As out of pocket healthcare costs grow, consumers and patients are sometimes faced with the challenge of being able to afford and take their medication as prescribed. Within the past two years, dermatologist Dhaval Bhanusali, MD, FAAD had a situation where he had prescribed an anti-fungal cream to a patient. In a follow-up, he discovered that a treatment that should have cost her less than $8 ended up costing $1,200.

“I have drugs that I used to prescribe to patients that were $4. And now they’re $800 to $2,000. The same drug. It’s getting unsustainable,” he told Business Insider. (In 2019, several lawsuits were filed against multiple generic pharmaceutical manufacturers for alleged price-fixing.) As the Business Insider article noted, “Though [doctors] write prescriptions, most don’t know what drugs will cost their patient. That is, unless they hear back about issues.” Connecting with other dermatologists who were experiencing similar situations with their patients, Dr. Bhanusali ultimately founded Skin Medicinals to help combat this issue.

The medical entrepreneur had previously launched a platform to compare prices between different local pharmacies as well as an EMR platform for Dermatologists and even helped launch Amazon’s first private skincare brand. Skin Medicinals, an online platform that utilizes compounding pharmacies to specially mix medications for patients, emerged as a result of that work. Dr. Bhanusali is also an instructor in the Mount Sinai Health System and works in private practice in NYC.

While not entirely welcomed by some in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Bhanusali told DTC Perspectives that “overall, people understand the mission and respect what we are trying to do.” He added, “We are coming directly from the end users who WANT to reduce prices, and this platform is showing it is possible.” Since having launched Skin Medicinals in August 2018, the network has nearly 3,000 healthcare providers and dermatologists registered, as well as 73,000 patients. (A doctor must be registered with the platform before their patient can create an online account and begin ordering their medication for home delivery.) “This has demonstrated a true unifying of the field and become a mission for patient care nationally,” he noted.

Awareness and growth about this enterprise has been “organic” thus far. Dr. Bhanusali informed DTC Perspectives, that while there may be the possibility to do more direct marketing in the future, so far “this has been a grassroots effort from physicians to educate patients (and ourselves) about the rising drug costs.”

“We handle everything from Rosacea to pigment conditions, warts to chemotherapeutics. We also regularly provide options for inflammatory conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and more. [We] want to start with dermatology and hopefully inspire physicians in other fields to create similar [help for patients],” concluded Dr. Bhanusali in our interview. “While physician-led innovation tends to be rare, this is one of the first times that such a large number has come together so fast, showing the absolute need for innovation in the space. As prices continue to rise, it will be interesting to see if Skin Medicinals becomes a viable alternative to traditional pharma, one in which the physicians take control to better the access for patients.”

Earlier this month, Ogilvy Health kicked off their #EverydayMatters campaign, setting in motion a long-term commitment to “make an impact on cancer”. The endeavor began with a public relations and communications teammate suggesting the agency do something to support World Cancer Day as so many people across the globe are affected by cancer – whether it be patients themselves or maybe you know someone suffering from the disease.

Speaking with DTC Perspectives, Amy Graham and Sherry Novembre shared that this is currently a year-long project about which they are highly passionate, with each month highlighting a different type or types of cancer. Novembre, SVP, Management Supervisor at Ogilvy Health, shared that “the spirit of what we are doing is … small, regular gains that add up.” March’s effort sees the agency’s Young Professionals Network leading a colored band-aid drive for children to benefit the Rutgers Cancer Institute of NJ’s Pediatric Wing. An additional focus in March will highlight colorectal cancer: an educational poster created to generate awareness among Ogilvy Health employees is now being shared publicly to help bring awareness to the masses, allowing other companies to access and distribute the poster share with and educate their staff.

Graham, client engagement officer at Ogilvy Health, detailed that another way they are trying to educate is through psychosocial aspects: why a patient may choose to be treated or not, or the challenges of navigating information during what many find to be overwhelming or could be a crisis-time, for example. By better understanding how decisions are made for treatments and during a treatment cycle, they are able to reshape education and support to better help those affected through a difficult time.

