What pharma wants: 10 digital communication needs

Changing requirements

What does pharma want today? This is a question that we as digital communication software providers continually ask ourselves and our partners. The hard part? The answers are continually changing.

This is partly in response to an emerging landscape — one that has new players, new voices and where the roles of traditional decision makers are shifting. New needs have also arisen from changing business models. Companies that are building themselves around patient centricity, or an outcomes-based model, need to act in different ways and require the tools to do it.

So what’s changed? Here are 10 things that pharma and medtech marketers are now looking for:

1 Payer engagement tools: With prescribing decisions being taken more centrally by governments, health authorities and insurance companies, new kinds of communications are needed that resonate with these new audiences.

2 Value-adding services: Pharma sees that it can add value far more quickly with services than via therapeutic product pipelines – especially if digital technology is deployed more effectively.

3 Outcomes-focused communications: With the focus moving to helping doctors solve their treatment challenges, HCP interactions are not just required to create product awareness but to help HCPs solve practical problems like screening, diagnosis and adherence.

4 More control: As the options for digital communications increase with ever more channels, so does complexity of managing it. Marketers want true content systems that are scalable and reduce human error.

5 Connected channels: There’s a growing desire for an ecosystem of connected channels rather than a series of isolated initiatives. Companies are increasingly asking how to provide coherent, holistic customer experiences.

6 Help doctors communicate: Pharma is looking to support HCPs with their patient interactions by providing credible information on-demand, together with the means to deliver it to patients in fast, simple and direct ways.

7 Help patients communicate: With empowered patients seeking information online, provide patients with sufficient information that will enable them to go to their physician and ask the right questions.

8 Actionable data: Now that data is flowing in from digital channels, there’s a growing focus on managing it effectively and putting the insights to work by placing it in the hands of people who can affect change.

9 Automation: The industry is interested in the potential of AI and machine learning systems to provide assistance to customer-facing staff and automate services to deliver 24-7 help through innovative technologies like chatbots.

10 New skills: With the pharma landscape changing new kinds of skills are in demand – customer insights analysis, data analytics, innovative pricing and reimbursement thinking, health economic modelling and expert knowledge of devices, services & software.

How technology can enable you to respond

Read Agnitio’s mini-report – ‘6 things that pharma wants’ – that explores how technology enables you to better respond to today’s industry needs.