Better Collaboration Between Pharma and Patient Organizations Would Improve Patient Care, Accenture Study Finds
August 07 2019 - 12:10PM
Business Wire
Despite preferring services from patient
organizations over those from pharmaceutical companies, patients
want both to work together to provide a more seamless patient
experience
To deliver better patient experiences, pharmaceutical companies
should collaborate with nonprofit organizations that provide
support services and advocate for patients, according to a new
study from Accenture (NYSE:ACN).
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How willing would you be to share
detailed information about the daily impact of your condition with
each of the following organizations, if it helped you receive
better care?
Based on a survey of 4,000 patients in the U.S. and Europe, the
Patient Services Study investigates the role that patient
organizations play in providing support, information and other
services to patients and whether better collaboration with pharma
companies could improve the patient experience and care. The study
focused on three different diseases / medical conditions —
migraine, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic lymphocytic leukemia —
selected due to their significant, yet different, impact on
patients’ daily lives.
The survey revealed that patients, regardless of their country
or disease state, highly value services from patient organizations
and prefer them over those from pharmaceutical companies. This
holds true not only for emotional support and access to community
support groups — services that patient organizations often provide
— but also for information on therapies and clinical trials, which
has more traditionally been provided by pharma companies.
Less than half (47%) of the surveyed patients said that pharma
companies understand their emotional, financial and other needs
related to their condition. In fact, patients rate pharma companies
lower on this than doctors/physicians, payers, pharmacies and
patient organizations. The biggest gap is in the U.S., where 67%
say patient organizations understand their needs compared to just
48% who say the same for pharma.
Yet despite these findings, most patients — 84% — believe that
patient organizations should be working together with pharma
companies to create a more seamless experience for them. In fact,
patients said that to improve their experience, it is more
important that patient organizations work together with pharma
companies than with other healthcare players, including healthcare
providers, payers and pharmacies. They also said they would be
willing to share more detailed information about the daily impact
of their conditions if it helped them receive better treatment.
“These findings makes sense, given the more targeted nature of
New Science — which is more personalized and often more complex in
its treatment approach — and that delivering real impact requires a
deeper understanding of the patient,” said Eva Wiedenh�ft, a
managing director in Accenture’s Life Sciences practice. “In this
regard, a stronger collaboration between pharma and patient
organizations can provide benefits for both parties.”
Among the top benefits that patients believe would result from a
better level of collaboration between patient organizations and
pharma companies are easier access to information on their
condition and treatments (cited by 56% of respondents), easier
access to treatment (56%) and more personalized care (54%).
“By increasing their association with patient organizations,
pharma companies can get closer to patients and develop a much
deeper understanding of them as people, not just patients,” said
Keena Patel, a managing director in Accenture’s Life Sciences
practice. “Our research revealed that people are engaging early and
often with patient organizations — much earlier and more often than
they do with pharma. Collaborating with one another could enable a
much richer understanding of patient needs, earlier in the care
process and potentially lead to creating entirely new services that
dramatically increase the standard of care, particularly in the
US.”
The report notes that in Europe there was no clear organization
or player in the healthcare ecosystem that stood out as owning the
care experience, with patients there using healthcare providers,
payers, patient organizations, pharmacies and pharma companies
nearly evenly. Despite this, most European respondents expressed
frustration with the overall care experience and support they
receive.
“This indicates an opportunity for pharma companies to take a
stance on how they want to maximize their contribution to patient
experiences and outcomes beyond the immediate impact of the drug,”
said Eva Wiedenh�ft. “For instance, it could help them identify how
much of the patient experience they wish to own, what service areas
they want to excel in and to what extent, as well as how they plan
to collaborate with other players in the healthcare ecosystem to
drive patient experiences and outcomes more holistically.”
Methodology
To understand the role that patient organizations play in
providing support, information and other services for patients,
Accenture surveyed 4,000 patients ranging from 18 to older than 65
in France, Germany, U.K. and the U.S. with one of three specific
conditions — migraine, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic lymphocytic
leukemia. The goal was to learn about their experiences with
services offered by patient organizations in relationship to
services offered by pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare
players. The survey was conducted via telephone and finalized in
April 2019.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 482,000 people
serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
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Lara Wozniak Accenture +1 858 252 8208
lara.wozniak@accenture.com
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