• by Ashik Desai , Natalie Hill , May 31, 2017

As our industry continues its march to value-based healthcare, how will success be measured? Beyond script lift and market share, the industry has an opportunity now to come together around a common vision: That the real profit of our efforts is measured in the long-term health of patients. 

But how can we align an already fragmented industry in a way that will drive long-term health and positive outcomes? By optimizing around the moment of care. 

Consider the challenge of therapy adherence. Prescribing a medication is not the same as achieving adherence to that medication, as we all know. In fact, adherence rates for many chronic conditions are often below 50%. If we can extend the reach of a patient’s trust in their HCPs to therapeutic follow-up, outcomes are improved for all stakeholders. 

Those precious moments in the doctor/patient interaction are increasingly meaningful. They can:

• create greater awareness/recall of life science brand messaging;

• activate patients to invest more trust in the doctor on the brand as a treatment option, and 

• drive additional script volume.

We’ve measured these outcomes by building on proven analytical methods — for example, classic test/control method to measure script lift — and getting even more sophisticated in terms of the factors that we control for in order to properly attribute impact. Through our penetration into a large portion of doctors’ offices, we’ve been able to measure these outcomes by building on the industry’s long-established analytical approaches to map the factors that affect impact. Because we are can cross-reference HCPs with their prescription behaviors, for example, and link those to de-identified patients that then link to behavior, we have a deeper understanding of how and why adherence occurs.

For example, by delivering therapeutic information that enriches the dialogue between patients and physicians at the moment of care, we’ve been able to track greater patient compliance with their treatment protocols. In another one of our brand studies, we found that patients in our campaign network were more likely to adhere to their regimen with that brand, with 8.3% more CRx (continuing prescriptions) lifted versus control.

These other dimensions of outcomes not only further drive economic value to life science companies through higher prescription volume and higher patient lifetime values (LTVs), but they ultimately drive better health outcomes as well, as patients get on treatments faster and adhere to their treatments better. 

There are many influences on the healthcare ecosystem — life science companies, payers, providers, patients and more. Measurement objectives and methodologies need to evolve and expand. We cannot limit ourselves to just measuring volume (script lifts) when we know that the impact of moment-of-care engagement drives not just volume, but multi-dimensional value to the healthcare ecosystem. It will also serve us better to measure outcomes synergistically rather than disparately.

It’s critical that our measurement methodologies continue to get more holistic in measuring the broad set of synergistic outcomes that can be delivered: 

• Better longitudinal disease outcomes and greater satisfaction for better-informed/ more conscientious patients.

• Reduced complications of disease in those patients, leading to lower costs for payers as well as better outcomes. 

• More meaningful patient dialogues and greater practice efficiency for providers. 

• Greater awareness, enhanced uptake, better compliance and ultimately share gains for industry partners.

Our healthcare system is rapidly migrating from episodic care and one-off interventions to a greater focus on longitudinal outcomes and value delivery. We strive to engage with, and enhance the work of, all who are creating better outcomes. This will result from innovation in analytical methods to ensure those outcomes are measured and ultimately achieved.