The #EverydayMatters campaign will be constantly evolving to ensure they are providing much needed education or support appropriately. Future elements will include walks/runs and other distribution materials. Novembre also shared that the team is in talks to partner with advocacy groups, partially via Ogilvy Health’s oncology business, “on activities to help amplify their voices through our channels.” Thinking in the long-term, this has the potential to take things beyond one year or beyond just the US, said Graham. The team is also exploring ways they may partner with their global offices to further efforts. The ultimate goal is to push the conversation further and create a strong call to action in a “lifelong endeavor,” Graham remarked.

Your parents are the ones who always take care of you.  Mom kissed your knee when you fell on the playground, and Dad drove you to the hospital when you needed to get your tonsils out.  Your parents kept you healthy and safe.  They were your rock and knew all the answers and just what to do.

Time passes.  You’re in your thirties and somehow in an instant the role of caregiver has flipped.  This was the case for me.  Nothing could prepare me for the moment I learned my mom, my rock, was diagnosed with a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  I recall googling “NHL” only to be served hockey statistics; I was frustrated and scared.  Every time we went to see her oncologist or when I accompanied her to chemo, I would get hit with a wall of anxiety.  Each time we stepped into the hospital, what my mom and I truly needed most was support.

As a caregiver and patient, I understand the emotional moments that can happen at the point of care.  As a healthcare marketer, I also understand the value of this space as a channel, and I’ve been fortunate to see it evolve over the tenure of my career.  Today, pharmaceutical brands and healthcare and lifestyle advocacy groups push messages at these point of care (POC) settings, hoping to educate patients about therapy options.

But POC as a marketing channel needs to be treated both similarly and differently from other marketing strategies if a marketer wants to appear relevant and connect in a meaningful and useful way.  The reality of distracted, concerned patients and worried caregivers means brands that want to engage with patients at the POC need to approach them with greater empathy and understanding, with content that resonates emotionally and rationally with this audience.

But what makes POC unique anyway?

The POC channel supports the patient at critical moments of their health journey. 

From acute illness to more chronic or prolonged conditions, important milestones of the health journey happen at the point of care.  Through a recent survey collaboration between Outcome Health and Nielsen, we learned that the wait times within the rooms of point of care are substantial, with patients waiting on average up to 38 minutes in the waiting room and then another 36 minutes in the exam room.  These wait times represent a huge opportunity to communicate with and impact patients, caregivers and physicians all at the same time — essentially turning a “captive” audience into a “captivated” and educated one.

Inventory is finite if POC content is done right.

POC differs from other digital ad channels because inventory is specific, targeted, and limited.  Think about it.  There are only so many rheumatologists in the United States, and there are only so many brands that treat or support patients who see a rheumatologist.  Factor in the attention span of the average person today, include the other places they can get content in the doctor’s office (like magazines, posters, pamphlets), as well as the fact that we are all walking around with smart devices that can deliver content that we ask it anytime, anywhere, and you realize how critical it is to provide content that is aligned with why a patient may be in that rheumatologist’s office in the first place.  This content (continuing with the Rheumatology example) could include anything from signs and symptoms of Lupus, to managing rheumatoid arthritis through diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices, to understanding how to best support a loved one who has osteoporosis — this is just the short list of potential content that may be pertinent to patients or caregivers seeing rheumatologists.  The funnel of dependencies leading to the opportunity to message a patient who is seeing their provider for an ailment and being able to support that patient on their journey means that there are finite opportunities like this, which makes messaging at the POC more sophisticated and challenging in the same breath.

The point of care is the final touchpoint of the marketing message. 

