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GfK HealthCare | December 2011 | |
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Patient Insights – Opportunities in a New World  By Deepa Iyengar, Associate Vice President The need to understand patients The world is getting smaller. There are major advances every day, especially in technology and communication. Particularly over the last 10 years, information that was hard to obtain is now freely available over the Internet and can be accessed through various devices. People are becoming more information-savvy and are making harder and smarter choices and decisions. Google, Wikipedia and YouTube have really changed the way people think. Interested consumers can easily get information on anything – from using consumer products, to finding the right financial consultant, to buying a house. Peer reviews are becoming more and more important as consumers research everything from electronics to clothes to restaurants to doctors and hospitals and use these reviews to make decisions. Online forums, support groups and social networks have become powerful advocacy voices, enabling consumers to interact with other participants and exchange ideas, share insights and give/seek advice. So what does this mean for health care? In a world like this, it is only natural that people conduct the same amount of due diligence and research on health care as they do in other areas. It is increasingly becoming mainstream that a patient who is diagnosed with a condition or even just have symptoms, will research it to understand the full impact and treatment options – taking their treatment into their own hands. On the flip side, fewer patients blindly follow what their physicians tell them to do. They read, research and challenge the physician’s perspective, even going so far as to change physicians if they are not comfortable with their options. This will become even more common as the current Gen Y gets older. There is already some awareness of this changing perspective, as witnessed by the increase in the amount of direct-to-consumer advertising by health care companies in the past few years. But it has to be expanded beyond that. A strong effort must be made toward understanding patients and addressing their needs, more now than ever. Challenges for the health care industry This poses several challenges for the health care industry as it tries to grapple with the new system. These challenges include: Traditional channels being eroded: The traditional channels of distribution for health care companies, i.e., physicians and other health care professionals, are being overtaken by this new breed of patients who treat their health care needs just like any other product. They find the best options for themselves and often shop around until they get what they want. The physician is not “God” anymore: The time has come when it is imperative for health care organizations to understand that marketing products to health care professionals is not enough. There has to be a consolidated effort to obtain patient buy-in as well. Patients, nowadays, are more likely to question their physician’s choices and motives and make decisions on their own. In the long run, this is extremely good as it will create a system of checks and balances with both sides working toward equilibrium. Many more choices are available: Choices are plentiful in terms of traditional and alternative treatment options for managing any medical condition, and information about these choices is freely available. Also, patients can seek the advice of others in the same situation, often in different cities or even different countries. Thus less control exists over the choices people make. Populations are hard to reach: Even with some of the bigger therapeutic areas, it is hard to target patient populations as the incidence tends to be low, and even harder for less common conditions. Therefore, health care organizations tend to rely on traditional channels to get their message across because it is more cost effective and ROI can be easily calculated. However, this approach is shortsighted and organizations have to make the shift if they want to continue to influence the buying process for their products. What can health care organizations do? This is a time of tremendous opportunity for health care organizations. Rather than treating this as a negative, the opportunity should be looked upon as a new avenue of focus and growth, influencing organizational success and gaining on competition. To this end, health care organizations can work on several areas to realign themselves with patients. Much of this is already being done with health care practitioners, but it is important to start/enhance the patient-focused component. Conduct market research among patients: To begin, it is important that the health care industry continues to conduct market research into patient behaviors, attitudes and needs relating to the management of medical conditions and treatment options. Some of this is already being done, but often it is considered secondary to research among health care practitioners. A strategic focus on patient research will merit changing the way research budgets are allocated. In deciding how to conduct research among patients, market researchers in the health care industry should borrow from their counterparts in consumer goods, technology and entertainment, i.e., areas that are ahead of the curve when it comes to innovative consumer research techniques. Traditional research methodologies, such as quantitative patient trackers, advertising measurement and satisfaction surveys, will provide stated behavior and attitudes. But more innovative techniques, including patient segmentation, ethnography studies, social media measurement, online chat/bulletin boards/forums and patient workshops, will enhance the findings and provide a true read of the influencers of patient behavior. Create loyalty programs: Health care organizations can create and track loyalty programs among consumers and provide incentives to them for being compliant. These programs could include coupons or reward programs or assistance with the cost of medication. Loyalty programs take some time and expense to establish, but in the long run they may be worth the effort if they keep a patient on a product for a longer duration and build brand loyalty like other consumer brands. Provide information: Patients are seeking information on products and treatment options from multiple sources. It would be of value to provide this information to them, so that they are more invested in the organization providing it. This could be done by sponsoring seminars, putting up websites, aiding in developing forums and social networking groups and being the conduit of honest, unbiased information. Enhance marketing and promotions: Advertising and marketing efforts should be targeted toward consumers to draw them to health care products and services. Health care marketers should start thinking of their products as brands and use the same techniques that brand managers in other industries use to differentiate their products from competition in the minds of consumers. Monitor social media: It is becoming increasingly important to track what is being said in the social media about a particular product/brand or therapeutic area. Patients often make decisions based on what their peers say, sometime to the extent of thinking about them as another authority apart from their physicians. Therefore it is important to monitor this activity as it can give early indicators of performance and behaviors/attitudes. In summary, as people become more knowledgeable and technologically advanced, they expect to be given the same options and information on health care as they would get in any other industry. Health care today is turning into a model where the patient is in the driver’s seat and health care professionals are the consultants in helping them along the path to good health. It is up to health care organizations to change the way they have traditionally approached patients and build systems and practices to integrate patients into the health care decision process. This is an exciting time for the health care industry, and we as marketers and market research professionals should be enthusiastic about the opportunity to steer these paradigm shifts. |
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