Illuminating Real-Time Patient Needs Through Socially Driven Insights
Published November 7, 2022 | 3 Minute Read
By David Shronk
Chief Commercial Officer, Health Union
Healthcare marketers in today’s world are tasked with many ways to reach and engage patients in meaningful ways, to drive action. At the very core, this requires a deep understanding of how to accurately identify patient needs so brands can support patients with relevant solutions.
With a repository of market research at their fingertips, marketers are charged with triangulating the right mix of data that is both large scale, while delivering a real-time understanding of health experiences.
Data collected through social health resources, like Health Union’s condition-specific syndicated surveys, add more context and recency for understanding patient needs in real and actionable ways.
Non-linear Patient Journeys Can Be Understood Through Social Health
When we think about today’s patient journey, we know that it’s far from linear. Social health, the dynamic, real-time interactions that impact the way people live with complex health conditions helps us to analyze and understand patient behavior in a way like never before.
While traditional data sources such as EHR and claims data provide scalable patient demographics and treatment behaviors, they will not necessarily fill in the gaps related to the rest of the patients’ life, which includes important aspects of their journey. Some of these aspects include background and comorbidities, symptoms and status, quality of life, HCP satisfaction and engagement, and attitudinal and experience information.
The example below illustrates a full picture of patient behavior that can be used to uncover insights through a comprehensive lens. In the October 2022 Health Union Myasthenia Gravis In America survey of 547 respondents diagnosed with MG, patients were asked 70 questions addressing a range of topics including diagnosis, quality of life and relationships, comorbidities, symptoms and symptom management, HCP engagement and more.
A detailed understanding of comorbidities, quality of life viewpoints, HCP satisfaction and resources used help to provide the neuromuscular and electrodiagnostic care community a 360 degree viewpoint of the patient journey and can help them understand why MG patients who use condition-specific community resources feel more supported and knowledgeable about their condition.
Seeing the full picture of the patient journey can help marketers to understand patients’ treatment behaviors and the reasons behind them, which in turn helps to uncover unmet needs and marketing opportunities.
Real-time and Recent Data Sheds Light on Journeys in the Now
In addition to the value of seeing the picture of the full patient journey, another critical element is to capture these insights with recency and in real time. Rather than gleaning these valuable insights long after the behaviors have taken place, the opportunity to capture insights with recency to critical events is key.
Through social health, patients are engaging with one another in real time to better understand their conditions and navigate critical situations such as understanding test results and making treatment decisions.
This socially driven approach can be illustrated by Health Union’s In America surveys, our large-scale syndicated research studies delivered regularly across each of our condition-specific online health communities. These surveys provide data that can lead to valuable insights from patients across America in real time as they navigate the dynamic landscape of their conditions.
The example below illustrates key learnings uncovered by Health Union’s Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) In America, a growing condition community for Health Union, and a condition area that is expected to witness exponential marketplace growth in the next several years.
The 100 patients screened to be diagnosed with TED, shone a light on the stigma that TED patients face, with 63% reporting it has a negative impact on their self-esteem and 44% reporting a negative impact on their mental health. Over half of these patients shared that living with thyroid eye disease adds anxiety to daily life.
Knowing how these anxieties manifest within their daily journey can become an important insight to a successful marketer as they address unmet needs of the TED community, improve outcomes and enhance marketing activities.
Leverage Socially Driven Insights Through “In America” Research
Health Union’s syndicated In America research can help brands to develop foundational knowledge, validate the customer journey, enhance patient profiles, and augment commercial analysis. With over 2 million data points across 40+ online health communities, these condition-specific, socially driven insights will heighten the understanding of the patient journey in order to better address unmet needs, improve outcomes and enhance commercialization/marketing activities for brands.
If you are interested in learning more about Health Union’s syndicated In America research and how it can be put into practice for your brand, we invite you to contact us below.
What People Fear the Most About Their Future With Asthma
“Asthma In America 2018” asked questions about diagnosis, medications, treatments and more to over 800 respondents. Surprisingly, the survey revealed four things people with asthma fear most about their future, all of which have a profound impact on the way they view their condition and rate their quality of life.
The High Cost of Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
IBD In America 2018, a recent survey conducted by Health Union, revealed that 41% of people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) say their household finances are significantly impacted by the out-of-pocket costs associated with their condition.
Skin Cancer Survey Spotlights Frustration with Perceptions of ‘Less Serious’ Condition
People living with skin cancer struggle with perceptions that their condition is less serious than other types of cancer despite significant physical and emotional impact, according to Skin Cancer In America 2018, a national survey by Health Union, LLC of people diagnosed with the condition.