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December 2, 2019 0

 

Your parents are the ones who always take care of you.  Mom kissed your knee when you fell on the playground, and Dad drove you to the hospital when you needed to get your tonsils out.  Your parents kept you healthy and safe.  They were your rock and knew all the answers and just what to do.

Time passes.  You’re in your thirties and somehow in an instant the role of caregiver has flipped.  This was the case for me.  Nothing could prepare me for the moment I learned my mom, my rock, was diagnosed with a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  I recall googling “NHL” only to be served hockey statistics; I was frustrated and scared.  Every time we went to see her oncologist or when I accompanied her to chemo, I would get hit with a wall of anxiety.  Each time we stepped into the hospital, what my mom and I truly needed most was support.

As a caregiver and patient, I understand the emotional moments that can happen at the point of care.  As a healthcare marketer, I also understand the value of this space as a channel, and I’ve been fortunate to see it evolve over the tenure of my career.  Today, pharmaceutical brands and healthcare and lifestyle advocacy groups push messages at these point of care (POC) settings, hoping to educate patients about therapy options.

But POC as a marketing channel needs to be treated both similarly and differently from other marketing strategies if a marketer wants to appear relevant and connect in a meaningful and useful way.  The reality of distracted, concerned patients and worried caregivers means brands that want to engage with patients at the POC need to approach them with greater empathy and understanding, with content that resonates emotionally and rationally with this audience.

But what makes POC unique anyway?

The POC channel supports the patient at critical moments of their health journey. 

From acute illness to more chronic or prolonged conditions, important milestones of the health journey happen at the point of care.  Through a recent survey collaboration between Outcome Health and Nielsen, we learned that the wait times within the rooms of point of care are substantial, with patients waiting on average up to 38 minutes in the waiting room and then another 36 minutes in the exam room.  These wait times represent a huge opportunity to communicate with and impact patients, caregivers and physicians all at the same time — essentially turning a “captive” audience into a “captivated” and educated one.

Inventory is finite if POC content is done right.

POC differs from other digital ad channels because inventory is specific, targeted, and limited.  Think about it.  There are only so many rheumatologists in the United States, and there are only so many brands that treat or support patients who see a rheumatologist.  Factor in the attention span of the average person today, include the other places they can get content in the doctor’s office (like magazines, posters, pamphlets), as well as the fact that we are all walking around with smart devices that can deliver content that we ask it anytime, anywhere, and you realize how critical it is to provide content that is aligned with why a patient may be in that rheumatologist’s office in the first place.  This content (continuing with the Rheumatology example) could include anything from signs and symptoms of Lupus, to managing rheumatoid arthritis through diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices, to understanding how to best support a loved one who has osteoporosis — this is just the short list of potential content that may be pertinent to patients or caregivers seeing rheumatologists.  The funnel of dependencies leading to the opportunity to message a patient who is seeing their provider for an ailment and being able to support that patient on their journey means that there are finite opportunities like this, which makes messaging at the POC more sophisticated and challenging in the same breath.

The point of care is the final touchpoint of the marketing message. 

On many occasions, I’ve heard pharma marketers muse, “What if we could hold hands with patients when they have those important conversations with their provider?”  In the POC channel, you can.  Unlike TV, print, and digital that serve to create awareness for new therapies or reach patients before they reach the office, POC holds their hand in the office, moments before and during time with their physician.

POC drives patients to take action.

Messaging at the POC has been proven to impact and shift patient behaviors.  In a study by ZS Associates, patient behavior was measured after being exposed to digital signage at their provider’s office.  Of those exposed, 84% were more likely to ask their doctor about an ad they saw, 68% asked their doctor for a specific medication, 31% were more likely to fill their prescription, and 34% were more likely to take their medication as prescribed.

Where does POC marketing fit in alongside DTC and traditional channels?  The point of care should serve as a complement to your brand’s other marketing and sales efforts, with specificity and context for patients waiting to see their doctors, moving them forward towards treatment.  POC marketing can be leveraged as a digital tool, as a TV alternative, and even as a patient engagement solution to share benefits like co-pay assistance programs.  Because your ad is now in the room with patients and their physician, messaging must be tailored for this space; simply dropping your TV spot onto an exam room screen isn’t likely to cut it with patients who are waiting to see their doctor.  Advertisers should welcome the opportunity to become more deeply integrated into the patient-doctor experience and develop content that can be integrated into the clinical setting.

