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March 31, 2021 0

In January, President Biden aimed to administer 100 million COVID-19 vaccination shots to Americans in the first 100 days that his administration had taken office. Initially seen as aggressive, that objective was met only 58 days in. In a recent speech, the president explained how this was achieved: “Using the power given to a President under the Defense Production Act, we expedited critical materials in vaccine production, such as equipment, machinery, and supplies.  We worked with vaccine manufacturers to speed up the delivery of millions more doses and brokered a historic manufacturing partnership between competing companies who put patriotism and public health first.” Last week in a press conference, President Biden doubled his goal to 200 million shots in 100 days.

Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a nearly $10 billion investment by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with significant funding from the American Rescue Plan, “to expand access to vaccines and better serve communities of color, rural areas, low-income populations, and other underserved communities in the COVID-19 response. This funding will expand access to vaccines for vulnerable populations and increase vaccine confidence across the country.”

With a pledge of seeing 90% of U.S. adults eligible by April 19 and 90% being within five miles of a vaccination location, President Biden’s next phase of vaccine dissemination directs all states, tribes, and territories to make every U.S. adult eligible by May 1st. To help reach this new milestone:

  • the number of vaccination sites will increase, including adding mass vaccination sites, community centers, local and federal retail pharmacies, and mobile clinics;
  • more people will be able to provide and support vaccinations, including active duty troops, and “qualified professionals such as Dentists, advanced and intermediate Emergency Medical Technicians, Midwives, Optometrists, Paramedics, Physician Assistants, Podiatrists, Respiratory Therapists, and Veterinarians, as well as medical students, nursing students, and other healthcare students in the previously listed professions under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act”;
  • the federal government will provide tools and resources to help individuals find a vaccine location more easily (including a federally-supported website and toll-free number), as well as provide technical support at the state level for states to improve their existing COVID-19- and vaccine-related websites.

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March 31, 2021 0

It was announced earlier this month that PatientPoint had combined forces with Outcome Health to launch a new platform company, PatientPoint Health Technologies. Functioning under the PatientPoint brand, this merger amplifies doctor-patient interactions across the entire patient care journey and, as noted in the release, helps “meet the tech-enabled patient engagement needs of nearly 150,000 unique healthcare providers and impact roughly 750 million patient visits each year.” The new company plans for both organic growth as well as mergers and acquisitions to help “grow its provider base and to expand the suite of innovative, tech-enabled patient engagement solutions it can offer to its provider customers.”

Remarking how well CEO Matt McNally and COO Nandini Ramani turned around Outcome Health and rebuilt trust, PatientPoint’s CEO and Founder, Mike Collette also stated: “By leveraging the best talent and technology from both PatientPoint and Outcome Health, we will be well positioned to expand our suite of innovative patient engagement solutions to deliver improved patient outcomes and a more personalized, relevant patient experience as well as enhanced scale and efficiency for our healthcare sponsors.” He added, “Every key healthcare stakeholder wins with our unique business model: Patients achieve improved health outcomes and an enhanced patient experience, healthcare providers receive innovative, high-value patient engagement solutions at no cost or low cost, and healthcare sponsors that financially support our programs receive forecast-altering sales growth at a compelling ROI.”

PatientPoint’s current leadership will remain in place, leading the new platform company: Mike Collette as Chief Executive Officer; Linda Ruschau as Chief Client Officer; Pat O’Brien as Chief Financial Officer; and Chris Martini as Chief Provider Officer. Technology executives from Outcome Health, Glenn Keighley and Sean Barden, will join PatientPoint’s engineering and information technology teams.

Click here to read the full announcement.

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March 2, 2021 0

With World Cancer Day on Feb 4, 2021, Ogilvy Health closed in on their year-long commitment to cancer awareness through their passion project, #EverydayMatters. DTC Perspectives spoke with two of the team members behind the campaign for its launch and again in late summer for an update. Coming full circle, we spoke with Deb Ciauro, Executive Creative Director; Sherry Novembre, Senior Vice President, Management Supervisor; and Kerianne Slattery, Senior Manager, Communications & Public Relations; to discuss the back-half of #EverydayMatters’ monthly initiatives.

