Today, patient data is more accessible for specialty pharmaceutical professionals than ever before. The sheer volume of data has grown exponentially, and the specificity of the available information can provide a comprehensive view of patients across the healthcare continuum. Typically, when specialty manufacturers think about data, they focus on what is available from specialty pharmacy providers and patient services hubs. Without question, these are excellent data sources to support patient needs, but there are other sources to also consider beyond these entities.

From lab results, electronic health records, medical and pharmacy claims, and digital apps, there is no shortage of data sources. But understanding the life sciences specialty market can be difficult and confusing, which can limit the value of any shared data if those who are collecting and analyzing the data are not knowledgeable about these data types. Receiving quality data through a contracted partner can support your business goals while driving patient engagement and increase revenue for manufacturers, who, along with their data partners, play a vital role throughout a patient’s therapeutic journey.

In this two-part series on data contracts, we’ll address the key components to a mutually beneficial data services agreement, provide an overview of how data strategy and consulting services can assist data analytics, and, here, discuss how partnering with a data aggregator and developing a strong data strategy early on serves as the foundation for product launch success.

Data strategy steps

Manufacturers recognize they need quality data to understand patient engagement and adherence. But before validating the types of data they need to collect or the data sources they need to utilize, these ideas should be supported by a data strategy:

1. Establishing the patient journey model
2. Selecting data partners
3. Defining how products will reach patients
4. Identifying data source needs

Understanding the patient journey is critical for driving engagement and presents strategic opportunities for organizations, providers, and payers to engage with patients at the right time while providing value-based care and keeping costs low.

When building your model, consider questions such as:

• Where does the patient’s journey begin (e.g., hospital, health system, specialist, primary provider, or a services hub)?
• What intake steps are expected?
• Do you plan to offer co-pay and other assistance?
• Which partners will be responsible for coordinating adherence care?

These questions go hand in hand with selecting partners:

• Do you have vendors in mind for specialty pharmacy, hub, product, or co-pay needs?
• Is research on potential partners needed based on therapeutic area or patient services approach?

It’s also important to determine who will handle factors such as intake, nursing case management, enrollments, and eligibility requirements. Consent management and revocation has become a critical consideration as well.

• Will you require consent on the enrollment form?
• Who will manage expiration of a patient’s consent?

The data strategy should also define how the product is expected to reach patients.

• Which specialists and/or health systems will have access to products?
• Is it important to track product inventory across all partners who might not play a part in the patient experience, such as specialty distributors?

Data and predictive analytics: Identifying needs
The healthcare channel provides a wealth of structured and unstructured data from which the patient’s journey can be measured, including information on the activities that occur when trying to help patients begin therapy and then to remain compliant with treatment. When the data is fully captured and integrated across data partners, the manufacturer can use predictive models to analyze how to better support patients. Accurate data enables organizations to engage patients throughout the stages of the journey and help them or their prescribers when circumstances change.

By thoroughly understanding your program, you can evaluate data partners, establish metrics to monitor their performance, and identify critical data elements to support patient insights. Leakage is often an issue manufacturers face, especially following a new product launch. Patients who begin a specific therapy and do not complete the treatment process are often not understood by the manufacturer. However, when organizations strategize how to integrate data, access issues can be identified early and market trends become more apparent, allowing field teams to intervene on the patient’s behalf.

A data strategy will translate into a “data aggregation roadmap” that will support your product launch timelines and objectives. The right data trends can help to predict why and when some patients stop treatments. For most manufacturers, there are several key areas within your organization that will be looking to leverage this data to support their needs. Understanding each group’s particular needs will help to drive continuity in your data strategy. Data is used differently by trade versus field sales or patient services versus finance groups, so it’s important to consider those criticalities and ensure the data you’re investing in is supportive.

Feeling overwhelmed by the potential avenues that exist for data strategy? Consider how a data aggregation partner can assist in part two of this series and catch up on all the Fusion 2021 conference sessions here.