Point of Care (POC) strategies are powerful tools for reaching and engaging diverse patient populations. The need for minority organ donors exemplifies the transformative potential of targeted POC initiatives. This article explores how innovative POC approaches address complex healthcare challenges, drive engagement, and ultimately save lives.
From personalized patient education to culturally sensitive outreach, the strategies discussed here highlight the broader applicability of POC marketing across healthcare sectors. By using minority organ donation as a case study, we uncover valuable insights into how tailored POC initiatives can bridge critical gaps in healthcare delivery, foster trust, and improve outcomes for underserved or hard-to-access audiences.
Leveraging POC for Targeted Patient Activation: The Case of Minority Organ Donation
In campaigns addressing rare diseases, minority health, and other complex healthcare challenges, reaching and resonating with underserved audiences is vital. These scenarios demand a nuanced approach—where strategy, data science, market insights, and empathetic marketing converge. Beyond mere engagement, it’s about thoughtfully guiding individuals through challenging topics and decisions shaped by their past healthcare experiences..
When marketers fail to connect, the consequences extend beyond individual health outcomes to broader societal impacts. The right treatment may exist, but if it fails to reach those who need it most, the resulting disparities can exacerbate existing inequities, much like environmental changes that gradually but significantly alter our global ecosystem.
In this article, we will examine disparities in organ donation among minority populations as a case study to explore the effects of inequitable messaging. We will also consider how systemic, thoughtfully crafted campaigns can enhance engagement and improve outcomes across healthcare touchpoints. By strategically leveraging Point of Care (POC) marketing, we can develop high-impact campaigns that address critical moments in healthcare decision-making with precision and efficacy.
The Impact of Unreached Audiences: An Unnecessary Death Toll
Minorities make up over 60% of transplant waiting lists but only 30% of donors (Gift of Life 2023). This mismatch delays life-saving transplants, often dependent on racial or ethnic compatibility.
Non-Hispanic African Americans highlight the disparities that come from a shortfall in Black donors (HHS OMH 2021):
- In 2021, only 27.8% of Black patients on the transplant waiting list received an organ, compared to 47.2% of non-Hispanic white patients.
- Although 28.6% of all transplant candidates are Black, they made up just 15.1% of organ donors in 2021.
- Black populations face higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, which significantly increase the risk of organ failure.
These statistics underscore a critical imbalance that National Minority Donor Awareness Month seeks to address.
Does Race and Ethnicity Really Matter in Medicine?
Justice cannot be blind in medicine without being blinded to the role it plays in creating discriminatory outcomes. Medically, communities evolve to share certain traits and similarities that make them better transplant matches, biologically. Let’s look at some of the reasons racial and ethnic background matters.
Why Does Racial and Ethnic Background Matter?
Racial and ethnic background plays a vital role in transplant compatibility, particularly in matching genetic markers like HLA types (human leukocyte antigens) and blood types. Due to the underrepresentation of minority donors in registries, minority patients, including those in Black communities, face longer wait times and reduced access to compatible donors. This mismatch significantly impacts the success of bone marrow or stem cell transplants, which are critical for treating certain life-threatening conditions.
In some cases, the ethnic background is especially critical, as certain diseases disproportionately affect specific racial groups. For example, bone marrow or stem cell transplants are one of the only potential cures for sickle cell disease, a genetic disorder most common in Black communities. These transplants replace diseased marrow with healthy donor marrow, allowing the body to produce normal red blood cells and potentially cure the disease.
The underrepresentation of minority donors in registries heightens disparities. Because the national bone marrow donor registry lacks ethnic and racial diversity, it can be difficult for some people to find a match. For example, a Black person has a 29% chance of finding a matched donor in the registry, while a white person has a 79% chance” (Duke Health 2023). This stark difference highlights the urgent need to increase diversity in the donor pool through better donor protocols and communications for patients and providers, who play significant roles in donor and transplant journeys.
Maximizing Impact through POC Marketing: The Example of the Living Donor
Point of Care (POC) marketing could play a pivotal role in improving transplant outcomes, particularly for living donations and minority donor availability. While end-of-life donations remain critical, there’s a growing need to engage patients and communities about living donations, especially for organs like kidneys, livers, and bone marrow. These transplants are crucial in addressing the supply-demand gap, as they reduce waiting times and enable transplants to occur before a recipient’s condition becomes critical.