Because there’s such a range of experiences (and emotions) that happen at POC, it’s important that any content (sponsored or not) intended for this space is sensitive to that.  You can’t create effective content without considering the patient’s mindset.  Content must be curated and contextualized for each touchpoint of the point of care experience.  Videos should be relevant for that clinic’s specialty and help to facilitate physician-patient conversations.  When you’re at the doctor’s office, sitting in a gown (or in the passenger seat supporting an ill parent), wouldn’t you prefer fact-based, custom information that’s helpful and supportive of the conversation you’re about to have with your physician?

On the other hand, there are also moments of the health journey when patients don’t want to dig further into their treatment plan or condition and prefer access to content that simply entertains or distracts them.  We as marketers need to take into account the range of experiences that happen within the point of care and provide content that aligns with and supports these unique moments.

The most important thing to remember is that patient needs vary within the POC environment, and you can’t take a “one size fits all” approach with your messages within each channel.  The diversity of needs and experiences is prompting the space to evolve beyond just awareness.  New trends within the space include patient education, adherence, support group registration, and more.  The channel is poised for continued growth and we, as healthcare marketers, need to continue to innovate so that everyone entering the POC space can feel informed, inspired, entertained, and renewed during the most critical moments of care.

 

Matt McNally

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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

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July 26, 2019 0

 

I sat down with Charlie Greenberg, a respected healthcare industry veteran and an expert in point-of-care (POC) marketing, to discuss current trends in healthcare marketing. It’s a topic Charlie knows well, having worked for more than 30 years in the industry with giants like Saatchi & Saatchi, Wyeth, and Merck. Charlie currently serves as a media and marketing consultant, so he spends a great deal of time thinking about the ways brands can improve their reach and maximize their return on investment.

Q: How has healthcare marketing changed during your time in the industry?

A: Market research on patient population profiles and their attitudes toward treatment options has become increasingly more sophisticated. We no longer focus only on demographics and affinity interests, but now incorporate attitudes toward treatment options, healthcare status, and relevant multicultural distinctions within an overall target universe.

Paid media in the marketing mix has embraced this more sophisticated market research by employing greater targeted media tactics. This is not only a function of the evolution of digital media but greater opportunities within the point-of-care arena and the availability to refine how mass media can reach a target audience.

Q: What’s the biggest thing healthcare marketers aren’t doing that they should, or that they should be doing more of?

A: Good marketers set themselves apart from the pack when they are willing to make bold decisions and address the marketplace by shaping customer thinking. Adopting a mindset of “test and learn” around how marketing dollars are spent needs to be better embraced. Short-term thinking often leads to stagnation and missed opportunities.

Secondly, marketers should also be investing more in communication which has the goal of building health literacy. This will not only support the ability to shape consumer thinking, but health literacy campaigns have been shown to lift the efforts of branded commercial campaigns when the two messages are running together.

Q: What effect can point of care (POC) have on the overall media plan? What benefits can brand managers and media planners realize from adding this channel to their mix?

A: Adding POC to a plan will increase the ability to laser target reaching prospects and patients. This complements the efforts of other tactics within the plan. Secondly, POC offers a guaranteed ROI, which also enriches the promotional effectiveness of the overall marketing plan.

Q: Why is healthcare personal to you?

A: It is rewarding to be able to feel a sense of achievement from launching that new snack food item on shelf, introducing a new car model or driving purchases of yet another shade of red lipstick. However, healthcare marketing offers a benefit of knowing that you are helping people understand health conditions and offering treatment to increase their quality of life.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about being a New Yorker?

A:  New York City offers real mobility since it is one of few places in America where you have the option to walk to get to your destination rather than being tied to your car.

Linda Ruschau

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April 26, 2019 0

Sponsored Content

A varied media mix that includes effective print tactics, is fundamental to unlock the full value of a Point of Care sponsorship program.

Like numerous other media environments in recent years, the Point of Care landscape has become increasingly focused on digital platforms.  From televisions to touchscreens, providers have created a wealth of technology for marketers to engage patients and consumers.  Yet most doctors’ offices continue to welcome a variety of magazines, posters, wallboards, and brochures throughout their locations.  By capitalizing on these diverse engagement tools, marketers can unlock significant consumer action.  In fact, Nielsen cites that a media mix that incorporates print and digital assets can drive as much as 30% higher ROI[1] – meaning that your campaign can play a vital role in the patient journey. With the ability to “own” platforms that are more transportable and offer distinct take-away value, brands can diversify their POC messaging through print materials, all while gaining 100% share-of-voice.