“We’ve done a lot and it has really evolved nicely. We’ve always tried to attach [the work] to reflect current what’s happening in the world and make it resonate,” Ciauro informed. Keeping true with the motivation that regular, daily gains add up to a greater result, the team continued its work on focusing each month on a different cancer-related area, including:

  • Protect Your Skin – skin cancer guidelines to protect your skin, including wearing sunscreen as well as masks in efforts to “sun safely”
  • Pediatric Cancer Awareness – eCards geared to a variety of age groups to build awareness and support those affected by pediatric cancer, focusing on “the patient’s superpowered ability to fight”
  • Make That Appointment Today!– a personal story from Slattery to emphasize the importance of regular wellness checks for National Wellness Month, and to not delay care as many may opt to do in the pandemic
  • Electronic Medical Records – how EMRs can help oncology patients take control of their health info and better help them manage their healthcare journey
  • Lung Cancer Awareness – celebrating advancements such as biomarker testing and immunotherapy is helping prevent, detect, and treat lung cancer
  • Happy Holidays – an expression of appreciation for those important healthcare workers who are “deeply devoted to fighting cancer”
  • Food for Thought – a look at how nutritional choices can impact overall health, including what foods can increase the risk of cancers or aid in your treatment to “help you take a bite out of cancer every day”

From #EverydayMatter’s social media promotions, Novembre shared that more than 147,000 impressions total were garnered and video content via social media promotions tallied nearly 6,500 views. Slattery shared that the launch video and skin cancer guidelines were among the top viewed content.

Ogilvy Health’s commitment to #EverydayMatters remained a priority, even during the pandemic, Ciauro explained. After pivoting and adjusting to their new normal, they all realized they could continue their work without compromising quality, so they kept at it. “We have adapted and this effort has adapted, like everything else. We figured out how to do it remotely and we’ve stuck with it. It’s been gratifying and we’re very thankful that we were able to still see this through,” she said. The team utilized every remotely accessible technology that they could – from online programs by the art team, to the latest smartphones to record tribute videos, to podcast equipment or even a spouse’s at-home music studio to record professional-grade voiceovers – they always ensured that the quality of the work would not be sacrificed.

In fact, this new normal helped create the overall look and tone of their production, which created a cohesive feel and consistent voice across the various campaign elements. The brand identity thus resulted in memorable and engaging efforts that truly resonated with patients and caregivers. Novembre also highlighted how the team members involved in #EverydayMatters were there because they wanted to be, as this was extracurricular and beyond client work. It also afforded opportunities for up-and-comers at the agency to participate, gaining knowledge and experience as well as providing them with exposure to the company’s top talents. Novembre expressed appreciation for their creative team, adding that this genuine desire to participate helped create the charm, authenticity, and personal touch needed for such communication with their target audiences.

While metrics and results showed the campaign to be a success, Ciauro, Novembre, and Slattery unanimously agreed that seeing the real-world impact #EverydayMatters had on consumers to be proactive with their healthcare was the biggest campaign achievement. Calling back to Bryan Minogue’s colonoscopy experience video for colorectal cancer awareness month, Novembre noted how well people responded to the video as personal journeys can provide help and understanding in a unique way. It was Bryan’s honest, candid disposition that not only encouraged viewers to schedule their own colonoscopy, but also helped prepare them on what they could expect during their own appointments.

As the team celebrates the one-year anniversary of #EverydayMatters, they remain steadfast in continuing into 2021 and beyond, as well as globally. They are transitioning to a bi-monthly schedule instead of monthly moving forward, which will allow them to spend more time on a cancer-related topic, Novembre said. They also wanted to be cognizant of not overwhelming audiences with content as people are often already receiving so much through their social channels in everyday life, especially after 2020, she added. The bi-monthly approach will also better accommodate global initiatives and advocacy partnerships since they will have more time to dedicate to each project and be able to involve more voices. One big overarching focus for 2021 will be “how to improve our reach and amplify getting these messages out,” she affirmed.

In looking back over the past year, Ciauro found not only the agency’s commitment and passion for #EverydayMatters, but also the meaningful purpose of sharing such important education and the real-time audience feedback to be particularly moving. “Knowing you are reaching people and creating that awareness is really gratifying,” she stated. Health has become such a primary topic of conversation, and they wanted to be sure that along with COVID-19, “cancer stayed just as important in that health conversation.”

Take a look back at all the team has accomplished with their year-long commitment to recognize that #EverydayMatters through their cancer awareness, education, and activation campaign.

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