The Pulse of Point of Care Marketing: Insights from Patients and Providers

Varsha Eluri ▷ 0:14 Well, good afternoon everyone. So welcome to our session. As Nicole mentioned, we’ve been partnering with her for the past few months to get these insights to light. We’re super excited to present them to you. I want to kick off today’s session with a personal story.

Varsha Eluri ▷0:30 So last year, late last year, I gave birth to our second son. So leading up to this, I had to go through a ton of the general routine checkups. There were these quarterly visits that turned into monthly visits that turned into biweekly, eventually weekly. So needless to say, spent a lot of time at the doctor’s office. So going into this experience, I thought that I knew everything that there was to know about this process of childbirth because I’d done it once also the first time around

Varsha Eluri ▷ 1:04 Ton of research, copious amounts of reading. So I thought there were no new questions that I had or no new information that I needed to gather. However, sitting in these doctors offices, sitting in these rooms, waiting for the healthcare professionals to come talk to me, I was inadvertently reading a ton of messaging that was around me which led to actual conversations, actual questions that I had for my healthcare professional and eventually led to actually decisions that I made that were very different compared to the first time around. Now I won’t go into what those decisions were. That might be a little bit tmi, but needless to say, I feel like this is obviously anecdotal NF1, but today, this research, I hope proves what a lot of us in this room already know and believe, which is point of care messaging does a really good job at capturing the audiences at that critical point where they’re really primed for this information.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 1:59 So not having a presence at that point could be a disservice to brands as well as folks that are really trying to advance outcomes for patients.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 2:10 With that, we’ll jump into, yep, the research. So before we jump into the insights, I do want to do a quick primer of the methodology. We looked at both healthcare professionals as well as patients. Both sides we had a few groups that we were focusing on. On the healthcare side, we looked at oncologists, PCPs, as well as a group of specialists.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 2:32 So this group includes dermatologists, endocrinologists, gis, and we wanted to make sure that any sort of like insights that were different across these groups could be statistically significant. On the patient side, we looked at a core group of ethnicities and races. Again, whenever these insights are different enough, we’ll point that out. Throughout the presentation, we did make sure to weight the patient data so that we had a Made sure we weighted it to match the US Census data so that these insights can be generalized across the US population. These were 10 to 15 minute surveys.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 3:11 And yeah, we’ll jump into the insights. So let’s talk a little bit about the current landscape of the point of care solutions. Usage. Across both healthcare professionals and patients, we found that the usage was pretty high. So healthcare professionals said that they regularly use these solutions to have conversations with their patients, regularly bring these materials to consultations.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 3:34 So we did find that there was still a little bit of opportunity across different specialties to adapt this usage further. On the patient side, we saw really high usage as well. Patients noticed these solutions, patients read these materials, and we saw certain differences between ethnic, racial groups as to how they were interacting with these materials that we’ll dig deeper into as well.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 4:01 On the healthcare professional side, we saw that almost three quarters of healthcare professionals use these materials regularly in their consultations with patients. This was the highest across PCPs. 77% of PCPs said that they use these materials regularly versus oncologists, where it was only 62%. So clearly there’s a little bit of gap there which kind of lends us into the questions about, like why there is this gap. A lot of this has to do with the needs that differ across providers.

Varsha Eluri 4:34 So it’s not a one solution fits all. Different providers have different needs because their patients have different needs. And making sure that as we think about point of care materials, we customize them to fit these needs, could get this usage much higher.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 4:51 On the patient side, almost half the patients that we surveyed said that they notice these solutions almost every single time that they go into the doctor’s office. So 43% is quite high for someone that says every single time. But if you look at every single time, or at least most of the times, this number actually jumps up to 82%. So that once again, really reinforces the fact that there’s a lot of eyeballs that are looking for this information, that are seeking this information out at that point of care, and it provides that really the right ground for this messaging to be present. 25% of the patients we surveyed said that they focus on them completely and read all the materials.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 5:34 This number was much higher for black patients. 48% of them said that they read the materials really thoroughly, whereas 43% of the patients, overall patients said that they just skim through the materials. So again, there’s an opportunity here, as we think about the patients that we’re serving, as to how we design these materials. So a Lot of the times when we think about brochures, think about designing materials, there’s a lot of information that’s included in there which could be beneficial. But if you really think about patients that are just skimming the materials to get the key insights, are we designing them in a way that, that gives them those key insights in a really quick format?