Reinforcing your brand message with a dynamic media mix

Since its origin, the Point of Care industry has worked diligently to develop its venues to be turn-key marketing environments that offer valuable information to a wide array of consumers and caregivers.  Its channels prioritize efficiency for advertisers by eliminating costly, time-consuming creative versioning through standardized adverting units.  This uniform approach also allows a simplified, multi-channel strategy to engage consumers through multiple touchpoints with only a few required assets.  Waiting room video messaging can be easily reinforced through condition guide sponsorship placed in examination rooms.  Examination room tablet interstitials can boost click-through rates by introducing the brand through a waiting room wallboard before the doctor discussion.  In each case, the brand can boost exposure with static tools by leveraging traditional magazine advertising spreads.  These reinforced campaigns have proven to be incredibly powerful with consumers.  In recent Mesmerize programs, sponsorships that utilized a waiting room wallboard and a hyper-targeted mobile ad unit drove three times greater ROI than standard print programs alone.  Furthermore, those programs prompted nearly five times the national click-through average for mobile banners[2].  Indeed, brand reinforcement across multiple platforms offers a powerful boost, especially for targeted campaigns – and all with cost and time efficiency.

Target your customers by venue and by platform

Targeting remains the consistent recipe for success with all POC tactics – and where the true value of marketing lies in this channel.  Segmentation through client-supplied list matching, medical specialty selection, or audience demographics can curate venue lists to ensure maximum exposure to the appropriate audience.  Since the start of Point of Care promotion, marketers have created media mix strategies that utilized the space for its hypertargeting abilities.  Now that the industry has matured, it is imperative that brands utilize a varied approach within their POC plans as well.

As CMI recently noted, the strategic benefits from print-based tactics complement and reinforce digital messaging and significantly impact consumer engagement.  Furthermore, by understanding the specific audience target, marketers can segment a venue to reach various factions through the tactics they relate to best.  For example, physicians who are accustomed to reading printed materials will likely respond more strongly to a customized guide, while digital tactics in the waiting room can occupy time for patients anticipating their physician visit.[3]

Digital media has a solidified place in healthcare marketing and Point of Care remains a powerful proving ground for those tactics.  However, by adopting a diversified strategy that employs a variety of tools – including static media – marketers can optimize their POC spending to ensure maximum engagement, all with superior targeting and access that has offered repeated success in this channel.

 

References

[1] Tsvetkov, Tsventan. (2018, August 8). “Perspectives: The Easier Way To Drive Higher Marketing ROI,” Retrieved from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2017/perspectives-the-easier-way-to-drive-higher-marketing-roi.html

[2] Mesmerize, (2019, January 21). “Consumer Packaged Goods 2019 Mobile Case Study”.

[3] Marvel, Darcy, Cooper. (2019, 14 March). “The Importance of Print Media in Today’s NPP Channel Mix,” Retrieved from https://www.cmimedia.com/insights/povs/the-importance-of-print-media-in-todays-npp-channel-mix

 

Craig Mait

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August 25, 2017 0

I see doctors more than I used to due to my advancing age. That gives me a chance to see more point of care marketing as I go to my many specialists for a variety of ailments. I often wonder how much patients are receptive to being educated while in the waiting room or in the exam area. Most doctors’ offices are a media smorgasbord of general interest magazines, health pamphlets, TV’s playing news or promotion for products physicians sell.

Bob Ehrlich
“Clutter is a significant barrier for POC media companies…”
-Bob Ehrlich

Clutter is a significant barrier for POC media companies trying to prove to drug makers an acceptable ROI for their products and services. Patients also have their own entertainment system with their mobile devices and the growth of in office Wi-Fi makes them a viable entertainment option in waiting rooms. The challenge for POC companies providing information on disease or branded products is how to get their share of attention in that valuable 10-20 minute waiting period.

The days of just providing and expecting positive results from general disease information through a video, wallboard, or publication could be numbered. More needs to be done to grab attention given the numerous media alternatives available. That means POC companies are going to have to invest more in researching how patients actually behave in the waiting room. That is, what draws them to put down their mobile device and watch a POC video, interact with a tablet, or read a wallboard or custom health magazine. As patient choices expand, drug companies are going to expect some sophisticated analysis of patient in office viewing habits.

POC generally has reported higher ROI than mass media. The POC media companies are going to have to work hard to keep that advantage. It is clear that every drug company is looking to take full advantage of the marketing opportunity at POC. That physician office is the pivotal point in generating an Rx. Every drug maker wants to maximize that pre-exam time frame with disease and/or branded information.