While health apps and donor registration sites play a role, POC channels are uniquely positioned to educate, support, and recruit living donors—particularly within the Black community, where 81.3% of donor organs from Blacks in 2021 came from deceased donors, compared to 33.6% living donors for Whites (HHS OMH 2021). The ability of liver and bone marrow to regenerate further underscores the value of living donations, making it even more urgent to overcome barriers that put people at risk.
By strategically leveraging POC channels, healthcare providers can increase donor registrations and tailor approaches to resonate with diverse communities. These strategies aren’t limited to organ donation; they can be adapted to any specialized healthcare communication campaign, including those targeting rare diseases, underserved populations, or other complex health challenges.
Tailored POC Strategies for Specialized Healthcare Campaigns
Addressing barriers and building trust with specialized or minority audiences requires tailored strategies that resonate with their unique experiences and concerns. For instance, engaging minority donors in organ donation campaigns presents an opportunity to overcome distrust and sensitivities by delivering targeted education, support, and resources at critical points of care. These approaches can be adapted to address similar challenges with other specialized populations.
Leveraging POC channels to encourage donor action:
- Educate and Raise Awareness:
POC delivers targeted educational materials to patients at critical decision-making moments. For example, patients undergoing treatment for CKD or liver disease can receive information about the benefits of living donor transplants, helping them to consider the possibility of becoming a donor or encouraging family members to explore donation options. - Promote Donor Registrations:
POC can streamline the process of donor registration by integrating digital platforms within clinical settings, making it easier for patients to register as donors during routine visits or treatments. Adjust education materials to fit end-of-life and living donors. This could include training trauma staff and promoting the impact of living donor transplants on minority populations and offering clear guidance on the donation process. - Target and Support HCPs in Minority Donor Engagement:
POC channels can address cultural and linguistic barriers, ensuring messaging resonates with diverse communities. - Facilitate Informed Decision-Making:
Clear, concise, and relevant information at the point of care, healthcare providers can help patients and their families make informed decisions about living donations. This can reduce the uncertainty and anxiety often associated with organ donation and encourage more individuals to consider donating.
Boost transplant success by POC patient engagement:
- Connecting Patients to the Right Treatment:
Messaging at the Point of Care can deliver personalized information at critical moments in the patient journey, helping connect them to the most appropriate treatments and transplant options. By providing timely and relevant resources at the POC, patients receive the care they need when it matters most. - Creating Materials to Support Caregivers and Adherence:
Deliver tailored educational materials that equip caregivers with the knowledge and tools they need to support patients throughout the transplant process. These resources can also help patients adhere to post-transplant care plans, improving long-term outcomes. - Providing Support for Identifying and Engaging Family Donors:
Offer guidance on how patients can identify potential family donors and initiate conversations about living donations. By providing clear, compassionate communication tools at the POC,patients and their families can navigate this complex and sensitive topic with confidence.
Navigating Sensitive Conversations in Healthcare Campaigns
Engaging patients in meaningful conversations about organ donation or navigating complex medical decisions is never easy. These discussions often involve deeply personal, cultural, and emotional aspects, making them particularly challenging. These complexities intensify with minority populations and those on challenging medical journeys, where historical and cultural factors add layers of sensitivity.
Acknowledging Distrust: Reaching Minority Audiences Correctly
Engaging specialized populations, whether in organ donation or rare disease awareness, requires navigating deep-rooted cultural and historical challenges that influence health decisions today. For many, past injustices and ongoing disparities in healthcare contribute to a persistent mistrust of the medical system. Inherited skepticism is a reality that influences decisions today, making it imperative for healthcare campaigns to approach these communities with genuine understanding and respect. Sticking with the emblematic case of Black Americans, for example, distrust is reasonable.
Historical injustices like the Tuskegee Experiments have contributed to a lasting mistrust among Black Americans, reflecting broader challenges in healthcare communication. Systemic inequities and injustices have scarred and eroded Black trust in the medical field, making repair imperative. An emblem of other atrocities, Tuskegee continues to symbolize black reticence. As Dr. Reed Tuckson, Founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID says (Pharma Voice 2024)
“It is frustrating to me that we have done nothing in 40 years to take Tuskegee off the table — that the No. 1 thing I would have to fight with HIV was Tuskegee, and the first question I was asked in my first town hall on COVID was Tuskegee… It is a terrible indictment of America’s healthcare delivery, its health policy and its health promotion and prevention industries.”