On many occasions, I’ve heard pharma marketers muse, “What if we could hold hands with patients when they have those important conversations with their provider?”  In the POC channel, you can.  Unlike TV, print, and digital that serve to create awareness for new therapies or reach patients before they reach the office, POC holds their hand in the office, moments before and during time with their physician.

POC drives patients to take action.

Messaging at the POC has been proven to impact and shift patient behaviors.  In a study by ZS Associates, patient behavior was measured after being exposed to digital signage at their provider’s office.  Of those exposed, 84% were more likely to ask their doctor about an ad they saw, 68% asked their doctor for a specific medication, 31% were more likely to fill their prescription, and 34% were more likely to take their medication as prescribed.

Where does POC marketing fit in alongside DTC and traditional channels?  The point of care should serve as a complement to your brand’s other marketing and sales efforts, with specificity and context for patients waiting to see their doctors, moving them forward towards treatment.  POC marketing can be leveraged as a digital tool, as a TV alternative, and even as a patient engagement solution to share benefits like co-pay assistance programs.  Because your ad is now in the room with patients and their physician, messaging must be tailored for this space; simply dropping your TV spot onto an exam room screen isn’t likely to cut it with patients who are waiting to see their doctor.  Advertisers should welcome the opportunity to become more deeply integrated into the patient-doctor experience and develop content that can be integrated into the clinical setting.

Because there’s such a range of experiences (and emotions) that happen at POC, it’s important that any content (sponsored or not) intended for this space is sensitive to that.  You can’t create effective content without considering the patient’s mindset.  Content must be curated and contextualized for each touchpoint of the point of care experience.  Videos should be relevant for that clinic’s specialty and help to facilitate physician-patient conversations.  When you’re at the doctor’s office, sitting in a gown (or in the passenger seat supporting an ill parent), wouldn’t you prefer fact-based, custom information that’s helpful and supportive of the conversation you’re about to have with your physician?

On the other hand, there are also moments of the health journey when patients don’t want to dig further into their treatment plan or condition and prefer access to content that simply entertains or distracts them.  We as marketers need to take into account the range of experiences that happen within the point of care and provide content that aligns with and supports these unique moments.

The most important thing to remember is that patient needs vary within the POC environment, and you can’t take a “one size fits all” approach with your messages within each channel.  The diversity of needs and experiences is prompting the space to evolve beyond just awareness.  New trends within the space include patient education, adherence, support group registration, and more.  The channel is poised for continued growth and we, as healthcare marketers, need to continue to innovate so that everyone entering the POC space can feel informed, inspired, entertained, and renewed during the most critical moments of care.

The global digital health market is on the rise. Digital healthcare is the future, and increasingly the present, of how patients are diagnosed and treated. With the shift in healthcare, DTC marketers are presented with a new challenge: understanding how patient needs change as new technologies enter the market.

It’s no longer enough to talk simply about the promises of new technologies. Now it’s time to take a hard look at how digital healthcare impacts the patients and consequently, how new needs and expectations are formed. Cybersecurity, or lack thereof, is becoming a major factor in this equation.

Concerns Around the Internet of Medical Things

You probably already know that the Internet of Medical Things has a huge potential for medicine. Elderly patients’ health can be remotely monitored by care-givers, extending the period of independence. Medicine can be automatically administered, ensuring the right dosage at the right time. Reports can be composed and sent to an app on the patient’s phone, giving them greater agency over their own health. Emergency alerts can be sent directly to hospitals if the patient’s health rapidly deteriorates.

In short: countless lives can be saved or made easier thanks to the Internet of Medical Things.

But that doesn’t mean that the technology behind the Internet of Things (IoT) is flawless. In fact, security experts have been raising concerns about IoT since its very inception. And while having a smart light switch or smart TV hacked shouldn’t have any effect on users’ health, a hacked medical device is a whole other story.

To give you an idea of how disastrous things could turn out, security researchers discovered security flaws in the Medtronic implantable insulin pump that allowed them to remotely disable it, cutting off the delivery of medication. The same researchers demonstrated also taking total control of a pacemaker system.

