Data-driven visibility for the patient journey

Pharmaceutical companies are turning to data analytics to gain visibility into the patient journey, transforming how they design and implement patient support programs.

“For us, when we think about visibility, we think about data,” said Heath Nivens, vice president of patient access solutions at Lundbeck. “The key for us in terms of positively influencing the patient experience is to gain greater visibility into the patient journey.”

Nivens, with other industry experts on a recent Access USA panel, explained, “If you can’t see the journey, then you can’t support the patients through that journey. We know that in order to support the patients, we’ve got to see more.”Access USA expert panel

This visibility challenge is particularly acute for medical benefit drugs and specialty medications, where traditional tracking methods capture only a fraction of patient experiences. Nivens described how his company increased transparency from just 6% to nearly 30% of their patient population by strategically partnering with infusion providers across the country.

Megan Guhl, executive director and head of patient access services at Incyte, highlighted how even limited data can drive meaningful action. “Data is great, but only if you do something with it. Whether you have high visibility or low visibility, we are getting data.”

Guhl shared how her team used copay claims data to identify a market opportunity. “Through the data provided, we could see that we had nailed the Medicare market with 90% market share, but commercial business was lagging,” she said. The data revealed that while providers perceived commercial coverage as too expensive for patients, in reality, 95% of patients were paying less than $0.” This insight allowed her team to craft targeted messaging that ultimately expanded their commercial business.

For Deb Rearden, vice president of patient excellence at Boehringer Ingelheim, the integration of data across different stakeholders is crucial. “We need visibility into the patient journey and what's happening over time,” she said. “What are those platforms and data elements that you can bring together that everybody can see what’s happening from a consented patient at any given time?”

Rearden emphasized that fragmented visibility creates gaps in patient care. “If one team doesn’t know what the other team is doing, what the hub is doing, et cetera, that’s where all these things fall apart.”

The panel also spoke to how data visibility helps justify investment in patient support programs. “Most senior executives get data,” Guhl said. “You can say that the patients love us and the doctors say good things, but if you can provide them the actual results, ROI ... that would be a value.”

As specialty medications become increasingly complex, companies are setting ambitious goals for data visibility. Lundbeck aims to increase their transparency to 40% by year-end, while others are exploring artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to gain deeper insights.

“I think what we’ll see over time is the ability for patients really wanting that extra support and realizing that the healthcare ecosystem can’t really deliver that right now,” Rearden observed. “As manufacturers, we’re really helping to fulfill that gap.”

Learn more about using data to improve your patient support and access programs.

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