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July 29, 2021 0

IQVIA analyzed four key areas in regards to digital health trends: innovation, evidence, regulation, and adoption. The report, by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, found that “more than 90,000 digital health apps [were] added [to app stores worldwide] in 2020”, bringing the total apps available to consumers to over 350,000. Apps can be typically split into two categories: health condition management, which now account for 47% of the market, and wellness management. “Mental health (22% of apps), diabetes (15%), and cardiovascular disease-related (10%) apps [account] for almost half of disease-specific apps.”

Yet, “while software developers of digital health apps initially commercialized through public app stores under a direct-to-consumer business model, apps providing the most significant health benefits focus increasingly on payers and employers.” The US market, in particular, is starting to see increased reimbursement by payers and employers as they are often looking to offset health costs and ensure health and wellness among its users. This may further entice software developers to focus more on this sector, rather than consumers directly, when it comes to their commercialization pathways.

Additionally, in the US, nearly half of physicians (44%) are interested in prescribing medical apps for patients as are more than two-thirds (70%) “of formulary decision-makers within hospitals, IDNs, MCOs and PBMs — who either currently provide coverage for [digital therapeutics] (25%) or have expressed interest in providing coverage (45%).” Major barriers prevent more widespread adoption though, including a lack of criteria standardization for app evaluation by governing bodies as well as a clear reimbursement process yet to be established by Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Click here to read Digital Health Trends 2021: Innovation, Evidence, Regulation, and Adoption.

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July 29, 2021 0

UnidosUS and AARP have teamed up to educate hard-to-reach Latinos on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines through a mobile tour. As a part of UnidosUS’ Esperanza Hope for All campaign, this tour will provide attendees with answers to their questions and distribute bilingual educational materials at their various stops, which will also be held in “rural and socially vulnerable areas,” according to the news announcement.

“It’s a somber fact that older Hispanics are more likely to suffer health complications or die from COVID-19 than their white peers,” said Julie Marte, AARP New Jersey Associate State Director of Community Outreach in the news announcement. “By working with UnidosUS, we are helping to ensure the Hispanic community is included equitably in vaccine education and helping the community get the information they can trust.” The New Jersey tour stops will run every Saturday and Sunday through August 8th.

The Esperanza Hope for All campaign has reached more than 25,000 people nationwide with its mobile tour, “helping build trust in the COVID-19 vaccines and ensure that the older Hispanic adult community is included equitably in vaccine distribution efforts across the country.” As Rita Carreón, Vice President of Health at UnidosUS further explained, “Latinos are disproportionally concentrated in ‘essential’ occupations where they face higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus—exposure that often results in their hospitalization or death when unvaccinated. That is why fostering trust in the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines and combating vaccine misinformation and disinformation is paramount. Only by reaching out to Latinos where they live and engaging trusted community leaders to deliver this important information, can we meaningfully advance our community and country’s recovery.” For more details about the mobile tour, click here.

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July 29, 2021 0

Five months after opening a special enrollment period for via HealthCare.gov, two million more Americans signed up for health insurance. In mid-July, The Biden-Harris Administration launched “Summer Sprint to Coverage” for the final 30 days before special enrollment closes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will run a series of testimonial ads during prime-time television, featuring real individuals (Dorothy from Charlotte, NC; Darrell & Erica from Duluth, GA; and Jeremy from Houston, TX) who were able to sign up for zero-cost or low-cost health insurance. Television commercials, in both English and Spanish, will air during high-profile sporting events, such as the Olympics. Digital and social media ads, and other educational materials available in multiple languages, were created to “[increase] outreach directed to underserved and minority populations” and populations with high uninsured rates, stated the news release on U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ website. Community outreaches are being employed, too, by partnering “with Navigators, licensed agents and trusted messengers. Additionally, CMS has created a 30-day toolkit for partners to amplify the message of coverage options available during the SEP and the importance of signing up before the August 15 deadline.”

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July 21, 2021 0

Sponsored Content

Pharmaceutical companies pour billions of dollars each year into patient support programs, aiming to provide patients with drug information, financial assistance and other resources.

But those resources aren’t actually reaching patients, new data say. Phreesia, which surveyed nearly 5,000 patients checking in for doctors’ appointments this past February and March, found that just 3% were using patient support programs (PSPs).

