A patient’s journey can be complex, with gaps where they can’t find the information or support they need. This leaves them vulnerable to misinformation, decision fatigue, or abandoning their health journey entirely.
Pharma marketers have an opportunity to move the needle at these critical moments. The key is to focus on “decision utility,” which goes beyond educating patients to actively guiding them toward informed, more confident decisions.
With a 360-degree approach to understanding patient challenges, marketers can build personalized solutions that not only meet but anticipate their needs, offering a seamless path to healthy action.
Taking a 360-degree approach to identifying decision gaps
As patients increasingly take control of their health journeys, many are acutely aware of the challenges they face in accessing care — whether treatment costs, lack of emotional support, or the burden of repeat doctor’s visits. Their perspectives, shared in surveys, are critical for marketers seeking a whole-person understanding of patient needs.
However, patients don’t always fully express or recognize all the factors that influence their health decisions. This is where a 360-degree approach becomes essential. By blending patient insights with zero- and first-party data, marketers can paint a more accurate picture of what actually motivates or challenges patients based on their behavior in digital spaces.
Marketers are also uniquely equipped with a bird’s-eye overview of structural challenges impacting patients in and beyond digital spaces, from navigating digital health UX to coordinating care between multiple providers or sticking to their prescribed treatment plans.
As such, marketers can spot patterns and trends that might not be clear to patients themselves, including trends within and across chronic conditions. They can then create strategies that anticipate patient needs before they arise, easing the way to decision-making.
Creating tailored tools that offer decision utility
With a data-informed understanding of health journey challenges and gaps, marketers can create tailored digital tools that guide patients toward the actions most appropriate for their unique needs.
Many patients are unsure about the next steps after a diagnosis. A well-timed digital tool — like a symptom tracker, personalized care plan, or connection to a patient community — provides them with an actionable next step they can take with confidence.
For instance, our research suggests that finding a specialist is especially challenging for newly diagnosed users, with 26% saying they are not sure how to find a healthcare provider that’s right for them. For these users, a “Treatment and Care” feature could help guide them to specialists in their area or give them the opportunity to get help asynchronously if they are further along in their condition journey.
Another example: Nearly three in five patients have experienced out-of-pocket prescription costs they couldn’t afford, and most people don’t know about financial assistance options for prescriptions. Highlighting a cost-savings module alongside treatment information helps bridge the gap and move people from learning to action by proactively addressing one of their top barriers.
Such solutions are particularly effective when they are personalized, which requires users to provide their data. Today’s patients increasingly understand the benefits of this data exchange and are often willing to register when they know the experience will meet their needs. Our data suggests over half of new users will provide data points for tailoring their omnichannel experience.
Consider a newly diagnosed and overwhelmed diabetes patient who signs up for a diabetes newsletter. The 0p and 1p data collected during sign-up and subsequent interactions allows them to receive a tailored, step-by-step action plan, with resources for dietary changes, exercise routines, and medication management that meet their specific needs.
This approach results in action. On Healthline.com, personalized newsletters have a 100% greater CTR than non-personalized newsletters.
Decision utility: From education to empowerment
A “decision utility” approach is about more than just educating patients. It’s about equipping them with the tools and resources they need to take the next steps in their health journey. It’s about moving from simply informing patients to empowering them to make confident decisions.
And they make those decisions quickly. Healthline Media’s personalized Care Journey users take high-value actions twice as fast as other users.
By delivering personalized next steps that meet the real needs of patients, we help them overcome challenges, build engagement, and take control of their health — ultimately leading to better outcomes.