The message from this and many other experiments was clear: if insufficiently protected, IoT medical devices could be a danger to patients’ lives.

Cybersecurity and Telehealth

Telehealth is yet another field of digital healthcare that carries a great promise. Telehealth entails providing remote care through means of telecommunication which increasingly means the Internet. Its great advantage is that it minimizes the need for in-person visits to the doctor’s office: particularly important for elderly patients or those with mobility issues.

Giving the popularity of smartphones and laptops, most households are equipped for telehealth. As the infrastructure develops, we’re likely to see many patients schedule doctor visits online and consult specialists remotely via a video chat.

But telehealth faces the exact same criticism as the Internet of Medical Devices. Most Internet users are don’t have the technical expertise necessary to protect their devices from access by unauthorized parties. Once those devices are being used to transmit such sensitive information as medical test results, doctor consultations and other health data, the question of cybersecurity becomes ever more pressing.

Should this Matter to DTC Marketers?

Before I answer this question, let’s consider another one. Does cybersecurity matter to the end-users of these technologies — patients?

The answer is a resounding yes. According to research, Americans care about their data privacy and security (85% of respondents are extremely, very or somewhat concerned about their smart devices monitoring their personal habits). And not just that, many users will take active steps to protect their privacy as well.

With surveillance and hacking scandals breaking out seemingly every week, this security awareness will only grow. It’s enough to take a look at Millennials’ laptops: many will have their video cameras taped over, GPS location disabled, and a VPN running in the background as they surf the Internet.

To come back to the question in the heading: DTC marketers need to care about cybersecurity because that’s what patients care about. Security features are slowly moving into the spotlight — when making an important decision about their health, patients will be weighting security as one of the factors. Understanding and being able to answer questions about cybersecurity will soon become a part of DTC marketer’s stack.

Moving Forward

Digital healthcare transformation is picking up speed and so will the controversies associated with it.

To be fully prepared for the future of healthcare, we need to look critically at what this new field is shaping up to be. With patients increasingly concerned about their privacy and security, it seems that security features will be a strong selling point for any new technologies entering the health sector.

HCB Health opened their third office recently, in Parsippany, NJ. This will allow the independent, full-service healthcare agency to focus on serving large-scale pharma clients in the tri-state region. The office currently has 10 team members, and is expected to grow to 25 in the next year. According to the news release, they are “actively recruiting to fill positions in the NJ office in account services, creative, project management and digital.”

“We created this office to service existing local accounts and engage new clients in the tri-state region. Even in our virtual world, it’s essential to be close to your clients,” stated HCB Health CEO Kerry Hilton in the announcement. HCB Health President Nancy Beesley added: “We’re strategically located in the middle of the pharma belt – where talent, agencies and especially pharma and biotech companies converge.”

The NJ office joins their Austin and Chicago based locations. The agency utilizes technology to ensure “seamless collaboration and integration” across all of its team members as well as maintain it’s quality and commitment to clients, regardless of location. The New Jersey team members are (listed according to hire date, earliest to most recent):

• Lee Randolph, SVP Group Account Supervisor
• Nick D’ Amore, Medical Editor
• Mark Davis, SVP Multichannel Delivery
• John Augenstein, Group Account Supervisor
• Dale Fordsman, Senior Project Manager
• Allison Musante, Senior Copywriter
• Matthew Musick, Account Supervisor
• Lysa Opfer, Art Supervisor
• Alexandra Langdon, Assistant Account Executive
• Thomas Cianci, Project Manager

A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Nov. 4th for the newest office. From left to right: (front row) President Nancy Beesley, Francesco Lucarelli, Matthew Musick, Kelsi Brown, Lee Randolph, Alexandra Langdon, John Augenstein; (back row), Travis Waggoner, Lysa Opfer, Allison Musante, Brooks Bagwell, Dale Fordsman and Mark Davis.