Kate Phillipps ▷ 6:20 So what we also looked at when it came to the patient data is really thinking about how POC is going to empower them and allow them to make better decisions. When we think about this, not only did we ask those questions to the patients, but we asked those to the doctors as well. And what we found is surveyed HCPs find these solutions to be very positive in the way that they engage their patients and in fact allows them to have richer, deeper conversations, allowing for a more collaborative and effective consultation. So what does that mean in practice? Well, we asked POC exposed patients how confident they felt in their health care and their treatment decisions.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 7:02 And what we found is those who are exposed to POC solutions were significantly more likely to be confident in their health status as well as the treatments that they were offered. What I think is most interesting about this slide is the 8% of patients, two times the amount of POC exposed patients, who feel unconfident or uncertain in their health care. Which really goes to show the impact that POC can have. And I think what’s critical for us to, to think about here are the ramifications of this afterwards as well. It really, to me, highlights the impact and the role that this can have on a patient’s life.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 7:38 If we think about the fact that this increased confidence is likely to change how much or how likely they are to speak to their doctors, to seek additional medication or to take specific medications and be adherent to them. Beyond that, our, our data also shows us that patients who are exposed to point of care solutions feel that POC allows them to be more confident in asking questions to their doctors. They’re more likely to be able to ask their doctors about specific preferences they have, be that with a treatment or something else. But they’re also more empowered in their conversations as a result as well. I think creating effective point of care solutions is a clear comes with a clear call to action, allowing us to aid patients to have conversations that boost their confidence and their likelihood towards positive outcomes.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 8:33 And we see this when we asked patients specifically who were exposed to POC solutions about the actions that they took after a healthcare visit. Of course, a lot of these actions were related to lifestyle modifications for example, changing their diet or their nutrition, improving their sleep habits or exercising more regularly. But we also saw a significant number of our patients taking action that came with a specific health care outcome in mind. So patients who saw POCS were likely to be talking or asking about specific medications, but they were also starting or resuming preventative care medications and beginning to take prescriptions as provided as take medications as prescribed as well, so becoming more adherent on the medications that they were taking. I think this really serves as a good reminder that POC solutions don’t just have to come as a treatment option or education about a specific condition, but can come as more generalized options as well, teaching patients how to consider their conditions more holistically and driving changes within them as well.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 9:41 Of course, it wasn’t just the patients that saw benefit with POCS. Doctors also mentioned to us that they saw a variety of different benefits that come with point of care solutions. When we asked them why they were using point of care solutions, patient feedback and potential increased patient engagement were the top reasons, especially amongst POCs and oncologists. But again among oncologists, we saw that they were specifically mentioning improved patient outcomes. So seeing a direct impact of talking to a patient, using a point of care solution and getting a better outcome at the end of it.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 10:15 These POC solutions shouldn’t be seen as one size fits all approaches for all of the providers. I think the data here shows us that there are different reasons for using it, so we should be catering them in such a way, ensuring that we allow them to have these improved, richer conversations based on the audience that they’re having. And I think this talks nicely to some of the panels earlier, making sure that we’re using POC solutions that fit the patient’s needs and the HCP needs together, not just having two separate solutions, really thinking about how we marry them together and allow the patient to kind of follow the thread through their patient journey.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 10:53 We also spoke to doctors who use POC solutions as to the benefits they see among their patient populations. Of course, some of the biggest parts were talking to the fact that they POC solutions allow patients to engage more actively in their consultations, especially when it came to treatment decisions. But it also allows hcps to have more effective conversations, efficiently explaining these solutions to their patients and the medical transitions that they’re likely to experience, as well as increasing their adherence to follow up structures or to medication options as well. POC solutions should therefore not just focus on the conditions, but the treatment options that come from hcps, providing them with Additional support tools that allow them to have these richer conversations with their patients.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 11:46 Of course, then we need to think about the ripple effect that comes with POC solutions. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that POC solutions are more effective on patients generally, leaving them feeling reassured, motivated and relieved during their conversations. What we found is when we asked both POC exposed and unexposed patients how reassured, how relieved, and how motivated they felt after their consultations, patients who had been exposed to POC were significantly more likely to feel all of these emotions. These solutions are directly impacting the choices that patients are making when it comes to their health and providing additional options to them, but making them more confident in the choices that they’re making. And I think that’s something we really need to consider.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 12:31 Consider and make sure that we’re going home to and speaking to the doctors about in order to proactively inspire them or engage them in using POC with their patients.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 12:44 Yeah. So we can talk a little bit about optimizing this content. Right. We keep talking about how these solutions are not one size fits all. So what are the healthcare professionals and patients telling us that they need from these solutions?