Other less-remembered abuses in the name of medical research or healthcare have shown Tuskegee was no exception.
- The foundation of gynecology was in many ways built on slave surgeries by Dr. J Marion Sims–without anesthesia or consent
- The Holmesburg Prison Experiments used inmates to test products from pharmaceuticals to skincare to biochemicals and the The Cincinnati Radiation Experiments exploited poor minorities from the 1950’s – 1970’s
- Forced sterilization under the auspices of federal family planning programs existed through the 1970’s but has persisted in other populations and eugenics initiatives, including Indigenous people and Hispanics, as recently as 2020.
Understand the nuances and history of health iniquity in this poignant interactive digital exploration by KFF: “How History Has Shaped Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: A Timeline of Policies and Events”
Navigate Deepset Cultural Barriers: Target Trust at the Point of Care
- Reach Your Target Audience:
Be highly targeted and create for each community, based on both market research and qualitative interviews that inform campaign content. When possible, incorporate members of that audience in content review panels. Consider collaborative list creation with POC partners. The precision of POC tactics in identifying ideal audiences by both demographics and conditions or behaviors (like blood donation) is a powerful start point. - Speak From Your Audience with Partners:
Consider partnering with community organizations, advocacy groups, or influencers who can help craft compelling content that resonates and lends trust to campaign content. - Invest and Represent with Personalization:
71% of consumers expect personalization in healthcare (McKinsey 2021). Ensure that content is resonant by including not only physical representation, but racial and ethnic ques, languages, and values within creative content that is specific to your audience. - Reframe the Conversations with Care:
Identify and create materials for care teams and staff to help encourage culturally sensitive conversations and identify barriers, needs, and sensitivities. POC remains one of the most trusted spaces in healthcare communication, but it needs to be tailored to audiences.
- Reach Your Target Audience:
3 Point of Care Strategies for Specialized Campaigns
Whether a rare disease or minority population, the needs of patient subsets can be important to effective messaging from marketers and manufacturers who want to help. However, in healthcare, trust is not easily earned, particularly among populations that have historically been marginalized or underserved—or those enduring alienating health journeys, such as those which are debilitating or potentially terminal. Trust must be at the core of any campaign addressing sensitive healthcare issues. This requires a deep commitment to listening, learning, and responding to the unique needs of each community. Rethinking your approach is crucial to reaching specialized patient populations.
#1 Empowering Patients and Their Support Networks
Creating Informed Choices:
POC strategies empower patients by providing tailored information at critical moments, supporting caregivers, and facilitating sensitive conversations. These efforts enhance adherence and improve outcomes:
- Connect Patients to Resources: Providing tailored information at critical moments can help patients and their families understand their treatment options, fostering a sense of control and clarity in their healthcare journey and setting them up for optimal success.
- Support Caregivers: Caregivers play a crucial role in the patient’s journey, particularly in high-touch scenarios. Creating materials that equip them with the knowledge and tools to support the patient can enhance adherence to treatment plans and improve outcomes.
- Facilitate Sensitive Conversations: When discussing challenging topics like organ donation, POC can provide resources that help patients and families navigate these conversations with care, ensuring they feel supported and informed throughout the process.
Patient education can be nuanced through POC tactics. Starting with innovative list creation, the possibilities are endless from awareness to helping with adherence. Consider patient education and support that is truly patient centric, like condition guides at diagnosis, how to handle side effects at pharmacy, and drip campaigns that align with treatment plan mile markers to create more digestible content.
#2 Targeting Specialized Results
Precision in Targeted Campaigns:
Precision in POC campaigns ensures that messaging resonates with specialized populations, addressing their unique needs and challenges through data-driven approaches:
- Leveraging Data for Precision: Using data from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and other sources to identify potential patients or donors at critical moments can enhance the relevance and impact of POC campaigns, ensuring they address the most pressing needs of the audience. More precision is likely to create better ROI and patient outcomes. Talk to partners about tracking data to understand and measure key performance indicators specific to your campaigns.
- Curating Meaningful Conversations: Especially in sensitive scenarios, providing healthcare professionals with the tools to have thoughtful, culturally informed conversations with patients can make a significant difference. This might include discussion guides or training materials that help navigate complex topics with empathy and understanding. Even the best bedside manners may find cultural or topical sensitivity difficult to handle.
