Patient-Centric Insights in Pharmaceuticals’ Pharmacy Engagement Strategy
Over 6 million people in Canada do not have access to a family doctor. As a result, they are left vulnerable to underdiagnosis, being untreated and suffering from a variety of conditions. Not surprisingly, more people are turning to their local pharmacists to fill in the gap, and pharmacists are being relied on to do more for their communities than ever before. From prescribing for minor ailments to administering vaccines, and from managing medications to providing healthy lifestyle advice. Even participating in patient support programs managed by pharmaceutical manufacturers.
There are more than 42,000 pharmacists across the country who are now becoming a critical part of the front lines and the most accessible healthcare providers. Additionally, with a growing list of medications that can now be prescribed by a pharmacist across several provinces, now is the right time for pharmaceutical manufacturers to consider patient and pharmacist engagement as a key opportunity.
While pharmaceutical organizations can help inform the general population about the growing role a pharmacist can play in their health journey, they can also use data-driven insights to focus on the specific communities where residents have limited access to healthcare, as well as the specific pharmacies serving these populations in need.
The example below highlights a few Environics Analytics (EA) data that can help make the process easy and effective.
By using EA’s CommunityHealth data along with PRIZM® segmentation, not only can we highlight the millions that do not have access to a family doctor, but with a further deep dive, the 1 million people in Canada with the lowest level of healthcare.
EA’s health data enable connecting the group, the ailment and the support available by province. As shown through PRIZM®, these top groups are young, ethnically diverse, living in urban centres and many of them residing in Quebec.
Additional analysis on these groups shows that there is a high incidence of people suffering from the chronic skin condition, psoriasis. Visible skin conditions like psoriasis also tend to accompany significant levels of emotional stress and reduced quality of life.
In the province of Alberta, as pharmacists are now able to prescribe medication for psoriasis, this type of healthcare data enables allows better engagement with Albertans and a focus on educating about this specific condition.
Mobile analytics – mobile movement data – paired with geographic data can also be leveraged to uncover which pharmacies are frequently visited by the segment of interest. For instance, another group (Friends & Roomies), are shown to reside most heavily in Edmonton. Mobile analytics insights can be layered onto this location for implementing educational campaigns in and around high-traffic pharmacies to increase visibility and reach.
The combination of segmentation, health, geographic and mobile movement data represents an untapped opportunity for pharmaceutical organizations to use data-driven insights to develop unique strategies for various brands that are authorized to be prescribed by a pharmacist.
There is also the potential for these data to be leveraged by retail pharmacies and public health agencies. By knowing foot traffic around certain areas and understanding visitor segments, retail pharmacies can tailor their marketing and educational materials to drive more consumers to their locations for both in-store shopping, as well as pharmacist consultations to help alleviate the pressure of high-volume visits to physicians and hospitals.
Overall, further patient-centric analysis and understanding pharmacies’ engagement with communities can equip pharmaceutical organizations to be more strategic, intentional and effective with sales, marketing and resource allocation efforts to the growing pharmacy market.
Reach out to learn more about PRIZM®, health data and how EA can help uncover valuable insights and potential in the pharmaceutical space.
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