Partner Forum.pdf

Craig DeLarge Digital Healthcare & Change Leadership Strategist, WiseWorking

Regarding EHR’s potential for therapeutic decision support, I agree. But I take exception to EHR’s being used as a marketing channel in the promotional sense. I think that, as an industry, we should restrict ourselves to education and service in this space. Here is the most relevant and useful point-of-care engagement. I further think that point-of-care strategies need to work beyond the doctor’s office wherever care takes place—in my home, at my mobile device, at the hospital, at the pharmacy, at alternative health practitioners, etc. As EHR becomes more ubiquitous and holistic, and as the EHR’s data becomes more the property of patients than the system, there is great potential for pharma to be a trusted adviser and servicer.

Mark Heinold CEO, PDR Network

First, focus point-of-care communications on actions and information that support the provider’s treatment decisions. Pharma can play an important role in helping patients get to the pharmacy for that first fill and in supporting patients so that they continue therapy. Next, keep communication within the provider’s workflow. For most physicians, that now means keeping it within the EHR. Finally, our research shows that half of those physicians who could engage with pharma brands for tools that support their prescribing decisions are willing to do so. But over 70% of physicians said their EHR did not yet offer that capability. So perhaps the most important thing pharma can do today is to be proactive about investing in the channel where physicians are requesting support: their EHR.

Robert Hastings VP marketing, TrialCard

As the healthcare market quickly migrates toward digital health interventions that support improved patient outcomes, EHR and specifically eRx solutions stand to more efficiently connect the patient, prescriber and pharmacy. eRx solutions arm the prescriber with product access tools that enable confidently prescribed medications to support patient persistence. Recent studies showed that e-prescribing led to a 10% increase in first fill adherence and patients using a TrialCard co-pay program were 18% more adherent to their medication. EHR marketing serves a dual purpose, giving prescribers insight to recommend the best therapy and also enabling them to offer a vehicle to reduce patient cost on the spot. Administering the process electronically allows this model to continually become more effective.

Erik Mednis  Chief creative officer, Havas Lynx

EHR platforms are convenient access points for physicians to share and distribute digitally based patient-education materials during consultations and facilitate patient enrollment in support programs as part of “Information Prescriptions.” We see a future where EHRs, sharing this content on tablets and mobile devices, pull patient and practitioner together. Marketers have traditionally facilitated content in an analog world and should be leading the way now. With a further infusion of resources from other parts of the healthcare ecosystem, EHR platforms themselves and the point-of-care experience will benefit.