Varsha Eluri ▷ 12:58 Health care professionals do have a variety of reasons why they use this information. Primarily, it is to deliver information and to reinforce the messages that they’re trying to send through in these conversations. But there’s still room there to improve, to help them make these conversations even more fruitful. And that comes from making sure that these solutions are customizable at the HCP end for their patients based on the needs of that specific patient that they’re having a conversation with. On the patient side, there is a strong desire expressed by these patients for additional information and resources.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 13:34 So we’ll jump a little bit into why. But again, there’s another clear opportunity here to make sure that we’re giving them all the right kinds of information that they’re seeking at this point of care. So one of the interesting things that we saw was that when we asked POC exposed patients if they would like more information about their health, 81% said that they would, they were seeking more information. And this was significant lift compared to the unexposed patients. So it was almost like that initial exposure to information and data made them more thirsty for more knowledge.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 14:10 They’re seeking out more because they know that, you know, there’s a lot that they don’t know. On the flip side, we saw that, that the people that were not exposed, a lot of them said that they were not very interested or not at all interested so this Percentage jumped from 17 to 24% if they were not exposed, for them to tend not to seek more information. So clearly POC plays a key role here in keeping patients informed and kind of helping them influence their decisions and behaviors and eventual outcomes. We also saw this lift across almost all of the categories of the types of information that they’re seeking. The top two categories tend to be the treatment options for their specific health condition, but also, again, like Katie mentioned, those lifestyle information, holistic healthcare information.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 14:58 So making sure that we’re giving them that holistic mindset and holistic view of not just their condition, but the healthy living could be really helpful in making a connection with these patients at that point.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 15:13 On the healthcare professional side, the POC usage differs between practices, between providers. Primarily, they’re trying to make sure that they use these materials to give additional information about the treatment, condition, treatment of the condition to the patients. They’re also trying to reinforce verbal explanations with the patients. Here we saw a little bit of a difference between PCPs versus oncologists. PCPs tend to use it more to reinforce those verbal explanations.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 15:42 Explanations. Oncologists, not so much. Again, there could be a difference because of where the patient is in their journey, when they’re coming to these specific healthcare professionals and providers where oncologists are treating a specific condition, where when the patients come to them, they’re further along in their journey that they know exactly what they’re dealing with. So those reinforcement might not be as necessary, but that’s not true for PCPs or the starting point of educating these patients about what’s to come. They also want to make sure that patients understand medical instructions or recommendations.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 16:18 And again, this ties back to that adherence factor in making sure that the patient has all the information that they need to manage their condition.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 16:28 This one was a slide that we thought was really important. So over half of the surveyed healthcare professionals said that having these POC solutions helped them save significant or a moderate amount of time. So knowing the kind of time pressures that these healthcare professionals are facing across the system, this is, I feel, like a pivotal piece of data. Now, is 58 or 60% good enough? We obviously want these numbers to be higher, especially when we’re thinking about folks that are saying that it’s saving them significant amount of time, not just a moderate amount of time

Varsha Eluri So how do we do that? 17:05

Varsha Eluri ▷ 17:08 There are three ways where HCP say it could make these materials more beneficial, more useful for them. Number one, be more concise, easy to digest formats for quick reference. Two, more Customizable content to fit specific patient demographics. And three, printable take home summaries of key points, something that their patients can walk away with. And the healthcare professionals can be comfortable knowing that they have the information that they need.

Varsha Eluri ব 17:40 So I know we shared quite a lot there, but before we jump into the Q and A session, there are a few points that we want to hammer home again. So number one, content and messaging design, creating solutions that serve the patient needs, in turn end up serving the HCP needs. So again, very interlinked. So as we are thinking about design, making sure that that’s in mind is really important. HCPs want to be able to support their patients with relevant, specific solutions.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 18:13 On the patient side, patients want to understand their health better. They’re seeking more information, but they’re seeking specific, specific kinds of information, focusing on that holistic management of their condition and their health. And then the physical design itself. The patients desire more educational materials, but these might need to be more clear and concise. Right?

Varsha Eluri ▷ 18:33 Because a lot of them tend to just skim the materials. So what do we do about this? How do we achieve this? POC solutions are being used and should be used to create these rich and meaningful conversations between healthcare professionals and their patients. So making sure that we’re keeping that in mind as we’re creating these solutions is critical in enhancing those outcomes.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 18:57 Solutions should be designed to allow for adaptations depending on who the HCP is talking to. So the customizability factor is a big thing that we should keep in mind. And then again, holistic health management, not just the focus on the treatment and the condition itself, connecting with the patients at that level, and then finally clear information. So making sure that we’re keeping the key demographic in mind. So whether you’re designing these brochures for patients that tend to read them completely or just skim through them, making them really clear, making the key points jump out very quickly so that even while skimming, they can get the information that they need.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 19:37 So with that, we’d like to open it up for any questions you may have. No. Varsha Eluri ▷ 19:51

