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Blog
Design and Refine Patient Support Programs for a COVID-19 World
Three strategies to meet patient needs
Sep 01, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and amplified the complex factors that shape patient journeys and influence patient adherence. As explained in an earlier blog, the clinical, financial, and emotional effects of COVID-19 are having a significant and tangible impact on patient support programs.
Some of those impacts will shape the purpose and design of patient support programs over the long term. For instance, COVID has revealed the necessity for multi-channel engagement solutions, especially those that integrate with apps, wearables, and remote monitoring. It has asserted a renewed focus on intelligent design of patient-centric, risk-informed support programs and highlighted a preference for home-based nurse interventions over out-of-home infusion centers, labs, and other diagnostics.
This blog explores how to adapt to these shifts and trends when designing (or enhancing) a patient support program. Lean on these three strategies to help guide the process.
Build an integrated, multi-channel solution
Whether building a new program or enhancing a current offering, now is the time to turn a critical eye toward your communication tools. Aim to create an omni-channel experience so patients can navigate seamlessly across communication mediums and technologies based on their preferred learning styles.
For some patients, that preference may be digital forms of interaction while others may want a more traditional combination of phone, mail, and in-person communication. When supporting patients who are open to the use of visual communications, migrate from audio-based calls to digital content and videoconferences. Whenever possible, use the visual capabilities to enhance the way you’re presenting your content.
Keep in mind that a secondary goal of these types of engagement is that they may also help patients improve the quality of conversations they have with their healthcare providers when using these same communication modalities. Therefore, when creating materials for a nurse educator to share with patients, consider including tips that instruct patients how to prepare for and better communicate during a telemedicine check-in visit with their doctor.
Customize your patient support program through patient segmentation and tailored content
Every patient is different, with unique cognitive, psychosocial, and ecological orientations – orientations that may be more fluid in the face of pandemic uncertainty and risks. A one-size-fits-all program simply cannot address those unique circumstances and preferences.
Fortunately, data and digital technologies make it far easier both to identify and understand these nuances, and thereby tailor content to address those needs.
For instance, using a health literacy screener during patient enrollment can provide important insights for delivering patient-appropriate content and support. Consider segmenting patients into three tiers of health literacy – high, moderate, and low – and create a nurse instructional guide targeted to each level. Materials for higher-literacy patients may incorporate greater use of text and more advanced vocabulary. Conversely, for patients with lower health literacy, consider the use of visual media to explain important concepts.
In addition to screening for health literacy, consider using patient-reported outcome measures and other behavioral assessments to create an individualized, self-management treatment snapshot of each patient. As this snapshot could also provide value to the healthcare provider be sure to include insights on a patient’s adherence risk and self-efficacy perceptions, as part of the physician feedback loop.
Mitigate patient drop-off
Patients are living in dynamic times; support programs need to be nimble enough to adjust to shifts and disruptions in a patient journey. By focusing on delivering value, programs are more likely to attract and retain engaged patients. Thoughtful interpretation of patient behavior can help.
Explore patients’ patterns of behavior by capturing a range of data – from how they’re using digital channels and other content, to reported outcomes, clinical input, and risk segmentation data. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can not only help make sense of this data; it can also help predict patient behavior. With those predictive insights, you can refine the substance and cadence of the content you’re providing, helping to reduce the risk of attrition.
Again, such data-driven insights will be of great value to your capacity-crunched healthcare provider partners. Offer them feedback about patients’ health management, medication adherence, and opportunities for better outcomes and patient treatment insights.
These strategies are attainable today. In fact, IQVIA is using human data science – applying our domain expertise to data science and behavioral science – to develop patient support programs that address complex and dynamic needs. Contact us to learn more.
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