KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Patient journeys should be part of a wider strategy and involve a range of stakeholders.
- Regular updates are key in ensuring patient journeys stay relevant and continue to reflect real world experiences of patients and caregivers.
Patient journeys can provide the pharmaceutical industry with rich data to inform strategy across product life cycles. In a PMLiVE article, Stephanie Hall and Louise Collins discuss 3 actions the industry can take to optimise patient journeys and unlock their full potential.
Patient journeys should be part of the wider strategy
Hall and Collins recommend integrating patient journeys into wider strategy and life cycle management. Combining quantitative and qualitative aspects provides both measurable data and insights into the real-world issues experienced by patients, carers, and healthcare professionals. This information, they say, can help clarify which areas are the most important.
Gather a diverse team
The authors suggest greater collaboration adds greater depth to patient journeys: bringing together medical, marketing, medical affairs, digital, and analytical stakeholders creates an environment that fosters a broader range of information and ideas. Additionally, including patient advocates and healthcare professionals creates richer information, forges stronger relationships, and uncovers nuances that may otherwise remain hidden.
“Including patient advocates and healthcare professionals creates richer information, forges stronger relationships, and uncovers nuances that may otherwise remain hidden.”
Create and iterate
Patient journeys are dynamic; regular reassessments enable new data and insights to be integrated, ensuring the journey continues to represent real experiences of patients and caregivers. When used creatively, patient journeys can help disrupt standard strategies.
The authors describe the importance of choosing the right format for patient journeys:
- Data-rich flowcharts may help identify gaps in care.
- Graphical approaches may allow cross-functional teams to better understand complex interactions.
- Combining these formats can provide measurable outcomes weaved with emotional context.
The authors conclude that developing and regularly updating thorough patient journeys can stimulate innovation, result in more effective processes, and improve patient outcomes.
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