In the past couple of years, digital technologies have completely transformed many industries. Although fairly slow to catch up, pharma is now picking up the pace and joining the digital arena.
Traditional pharma companies will need to embrace the future and welcome new digital trends in order to stay competitive in the years to come and offer value to physicians and patients. Here are some of the ways digital will change pharma in the upcoming years.
Solutions for digital drug adherence
Lack of adherence is one of the biggest problems for all professionals in the healthcare sector. This includes everyone from pharma companies to HCPs struggling to get their patients to comply. On the one side of the problem, there are huge losses in revenue as patients decide to simply stop using the prescribed medication.
On the other hand, the issue is even more serious as 40% of all medical problems that patients experience are related to a lack of adherence. Consequences can be dire, from an increase in hospitalization to fatal outcomes.
There is a range of digital solutions for adherence. Some cutting-edge ideas include drugs that have digestible sensors. This way once a patient consumes the drug, the sensor sends a signal to a sensor on the body, which then goes to the smartphone app.
What’s more, if you can’t make the drug digital, you can do it with the packaging. A number of companies are in the process of making smart pillboxes and bottles that send alerts if a patient has missed their medication.
Another way to increase adherence is by letting patients know exactly what their problems are and how a certain drug will be able to help them. This can be accomplished with customized visual presentations that show patients their conditions, diagnosis, and diseases.
Beyond the pill solutions for pharma
Just producing drugs for different treatments is no longer enough. The market is highly competitive and it’s hard to expect new results using old tricks. Beyond the pill, solutions are digital ways to enhance traditional drug treatments and improve patient outcomes. Note that this is not a replacement for drugs, merely a much-needed extension to supplement traditional pharma methods.
For example, Livongo Health, a startup from California, designed a device and an app to help diabetes patients. The device allows patients to draw blood, which is analyzed instantly and the information is sent over to the app, which instructs them on what to do.
The patient can also contact a physician directly from the app. This example of beyond-the-pill thinking shows new ways in which pharma is headed. Instead of just providing a pill, pharma companies will be able to offer complete solutions based on a combination of traditional drug treatments and cutting-edge new technologies.
Video as a means to get in front of physicians and patients
One of the biggest issues in modern pharma is getting crucial information to physicians. Once you have a published study and convincing research results, that’s only half the battle. The other, equally important half is getting physicians to look at your data and consider prescribing the drug you worked so hard on.
As we’ve come to witness, traditional marketing methods are slowly dying out. If you rely on reprints, you’re not only wasting paper, you’re wasting your physician’s time. Moreover, physicians do not have the time to talk to a sales representative offering a new type of drug.
The best solution to the problem is rather elegant. Video is about 10 times more likely to engage its audiences compared to traditional types of content – this holds true for HCPs as well. With video, you’ll be able to summarize the main points of your publications in easily digestible pieces.
Instead of going through a publication that is 10-20 pages long, you will be able to captivate physicians’ attention with short videos displaying only the key information they need to know. Not only is this format easier to present, but it’s also much more memorable, and it won’t waste their precious time.
On the other side of the spectrum, videos make it much easier to communicate with patients as well. Using video, you can explain key information regarding their disease in a format that’s easy to understand. Using videos for your patients, you can empower them as well as increase adherence and overall engagement.
The future
At BlueNovius, we bring digital pharma marketing innovations to those that need them the most – pharma professionals. With our PubExplainer video solution, you’ll be able to summarize your most important publications in 90-second videos which physicians will love. Present all the key points a physician needs to know in a brief video they will easily remember. Save your physician’s time and make your key scientific data memorable.
We think about patients too! With MedExplainer, we help you explain the most important data about diagnosis, disease, and treatment options to your patients. No more need to go through articles, books, and papers – a MedExplainer video tells them all they need to know.
Reach out to us today and find out how we can improve your pharma company’s digital footprint!
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