We are seeing consolidation of POC companies through acquisitions. Having fewer and larger players with deeper pockets makes it more likely we will see new patient behavioral research. I would expect, as a drug marketer, to have the POC media companies do lots of testing on how to generate patient attention. Their technologies now allow for streaming in a highly targeted manner. That could mean different messaging down to a local physician level taking into account patient demographics. Drug makers are going to expect POC media companies to increasingly present innovative ways to get patients to pay attention in an increasingly cluttered waiting room.

I was in my ophthalmologist’s office this week and was entertained by a POC module from Outcome Health, formerly ContextMedia:Health. They had a reporter on the street interviewing people with trivia questions on eye issues such as incidence of eyeglass use and contacts. I noted everyone in the waiting room was watching as it was a different and attention grabbing way to educate patients. We all had our mobile devices in our hands but took a break to see the answers to the trivia.

What I have noticed through my many physician visits is that there is still massive opportunity to bring media innovation to the waiting and exam rooms. There are a number of great companies in this space and continuing consolidation will bring more consistency to what patients see. Drug makers will welcome being able to expand POC use with larger media companies controlling more offices. That consolidation may make it harder, however, for start-ups to compete but hopefully we can still have opportunities for the small entrepreneurs. After all, the current POC giants all started relatively recently as small businesses with a new way to educate patients.

Bob Ehrlich

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August 17, 2017 0
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Every 42 seconds, someone in the US has a heart attack. Each minute, someone dies from a heart disease-related event.1

Even though heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the US, many adults are uninformed of the causes, symptoms and proper treatment of heart-related conditions. In fact, according to PatientPoint research, over half of patients who are treated for heart health said their issues were unexpected. Further studies have found 70% of adults are not familiar with symptoms associated with heart disease.2

As these statistics reveal, the need for education and support materials for patients at the point of care is paramount – and critical to pharma companies’ success. Because if heart health isn’t top of mind for most adults, it’s likely your treatment isn’t, either. And with nearly half (47%) of cardiologists now restricted, gaining awareness among physicians is also a growing challenge.3

To ensure the right message is delivered to these heart “unhealthy” patients at the right time, PatientPoint conducts in-depth research in the space. Here’s a snapshot of patients who visited cardiologist offices installed with the PatientPoint Communicate – Cardiology Waiting Room Digital Screens Program:

  • Average age: 60 years
  • Gender: 60% female
  • Race: 79% white / Caucasian
  • Employment status: 59% retired
  • 42% are accompanied by another adult
  • 59% want to lose weight
  • Top conditions identified to be at risk for or diagnosed with: high blood pressure / hypertension (72%), high cholesterol (68%), arthritis (55%), heart disease (53%), heart attack or cardiac event (48%)

This information enables us to develop content specifically tailored to these conditions, gaining unprecedented positioning as a trusted consultant to our partners – clients, physicians and patients – to ensure their message makes the most impact at each important moment.

Let’s look at each of these points a little more closely:

  • Waiting room: Patients say the waiting room is often the most stressful part of their visit to the doctor. Reinforcing your brand message alongside easy-to-understand digital information regarding heart health, healthy living tips and personalized messages from the practice will put your brand top of mind right before patients visit with the doctor. Heart patients don’t want to hear about arthritis content. We speak the patient language.
  • Exam room: Once in the exam room, patients crave in-depth education. Interactive touchscreens bring health information to life, whether it’s through a personalized quiz, short article or a brand testimonial video. Once the doctor arrives, he’s likely to use the touchscreen to show the patient exactly what’s happening in her heart via full-color, 3D anatomical models. It’s here where your brand can provide the support and savings information to help guide discussions and, ultimately, decision-making.
  • After the visit: Because the risk factors for heart disease and stroke are directly related to lifestyle choices, continual engagement between provider, pharma company and patient is important to ensure treatment success. We know those age 45-64 (the common age range for the onset of many cardiovascular conditions) still see print as a valuable information resource,4 and including your message in brochures patients can take home and reference later will help reinforce your brand as part of the solution to living a longer, healthier life.

The scale of the cardiovascular market is driving greater demands of quality outcomes data. Providing the right education to patients and providers at the right moments will help pharma companies remove barriers to access and support long-term adherence.

 

References

  1. American Heart Association, 2015
  2. Cleveland Clinic survey, 2014
  3. ZS Associates, “AccessMonitor,” 2015 Executive Summary
  4. 2015 Two Sides North America

Linda Ruschau