That’s a pretty low figure, considering pharma’s annual investment tops $5.7 billion. And it wasn’t much higher when accounting for patients’ lifetime use of support programs, either: Only 8% had ever used a PSP before, Phreesia found.

Why the low usage? The problem isn’t so much that patients aren’t interested in what PSPs have to offer. Sixty-three percent of surveyed patients said support programs would be at least a little bit helpful for them, with 14% answering that they’d find PSPs very or extremely helpful.

Instead, the issue seems to be a lack of awareness. Fifty-nine percent of patients said they had little to no knowledge of PSPs—a gap companies are going to have to close if they want to successfully drive patients to their resources.

So what can drugmakers do to get the word out? Step one is creating marketing campaigns to increase awareness among qualified, targeted patients and to educate them on specific program offerings. An omnichannel approach that can reach target patients on the online platforms they’re already using should also be part of the plan.

Case in point: A life sciences company partnered with Phreesia to boost awareness around its savings program, and initially, 90% of patients were not using the company’s copay card. But after receiving information about the offer during check-in for doctors’ appointments, 53% said they were very likely to use a card if they had one.

Another option? Bringing pharmacies on board to help educate patients, whether that’s verbally or through brochures and other distributed materials. Only 14% of patients said they had learned about support programs from pharmacies, versus 32% who said they’d like to learn about support programs from pharmacies.

By far, though, the biggest disconnect Phreesia found was that just 10% of patients had learned about PSPs online—and 44% wanted to. For drugmakers, that chasm may be a signal that it’s time to revisit where and how support information is housed online and make it more prominent and easier to locate for patients surfing branded sites.

Of course, at the end of the day, healthcare providers will still be a major part of the equation. They’re currently the primary way patients are learning about PSPs, with 53% of patients getting their support info from doctors, and the way most patients (55%) would like to hear about support programs, too.

But as this new research shows, if companies really want to ensure an optimal medication experience for patients—not to mention, maximize their hefty investments—it’s going to take some additional strategizing to make sure patient support program information gets to patients in a clear, digestible way.

Connect with Phreesia:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/phreesia-life-sciences/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhreesiaLifeSci

David Linetsky


July 16, 2021 0

Sponsored Content

Populus Media, the leader in virtual care media solutions, today announced the positioning of its Custom Connect service as the first virtual patient acquisition platform, allowing pharmaceutical companies to realize immediate script lift ROI from their existing digital media campaigns.

The company’s Custom Connect platform allows pharmaceutical brands to immediately realize revenue through prescriptions by leveraging their existing digital media platforms and connecting patients with physicians at the click of a banner or other call to action.

The ability to eliminate the guesswork required to drive a patient from a media asset to an HCP is transformative in the industry and drastically reduces the amount of effort and budget required to drive that conversation and it dramatically increases ROI.

“It’s important that companies have realized that Custom Connect is about direct virtual patient acquisition and that it’s not a media campaign” said Howard Seidman, the company’s COO. “We are providing a vehicle to connect an interested consumer directly from a digital ad or part of an existing media buy to an HCP for a consult and prescription. No one else in the market is doing this at scale.”

Populus Media has demonstrated significant success with their clients, who have case studies showing that up to 75% of patients who click on an ad become qualified for the consult, and the majority of those patients have been prescribed the client medication when medically appropriate.

Populus has seen tremendous growth over the past 12 months, working with over 36  clients such as Evofem Biosciences and Bausch Health. Populus made history as the first company to provide media buying opportunities within the telehealth consultation environment. Custom Connect takes their leadership in the telehealth media industry one step further by connecting patients directly to prescriptions for branded pharma products.

The company has also announced that its other existing media offerings are being enhanced through a new offering called PatientAccess, which follows the patient post consult and ensures media views through follow-up communications with patients.

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About Populus Media

Populus Media, Inc. was formed in 2019 and is based in New York City. Populus is positioned as the first virtual media and patient acquisition company specifically built for the virtual care industry. Populus curates a deep archive of condition-specific content for timely delivery to patients before and after their virtual care visit alongside its partnership with HealthiNation, a GoodRx company. It also offers digital patient acquisition tools via its Custom Connect platform.

Media Contact: Matt Adler

Email: madler@populus-media.com

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