Responsible Patient Communications
One indisputable effect of the Internet on healthcare is that it has lowered the bar for direct-to-patient communications. All reports point to health information being a top reason for people going on the Internet. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, “Eighty percent of American Internet users, or some 113 million adults, have searched for information on at least one of seventeen health topics.” With a fairly modest budget (compared to other mass media), healthcare marketers can reach or try to reach targeted patient populations directly using a variety of Internet-enabled tools, from the basic website to sponsored links to more subtle but inherently powerful participation in relevant blogs. Thus begins a proliferation of information of uneven quality, accuracy, validity and usefulness, some of which is downright untrue and harmful. The Pew Report further notes that a good 75 percent of these seekers of health information do not check the credibility of the source, leaving themselves vulnerable to misinformation when, ironically, they are looking to improve their health status. It is no wonder that organizations such as the National Library of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute post tutorials to help consumers separate the wheat from the chaff. The New York Times devoted its entire Science Times section on September 30 to helping consumers sort out the explosion of health information, not just on the Internet but also from other sources.
Last week’s poll on our website (”The Empowered Patient?”) tried to get a sense of the level of discretion healthcare marketers use in communicating directly with patients. It is gratifying to find that the majority of participants of the poll consider getting physician buy-in a prerequisite to launching a direct-to-patient initiative. Close to 50 percent would launch direct-to-patient communications only after the relevant product has gone through FDA approval or clearance. A smaller group wants to see reimbursement in place first. I have had some rather provocative discussions with companies that believe that driving demand from patients is a legitimate starting point, even for products that must be ordered by a physician (e.g., a prescription drug, interventional device or laboratory-based diagnostic test).
But, back to the trusting patient and family who, in their hour of need, are looking for guidance, reassurance or just clarification. I would like to invite you, our reader, to comment or write me personally about your experience with patient communications and, specifically, what you as the healthcare marketer do to make sure that you are delivering the type of information that is deserving of the trust of these health-seeking consumers and patients.
2 years ago my friend was diagnozed with brain tumor. Needless to say it was devastating. I become involved in seeking the best solution, whether it is surgery. radiation or chemotherapy. Because of the size of the tumor, surgery is mecessary. My friend has to look for a lot of information on her own because there simply was not enough time for the doctor to go through every option in a way satisfactory to her (and me). While I was able to research from the internet very good information from the national brain tumor foundation, the best information I thought was the physicians speaking at a patient forum during the annual neurosugeon’s meeting (luckily was in San Diego). I was very impressed with the amount and depth of information shared at the forum. This is the best direct communication to the patient that I have expereinced thus far. The forum ran from 1PM to 5PM, the three speaksers (phsyicians) talked openly about the limits and challenges of these brain surgeries. Most importantly they talked about qualty improvement. Despite the seriousness of these surgeries, there is no guideline, but the data they collected, the unexplained variances point to certain best practices that need to be explored further. The vast amount of internet information did not help us, as much as this single afternoon when important and needed information became available.