Varsha Eluri ▷ 19:56 Which types of point of care materials are preferred by HCPs and patients? Why is this? How can we improve underutilized options? So we did take a look at this to figure out if there’s like digital versus the traditional modes of creating this content and transferring this content was more popular. It was a healthy mix.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 20:18 And we do have the full data on that that we can definitely share after this presentation. But we did see that there’s value to both having that presence digitally as well, as in the paper format, where they can actually touch, feel that information and take it home with them.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 20:32 And what I think was really interesting about to that point as well is there was a lot of integration between what the patients found was interesting and what the HCPs did. It wasn’t like the HCP specifically wanted something digital and the patients wanted something offline. The two of them were like mimicking each other quite nicely and having a lot of comparable results as to what they thought was effective and why they found it effective as well.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 20:56 So I think that speaks again to what we were saying earlier is you, you can have the same solution that is used between the both and that having consistent threads between them works well.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 21:06 Yeah. How can we increase the amount of time or attention patients spend on these materials? So, yeah, I mean, while we saw that black patients tend to read it more thoroughly versus other races, we can’t affect others races, I guess. But what we can do is again, think about that customizability factor and what the patients need.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 21:28 Right. So that individual customization could, could help in this engagement with these materials even more. So really understanding and making sure that the materials are customizable based on where they are in their journey, based on what they’re seeking, what their interests are, could help engagement further, given the significant differences in HCP and patient engagement across specialties therapeutic areas, is it safe, safe to assume POC plays a different role for each specialty? I would say so, yeah. Because what we found was each provider’s treating a specific disease state therapeutic area.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 22:13 There are differences in how they’re approaching patients, there are differences in what patients are seeking from them. So what they would seek from a PCP is very different than what they would look at, look towards an oncologist for. So there are differences in how they are interacting with their patients, what their patients are asking them for. So there should be differences in how we’re designing these solutions for them, keeping that in mind.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 22:36 And I think what we saw is that PCPs were looking at more generalized Medicaid generalized options, providing patients with more generalized information, whereas the oncologists were using it much more as a kind of specific guided approach and giving their patients really specific information.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 22:53 And I think that’s where the data that you took us through, Varsha, where we showed the differences and where those types of specialists really want something that directly helps them speak to patients about treatment options or outcomes or why they need to be so adherent versus PCPs. And the generalists, like dermatologists, for example, really focusing Much more on treatment, treatment or condition education. I think there was a question over here though. P3

Participant 3 ▷ 23:19 I was just curious if your research analyzed the difference between like testimonial specific content and whether that resonates better with HCP versus consumer or vice versa. Like more DTC specific content, do you have any understanding of the benefit of one or the other or is it a mix of both?

Varsha Eluri ▷ 23:45 Sorry, I had a hard time hearing that. Could you repeat it? P3 Participant 3 ▷ 23:48 I was just curious about patient testimonial specific content versus DTC content that marketers are putting into the point of care space. Was there any sentiment on one resonating more than the other? And does it vary between a consumer versus an hcp?

Varsha Eluri ▷ 24:10 That’s a great question. We didn’t test specifically for that type of content, so we didn’t ask specifically patient testimonials versus dtc. But I do think that’s something to explore further. Right. So are there specific types of content they would like to see at the point of care and does one resonate better than the other?

Varsha Eluri ▷ 24:30 Typically patients do tend to appreciate content that’s really focused on answering their questions. So even with branded advertising, typically they resonate with content better if they think that they’re learning something from it versus just saying that, hey, take this medication, it’s going to be better for you. But it comes down to how do you marry the two? Because we need branded presence, we need educational materials. How do we marry the two in a way that resonates well with patients?

Kate Phillipps ▷ 25:08 So the next question we have is what types of materials were HCPs and patients surveyed on? Does this include digital materials? We surveyed both HCPs and patients on pretty much the full gamut of POC solutions. I think in the end we had potentially 20 different attribute options for them to select from. Both digital and kind of offline solutions were selected.

Kate Phillipps ▷ 25:32 I think the HCPs had slightly more of a tendency towards the digital options, especially when it came to electronic health records or telehealth. Sorry, compared to the patients. But we did see patients also seeing and using the check in boards, digital wall screens, things like that, and having positive satisfaction experiences with those as well.

Varsha Eluri ▷ 25:53 Yeah, the slides were super busy to include everything which is why we cut it down to just the top options. But yeah, we do have the data and can definitely share that.