(Part 2) Reaching Patients Along The Specialty Medication Journey: Trusting Patients

***ConnectiveRx recently conducted a qualitative study where we interviewed 23 specialty patients about their medication journey. About half were still actively taking a specialty medication, and half were not.

The purpose of this research was to help ConnectiveRx better understand the specialty patient experience, including the emotional journey from first symptoms to diagnosis and treatment, as well as their personal reactions to their new reality and how they chose to manage their care. This intricate level of understanding helps ConnectiveRx provide more personalized services for pharmaceutical brands to support patient adherence.

Four common personality types emerged from this research. What follows is the second of a four-part series highlighting each of these traits. Brands can utilize these profiles to better understand the differences in patient personalities in order to provide the best communication methods, education and resources that can successfully speak to each personality, with the ultimate goal of helping the patient get on and stay on therapy in their own unique ways.***

Faith in the medical system

A trusting patient is one who tends to have faith in the healthcare system, especially their doctor. One asthma patient sums this up perfectly: “To be honest, I feel like [the doctor] knows so much more than me that I let him settle [on the treatment]…I seem to get positive results.”

Patients who have few symptoms tend to fall into the trusting category. Since they feel like their condition is under control, they are less likely to worry about what could happen in the future. They also believe that if a problem does arise, their healthcare provider will be there with answers. This level of faith often means trusting patients will not seek out information on their own unless there is a problem.

Trust can easily be shaken

When a patient fully trusts their provider, the pressure is on that provider to have all the answers. Naturally they are expected to understand the patient’s condition and recommend a medication that will be effective, but they need to go beyond this to help their patient.

A trusting patient can be unnerved if a provider recommends a medication that isn’t covered by insurance. The patient can be further shaken if they are the ones that have to navigate coverage requirements or seek out patient savings programs on their own. One of the most frustrating points some trusting patients pointed out was lack of availability and slow response from their healthcare providers. Since a trusting patient is less likely to seek out information and resources outside of the provider, it is important that the provider be available to answer questions or concerns as they arise.

Maintaining trust to support patient adherence

With any patient, the goal of the provider should be to gain and maintain trust by having knowledge and answers at the ready and take steps to avoid setbacks and delays to therapy. Just as important, patients want their providers to be available when needed. This can help patients feel as though their provider truly is their partner on their journey.

Brands can help providers maintain trust by providing:

• Faster speed to therapy through tools that speed up the benefit verification and prior authorization processes, identify appropriate affordability programs, and have reliable distribution to get the medication to the patient quickly
• Language that encourages patients to work with their healthcare provider to avoid issues with treatment, coverage, and side effects
• Simple prescribing process that requires little to no administrative work

Brands can help providers and their trusting patients by implementing Careform Pharmacy powered by ConnectiveRx, our non-commercial pharmacy that specializes in easing administrative burdens. Providers can prescribe treatment in the EHR workflow portal, eliminating the need for additional steps to enroll the patient. Plus, the benefit verification and prior authorization processes are automatically triggered. Less manual steps means reduced administrative work for providers and their staff, and in turn, faster access to therapy and more time for patients to work with their providers directly. Check out our hub services page for more information on how your brand can tap into the Careform non-commercial pharmacy, and reach out to Inquiries@ConnectiveRx.com.

ICYMI:

Part 1 - Passive

Part 3 - Persistent

Part 4 - Worried