood episodes as well as the transitions between, covering the full spectrum of bipolar I symptoms: depression, mixed episodes, and mania. The next stage of this campaign will introduce another visual, “inspired by real analogies real patients made about how the ups and downs of bipolar can feel. The intention is to help more people who may be living with the condition recognize the symptoms, and talk to their doctors to see appropriate treatment.”

The campaign includes in-network and cable spots, running in all time periods of the day but with a particular attention to specific shows. Print and newly designed website companion elements launched mid-month. BBDO created the ad; BCW supports the PR and strategic communications efforts for the brand.

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DTC in FocusDTC NewsUncategorized

Three Companies Join as Members of PoC3

September 25, 2019 0

Three new member companies have joined the Point of Care Communication Council (PoC3), as announced this month: CoverWrap Communications, Rx EDGE Media Network, and Targeted Media Health (a division of Meredith Corporation). In addition to “[helping] influence and amplify the future of POC marketing. In the near term, they plan to immerse into the PoC3 Verification & Validation Guidance effort and the establishment of measurement best practices.”

David M. Kenyon, CEO at CoverWrap Communications, Nate Lucht, President & CEO of Rx EDGE and Leverage Point Media, John Kenyon, VP and Managing Director with Targeted Media Health, were all in agreement as they shared their enthusiasm in joining PoC3 and helping to advocating for and strengthening the point of care space, as per the news release.

Karen Newmark, Executive Director with PoC3, shared how this continued expansion helps the association lead the progress: “PoC3 has grown tremendously over the past year, and we anticipate the growth increasing in 2020. We expect to see different types of companies, all with common interest in the PoC3 mission, wanting to build on the unprecedented momentum in the POC channel.”

Click here to read the complete news release and full team member statements: https://www.poc3.org/post/point-of-care-communication-council-welcomes-three-new-members.

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