Marketers answer the question: What strategies should marketers use to position brands for success?
Kelly Davis Bennett
VP, patient affordability and SME,
TrialCard
Supporting all stakeholders in an informed cost of care conversation is critical — and one of the most fundamental pieces of crafting a successful payer marketing strategy.
This is the brand’s opportunity to show that the individual needs of the patient, caregiver, prescriber, and pharmacist are understood and will be supported in a seamless experience to access therapy.
Stakeholders are approaching the management of personal healthcare decisions with an overabundance of information. At times there is a tremendous sense of uncertainty over what to do with it all.
However, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming if the brand experience delivers a path to access through adequate support services, appropriate delivery channels, and an honest cost savings program.
Meeting these requirements helps the marketer’s strategy align directly with the financial goals of the brand.
Jonathan Kish
Director, real-world evidence and insights,
Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions
Now more than ever, knowing how to put your value message in the context of real-world patients and new reimbursement models (bundled payments and quality of care) is critical for marketing success.
With the current focus on drug pricing foremost in the minds of patients, providers, and payers, biopharma manufacturers are consistently asked to demonstrate their therapy’s value compared to their competitors.
Demonstrating value requires a deep understanding of the clinical benefit and costs, not only of the therapy but also of the complete care received by the patient.
Evidence from both clinical trials and patients treated in the real world is necessary to show payers how clinical benefits translate into reduced or minimal changes in costs, because real-world patients can be remarkably different, both demographically and clinically, compared to clinical trial participants.
Heather Lee Whipple
SVP,
Eversana
Payer marketers should not overlook the value physician groups can provide when facing access challenges for specialty products. While their sphere of influence is certainly smaller than health plans and PBMs, it is the groups that can offer biopharma companies the greatest opportunities to gain traction with a new product, introduce new protocols and treatment pathways, and introduce hub and patient support programs.
Our longitudinal data shows specialty practices in particular are more willing to challenge access barriers that plans, and to a lesser extent, health systems, create.
While the cost to patients is an important driver of brand selection, companies that provide easy-to-use prescription status portals and specialty pharmacy Rx triage support will find fertile ground for improving brand uptake among specialty group practices.
Adrian Garcia
SVP, managed markets,
GSW
Value is constantly being defined and redefined by stakeholders and a fast-changing landscape.
So marketers need to monitor competitors, legislation, FDA policy, pipeline, and more — and be agile to quickly adjust and move forward.
Don’t go it alone. Work with partners who can help future-proof your brand and business.
When talking value to payers, it’s critical to remember no two payers define value the same way.
Tell your story to payers in ways they want to hear it. It needs to be memorable, meaningful, and succinct.
The brands that do the best job with value justification are the ones that will continue to succeed even as the market changes.
Jamie Van Iderstine
VP, group account director,
Cyan Health
There’s no end to the innovative strategies that can be employed to maximize access potential. But they all begin with some fundamental insights. Here are just a few.
First, over the next few years, price sensitivity will drive a monumental shift in how pharma engages with payers.
Manufacturers who aren’t positioning themselves for the new normal now may soon find themselves playing catchup in the race for access opportunities.
Second, consolidation has resulted in bigger, multidimensional players with unprecedented bargaining power, meaning that every win is a bigger win and every loss is a bigger loss.
Finally, new provider risk-sharing models mean value messaging must target a broader cross-section of stakeholders.
The key to developing effective market access strategies is staying ahead of this rapidly evolving landscape and its interconnected network of influencers. Successful approaches are those that connect the dots and balance the interests of all concerned.
From the April 01, 2019 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