- Considering the Cultural Context: Always approach each campaign with a deep understanding of the cultural context that influences the audience’s decisions. Whether it’s religious beliefs, historical mistrust, or other cultural factors, integrating this understanding into POC materials is key to creating resonant and effective messaging.
#3 Engaging Stakeholders for Holistic Campaigns
Collaborative Efforts for Greater Impact:
Successful POC campaigns require collaboration across healthcare providers, government agencies, and technology partners to create cohesive and culturally sensitive initiatives:
- Healthcare Providers Big and Small: Hospitals, community health centers, clinics, treatment centers, and health systems are critical in delivering POC messages and facilitating patient engagement.
- Government Agencies and Non-profits: Partnering with governmental bodies and non-profits can provide additional resources and credibility, enhancing the reach and effectiveness of campaigns.
- Technology Partners: EHR and POC technology companies can integrate culturally sensitive prompts and educational materials into their systems, ensuring that the right messages are delivered at the right time.
When developing POC initiatives for minority organ donation, it would be strategic to approach these stakeholders. The initiatives could involve creating culturally sensitive educational materials, developing integrated EHR prompts, training healthcare providers in cultural competence, or implementing community outreach programs.
A Patient's Journey: Navigating Transplant Success with a POC Campaign
Phase 1: The Initial Discovery
Maria, a 48-year-old Hispanic woman, was recently diagnosed with kidney failure. The news is overwhelming, but her doctor has already identified her as a candidate for a transplant through sophisticated Point of Care (POC) strategies that leverage Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The physician walks her through condition information she can take home, and assures her she will have resources in her inbox by the time she’s home.
Phase 2: The Diagnosis and a New Hope
Maria is introduced to culturally sensitive educational materials provided through her POC interactions. These materials, tailored to her Hispanic heritage, explain the importance of immunosuppressants in ensuring the success of her upcoming transplant. They address her concerns about how her faith might intersect with organ donation, providing reassurance and clarity. This personalized approach helps Maria feel understood and respected, building the trust she needs to move forward.
Phase 3: A Network of Support
As Maria shares her news with her family, the POC campaign ensures they are not left out. Recognizing the importance of family in Hispanic culture, the campaign digitally provides bilingual caregiver guides that can be shared or printed. By equipping the family with knowledge about medication adherence and potential side effects, the POC strategy strengthens Maria’s support network, enhancing the likelihood of a successful outcome.
Phase 4: Managing the Medications
When Maria begins her immunosuppressant regimen, she is introduced to a user-friendly online portal—a key component of the POC strategy. This portal, accessible on her smartphone, helps her manage prescriptions, set up reminders, and find culturally relevant advice on managing side effects that impact her family responsibilities. This integration of technology and cultural sensitivity exemplifies the value of POC in ensuring adherence and comfort.
Phase 5: Staying on Course
Throughout her treatment, the POC campaign tracks Maria’s medication adherence via the portal. When a potential issue arises—perhaps she misses a dose—the system alerts her healthcare provider, who reaches out to Maria directly.
Phase 6: Emotional Support in Times of Need
Maria’s journey is not just physical but emotional as well. During a routine clinic visit, she notices a QR code on a wallboard. Scanning it, Maria is connected to an online support group tailored for transplant patients from minority backgrounds. Here, she finds others who share her concerns and beliefs.
Phase 7: Seamless Coordination
Throughout Maria’s journey, the POC campaign ensures seamless coordination between her care team, her family, and herself. The portal serves as a central hub, keeping everyone informed and aligned—enhancing patient adherence and satisfaction.
Phase 8: Celebrating Success
After a successful transplant, Maria enters the recovery phase. The campaign continues beyond surgery, providing Maria with a new prescription plan, follow-up care, educational materials, and regular check-ins to ensure she stays on her immunosuppressants and remains healthy.
Full health-journey support not only helps Maria from planning to recovery, but also reinforces the long-term relationship between the patient, her healthcare team, and the pharma company.
Final Points
Minority organ donation illustrates the broader challenge of engaging specialized and underserved audiences. By leveraging targeted POC strategies, healthcare marketers and pharmaceutical companies can effectively address these challenges, fostering trust and improving outcomes for all patients facing complex healthcare journeys.
