Harnessing Technology through Optimization of Patient Engagement

The combined objective of life science firms and the end-users of healthcare are the enhanced patient outcomes. Often, this has become cumbersome, as the patients find it difficult to browse through the rigmaroles of the healthcare system. For those who live with ailments, the experience can be traumatic, to say the least.

“Right from accessing providers, to obtaining prior-authorizations and utilizing therapies, patients are often dragged along as they attempt to control their health”, writes Chase Hensel, CEO and Co-Founder of Welkin Health in Medicitynews.com.

Patient Engagement

As healthcare spending is constantly on the upward tick and the cost-sharing burden is trusted by the patients, manufacturers must demonstrate value. Hensel writes that one way the pharmaceutical firms can create a valuable experience for their patients is by encouraging patient engagement in the form of incorporating innovative hub solutions that allow them to connect directly with their patients and guide them through their healthcare journey.

Clinical Trial

‘A center of activity’ is one of the ways the word ‘hub’ is traditionally defined and succinctly sums up its purpose in life sciences. Through clinical trials and clinical researches hubs have been used by pharmaceutical companies to manage their patient’s journeys once therapy has been prescribed. Hub services can encompass benefits verification, prior-authorization retrieval, financial assistance, nursing services, and prescription fulfillment, writes Hensel.

Harnessing Technology

Technology now enables centralized and integrated hubs that can act as a single point of contact for patients suffering illness and the companies providing therapies, writes the author. “In our ever-changing healthcare landscape, a centralized hub can be an invaluable resource to deliver high-touch care. By providing guidance, as well as comprehensive services and programs, hubs quickly guide patients to therapy”, he points out.

Challenge

The patient journey can be arduous, writes Hensel. What begins with symptoms or test results can become a frustrating trek towards a diagnosis. Stating that it takes patients with rare diseases an average of seven years to be diagnosed with the onset of symptoms, he goes on to write that following the prognosis of a disease — rare or otherwise — and before therapy can be initiated, it must be prescribed, benefits must be verified, authorizations must be approved, financial assistance may be required, or formularies may be challenged for dispensation.

From a prolonged diagnosis, contention with insurance, costly treatments, and the major shift of lifelong habits, every station along the patient’s journey can impact the probability of initiation and adherence to therapy.

Clinical Research

Citing the Accenture’s 2016 patient support services survey results, he writes, “Pharma’s Growing Opportunity in Patient Services”, 95% of pharmaceutical companies will invest in patient engagement technologies by 2018. Patient services will become the standard of therapeutic customer support, not a niche add-on.”

Patient engagement technologies can provide a reliable hub for therapy providers and consumers to engage and really make an impact. Using a patient services platform, health consumers can receive steadfast support from agents of the manufacturer who, equipped with insights and data, can offer personalized and patient-centered care. The journey to therapy may have been frustrating and clouded with complications, but patient support services can be a beacon, the article continues.

Mutually Assured Success

Supporting patients is mutually beneficial, driving positive outcomes for all stakeholders and augmenting value for all parties involved. When therapeutics shepherd patients through hub services with high-touch care, they enjoy mutually assured success, concludes Hensel.

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