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The coronavirus pandemic has altered every facet of our lives. Everyday tasks suddenly became challenging and anything not deemed “essential” came to an abrupt halt. New terms and safety procedures are now part of our daily lives and even the most mundane contact with friends or extended family is accompanied by health and safety measures. But as we approach the reopening of schools and begin to find “normalcy” in pandemic lives, there is another threat that looms for our healthcare system: the impending flu season. The influenza virus, while more studied and known than the novel coronavirus, presents itself with symptoms that are similar to (if not indistinguishable from) COVID-19. This similarity of symptoms will make effective prevention of illness and proper diagnosis of the flu or COVID-19 an even more critical task.

Our healthcare providers are our best line of defense against both of these viruses and offer an authoritative voice in the face of rampant misinformation. And yet, our health system is already under immense strain given the lack of ubiquitous national guidance, the lack of testing, the lack of hospital capacity, and the variety of ways in which COVID-19 is presenting itself in human systems. Luckily, studies show healthcare providers have remained the most trusted group for information throughout the pandemic, and we have every reason to believe this will continue as we approach the 2020-2021 flu season.

As the country prepares for flu season and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, accurate information will be our biggest weapon in the fight against both of these viruses. It will be our job as healthcare marketers to use Point of Care (POC) to relieve some of the stress on physicians and help patients understand what they need to know to stay healthy. 

Tracking the Flu Season 2020

Early prevention, detection, and response are key to preventing the spread of any disease, so POC platforms should leverage their nationwide reach to make patients and providers aware of the tracking site FluNearYou.org. This resource allows individuals to report symptoms in real-time to complement traditional tracking while providing useful information directly to the public. National tracking from multiple sources can help healthcare providers determine the probability of infection by the flu virus and potentially better manage their patient populations.

Patient Education at the Point of Care

Symptoms for the seasonal flu and COVID-19 may be similar, so patient education at the POC is likely the most important thing we can do to help keep our healthcare systems from being overwhelmed. Educating patients and their caregivers about the importance of getting the flu shot, how to spot the differences between the two viruses, and actions to take if someone is experiencing symptoms, are important messages for patients. POC also serves as a great space to remind patients about hygiene protocols that work to stave off both viruses – like washing hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, refraining from touching eyes or face, wearing masks, social distancing, etc. Lastly, combatting disinformation about masks, remedies, medications, and vaccines will be necessary given the amount of misinformation circulating online. Patient messaging about myths and truths overall will be helpful reminders for those trying to distinguish fact from fiction.

Flu Shot Awareness

The POC channel should inform and support flu shot awareness. As we know, the flu vaccination can provide greatly needed protection from the worst effects of the flu virus, help shield others, and aid in recovery. As a trusted source of information, POC should ensure this message is communicated to patients, as well as information about treatments, when to seek support from your healthcare provider, and how/where to get the vaccine.

For the last several years, Outcome Health has partnered with Unity Consortium to bring their important messages about vaccination and immunization to physician practices and health systems across the country. Judy Klein, President of Unity Consortium, stresses that all adolescents and young adults should get their flu shots to protect themselves, their families and their communities: “It's more convenient than ever to get vaccinated – at your local pharmacy, clinic or physician office. Pharmacists are now able to administer vaccines to individuals ages three through 18 years old, and physicians are ensuring their offices are a safe and easily accessible place to visit and get vaccinated. This year especially, when our healthcare system is already under such burden and stress due to COVID-19, people must prioritize getting their flu shot.”

Relieving Physician Stress and Burnout 

In today’s COVID-world, every physician practice and health system is under added stress. In fact, in a recent JAMA study, over 50% of healthcare providers reported symptoms of depression and over 70% reported symptoms of distress. We believe the POC should be a place that can support healthcare providers that are serving their patients, so we must use this channel to help relieve physician stress. We can use POC platforms to help manage various diseases and conditions, providing educational and actionable messaging patients may not otherwise get. This will both give patients trusted information and relieve some of the burden on healthcare providers to do this so they can manage treating flu against the backdrop of the pandemic. This support will be especially important in resource-limited settings where there may be a weaker healthcare infrastructure or the one community doctor is the entire healthcare system in that area.

Additionally, now that more healthcare providers are leveraging telehealth solutions, we have the ability to plug into virtual meeting spaces to make these appointment experiences even more valuable. Whether it’s during the wait for an appointment to begin or part of the meeting experience, we can use this digital space to provide information and resources that help patients navigate this year’s flu season. 

As the country battles the ongoing pandemic and prepares for the seasonal flu virus, our role as healthcare marketers has never been more important. We have the opportunity to help ensure our healthcare providers can handle the load from their communities by reaching patients and caregivers with critical information when it is needed most.  

