The changing role of patients: Empowered healthcare consumers

With widespread access to information and resources, patients are becoming more informed about their health conditions and treatment choices. This is making them empowered partners in managing their own healthcare.

Studies have shown that healthy behaviours surpass medical care in achieving desired long-term health outcomes^[1]. This makes patients themselves the strongest influencers of their own health. An engaged patient is a powerful partner, actively seeking care, openly discussing treatment options with healthcare providers, and keeping track of their health record and experience. They are more likely to adhere to treatment because they see the value and importance of doing so^[2]. These behaviours tilt the odds in favour of better health outcomes.

Most industries long ago embraced strategies to attract and retain customers, focusing on the client experience to guide their tactics and activities. Similarly, the healthcare industry is now shifting to a patient-centric experience in an effort to support healthier behaviours. A surge in innovations centred on the patient, such as digital health apps and clinical trial alumni networks, set a patient-centric healthcare model in motion. These innovations have also illuminated the importance of understanding patients and their experiences. In one case, a pharmaceutical company developed an app to increase medication adherence, only to later find out that the underlying issue driving patient behaviour was their discomfort with the new injection method. Had the company understood their patients better from the start, both parties could have benefited earlier^[3].

Understanding the motivations behind patient behaviours can lead to more tailored products and services — and more personalized healthcare. These can include narratives informed by real-world patient experiences that could resonate with those searching for answers to health challenges, frequent/opportune interactions that improves access to care, and tailored patient support programs that truly meet their needs, all of which can improve patient outcomes^[4,5,6].

Deciphering patient behaviours using multiple methods

As the industry moves toward placing patients first, research strategies have simultaneously begun to incorporate insights on patient behaviours. These strategies aim for a holistic understanding of why healthcare consumers make the choices they do. Several research tools have been established to determine healthcare consumer behavior and provide accompanying explanations^[7].

Seeking the patient perspective

Understanding the real-world experience of living with a disease and its treatment is indispensable in unpacking patient behaviours. Speaking to patients and their caregivers directly using semi-structured interviews allows researchers to glean rich behavioural insights. In addition, a variety of patient-reported outcomes are captured at various points of care, enriching the information on patients’ clinical, functional, and quality-of-life outcomes.

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play a fundamental role in health promotion, disease prevention, and the overall well-being of their patients. Providers offer another perspective and can shape the patient experience. HCPs’ norms, beliefs, and attitudes that direct their own behavior can trickle down to influence their patients. Thus, interviews and surveys of HCPs give valuable insights on how and why decisions get made during the patient-provider interaction.

Virtual online communities where patients connect with peers, caregivers, and HCPs gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic and have continued to flourish. Participation in these communities can influence attitudes and actions in patients. These platforms can provide patients with answers to specific questions and give them access to information from a knowledgeable network. They can also present a source of behavioural insights that can be leveraged by the healthcare industry to improve access to care, medication adherence, and data to support evidence generation.

Bringing structure to behavioural insights

Behavioural frameworks make it possible to translate complex qualitative insights about how patients think and act into practical and customized solutions to improve health outcomes. There is a plethora of behavioural frameworks and they are constantly evolving to keep up with changing research demands^[8]. In order to formulate a sustainable strategy from behavioural insights, it is important to build a framework that is comprehensive — encompassing all aspects leading to a behaviour — which is targeted and can identify specific constructs in the healthcare environment.

In summary, the combination of behavioural insights and a rigorous evidence-based approach provides a sound methodology to better understand patient behaviours. This enables the pharmaceutical industry to formulate solutions that better align with patient views, supports concerns, and ultimately delivers better health outcomes.

The path forward

The healthcare industry tends to focus on evidence of efficacy and the safety profile of a medicine to influence the uptake of new treatments — an approach that has been deemed increasingly insufficient to ensure the buy-in of healthcare consumers ^[9]. This challenge opens the door for the healthcare industry to rethink their role in patient interactions. By identifying the factors that underpin patients’ decision making and generating insights on the influence of those factors on healthcare interactions and outcomes, more nuanced and socially intelligent strategies, education, and medical engagement can be developed. These tools can then be used to better engage patients in their own healthcare journey and drive decisions that lead to improved outcomes and long-term health.

References

1. The effects of patient behavior on patient outcomes, November 13, 2020. Available from:
https://www.keethealth.com/the-effects-of-patient-behavior-on-outcomes/

2. The driving force post-pandemic: Healthcare consumerism, January 12, 2021. Available from:
https://www.jpmorgan.com/commercial-banking/insights/driving-force-post-pandemic-healthcare-consumerism

3. Three key elements of patient centered research, April 09, 2020. Available from:
https://www.iqvia.com/library/white-papers/key-elements-of-patient-centered-research

4. Talking the patients language: The importance of effective, health literate, patient-centered engagement, IQVIA, November 2018.
https://www.iqvia.com/library/white-papers/talking-the-patients-language

5. 8 Challenges to Customer-Driven Health Care, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, February 2015.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ecpe/8-challenges-to-customer-driven-health-care/

6. The value of patient support programmes, NHS Confederation, Briefing, November 2018, Issue 309.
https://www.nhsconfed.org/system/files/media/FINAL%20NHS%20Confederation%20BRIEFING%20%20309%20%20The%20value%20of%20patient%20support%20programmes_4.pdf

7. Understanding patient behavior for improved experience and better results, October 7, 2019. Available from:
https://www.iqvia.com/blogs/2019/10/understanding-patient-behavior-for-improved-experience-and-better-results

8. Weston, D., Ip, A. & Amlôt, R. Examining the application of behaviour change theories in the context of infectious disease outbreaks and emergency response: a review of reviews. BMC Public Health 20, 1483 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09519-2

9. Why pharma must trust the science of behaviour, July 24, 2020. Available from:
https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_intelligence/Why_pharma_must_trust_the_science_of_behaviour_1345130

For more information about this topic or to understand IQVIAs capabilities in patient-centered RWE, visit our website at www.iqvia.com/canada/rws. To talk to our team about your organization’s need, contact us at canadainfo@iqvia.com