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While social distancing is essential, “medical distancing”—staying away from the doctor’s office for fear of contracting COVID-19—is dangerous. Just as phrma.org’s latest campaign strives to remind people that seeking care is not only safe but necessary, we see it as our duty at PatientPoint to provide patients, physician practices, and brands the support they need to ensure effective engagements are still occurring at the point of care.

Our business is driven by a deep understanding of patient and physician behaviors and desires at critical touchpoints in the care journey. We know your business relies on these insights as well. That’s why we are continually talking to our network of physicians, analysts, and industry insiders to secure proprietary data that we can use to provide you with the most up-to-date insights into the pulse of marketplace.

Here are three new insights, according to patient-level claims data and the latest results of ongoing, independent COVID-19 patient surveys.

1. Patient visits are steadily increasing and now exceeding 2019.

While the impact on patient traffic was significant during the onset of COVID-19 in late March and April, since that time primary care office visits have steadily increased and returned to near normal ranges in June and July.

2. The second COVID surge is not impacting patient traffic in physician offices.

An additional look at trends across the country, using the same patient-level claims data, uncovers that primary care practices in most states have returned to their pre-COVID patient volumes (despite the second surge).

3. Telehealth visits are leveling off.

As more patients return to the doctor’s office, we see the percentage of telehealth visits now comprising approximately 10-11% of all primary care visits (compared to about 25% at the peak of COVID in mid-April). According to our recent consumer surveys, 72% of patients say they prefer in-person appointments.

Through our ongoing data collection, we hope to separate fact from fiction about patient care and COVID-19, and provide an ongoing benchmark of real insights straight from doctors and patients during this unprecedented time. We will continue to apply what we’ve learned to ensure we make every doctor-patient engagement better at all points of care.

Keep up to date on all of our latest research and insights by visiting our COVID-19 News of the Day blog.

A record low price increase on branded drugs and changes in health insurance benefit design are just a few of the reasons that patients in the US are experiencing improved affordability for their medications, according to a new report from The IQVIA™ Institute for Human Data Science. Their research found that 71% of branded prescriptions have a final out-of-pocket cost of below $20, while just 3.6% of branded prescriptions have a cost above $125. The report, Medicine Spending and Affordability in the U.S.: Understanding Patient Costs for Medicines, discovered that “[a] rising number of prescriptions are now dispensed with a $0 payment by the patient, and now amount to 44% of all branded prescriptions in 2019, up from 36% in 2015.”

Additionally, the data found that branded prescriptions costing more than $125 largely affects those with commercial plans (44% of high-cost claims) or Medicare coverage (35% of high-cost claims). IQVIA did also find that “abandonment is higher at higher prescription cost levels, and those prescriptions may be underrepresented as those prescriptions might have been abandoned due to cost.” Of the 9% of branded and generic prescriptions that are abandoned: 5% are for medications of no cost, but 60% are when the medicine costs more than $500.

“Lower drug price growth and improvements in affordability to patients is a testament to the positive market dynamics of the American pricing system and the fact that manufacturers, health insurers and the intermediaries, such as wholesalers and benefits managers, have taken actions to reduce the burden of drug costs to patients,” said Murray Aitken, IQVIA senior vice president and executive director of the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, in the news release. The report examined the complexities of our current pricing system, hoping to “contribute to more transparency and understanding of the different levels of cost,” Aitken added.

“Visits to physician offices and other health care practices, which had fallen 60 percent by early April, have now rebounded and plateaued at 10 percent below prepandemic levels,” found the latest wave of research from the Harvard University, Phreesia, and the Commonwealth Fund. In-office visits are still showing a decline, even among those states which saw a surge in cases during the June and July months. However, these declines are still smaller than that of the early days of the pandemic.

Several hot spots states – including early-opening ones such as Arizona, Florida, and Texas – recorded an increase in telemedicine visits, but only a slight decrease in overall visits. “Practices in these states appear to have maintained most of their visit volume by increasing telemedicine visits and creating new safety protocols for in-person visits.”

Telemedicine use peaked in mid-April. While it has shown a decline and its current adoption has plateaued, it is still being used at a “substantially higher rate than prior to the pandemic” the report notes.

The research continued to find a large difference in visit patterns between adults and children, with adults still outpacing children. Those aged 18-64 years old showed a -4% change in visits (the smallest percent change for the week starting 7/26/2020), while children ages 3-5 represented the largest percent change at -36%. Children ages 0-2 were tracked at -32%; ages 6-17 recorded a -17%; and those aged 65-74 and 75+ both came in with a -9% each in visits.

Initial data findings were published in April 2020, with this research partnership team providing monthly updates to track trends in outpatient office visits. Click here to view more of the findings – including what impacts insurance type has had on visit rebounds and the adoption of telemedicine by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and non-FQHC.