Navigating the Road to Adherence
Imagine this: you’ve been given a luxury sports car to drive with no steering wheel, only an ignition button. In the glovebox, there is an owner’s manual but it’s written in a foreign language. In order to start the car and drive it safely on the road, you’ll have to first translate the instructions from the manual.
This is a fair analogy for how a patient who has been newly diagnosed with a disease that requires them to self-administer their medication could feel if not given the proper training. Feelings of fear and uncertainty about being able to successfully implement and maintain their prescribed regimen can often hinder them from beginning or sustaining their treatment.
The authors of the report, “The current paradigm for biologic initiation: a mixed-methods exploration of practices, unmet needs, and innovation opportunities in self-injection training,” conducted a study to examine the current injection initiation experiences of patients. In the report, the authors uncovered significant gaps in training and support.
The results of this study showed that healthcare providers receive minimal biologic-specific instructions, and they often lack an understanding of nuanced device differences. Furthermore, healthcare providers often lack the time and resources to properly train patients on their prescribed therapeutic treatment. Other studies have shown that one-third of patients receive no training at all.
For those that do receive training for the device they will be using, it typically lasts no longer than 15-20 minutes. As a result of this gap in patient training, the burden and anxieties related to the therapeutic treatment fall on the patients. Consequently, nearly 50% of patients become non-adherent to their treatment program.
Prescription abandonment and product adherence are major marketplace challenges that affect multiple stakeholders. Studies have shown that 20 to 30% of medication prescriptions are never filled and approximately 50% of medications for chronic disease are not taken as prescribed. Further, only 3% of potentially eligible patients are currently using pharma-sponsored support programs.
The rise in telemedicine and the current decrease in nurse staffing are also negatively impacting in-office patient training. Finally, since injection devices are not standardized it makes even more difficult for healthcare providers to educate patients on the nuanced device differences and provide the guidance that patients need to confidently adhere to their prescribed regimens.
Taking The Wheel With Confidence
Let’s return to our earlier analogy and a slightly different scenario. The same luxury sports car has been given to you, but this one has a steering wheel and an owner’s manual with visual instructions in your native language. The designer of the sports car has offered to take you on a test drive before you take possession of the car. Might you feel more relaxed about the prospect of taking the wheel and driving the car yourself? Wouldn’t you feel more confident in your abilities to take the car out on the road and deftly outmaneuver any obstacles along the way?
This scenario could be used for a patient that has been given the right training resources at the right time so that they can feel confident when they have to self-administer their therapeutic treatment.
Noble has formulated a new strategy to allow patients to have the resources they need by working in partnership with pharmaceutical manufacturers and specialty pharmacies.
“By partnering with both specialty pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers we will be able to reach a broader segment of the patient population and ensure that they are receiving the proper training and support so they can stay adherent to their therapeutic treatment,” explained Tim McLeroy, Executive Director of Marketing and Patients Services for Noble. “An enhanced patient-centered model of care will not only empower patients by providing them with the training resources that they need – it will also support our specialty pharmacy and pharmaceutical partners by enhancing their model of care and helping patients to stay adherent to their therapeutic treatment.”
Gaining Confidence on the Test Track
To demonstrate that patient experience matters, Noble has partnered with a Specialty Pharmacy to measure the effects of an improved patient engagement model by introducing a pilot program where patients receive a patient training kit directly with their medicine. The contents of the kit include a letter explaining the program, a QR code to access a training video and simple instructions for using a training device. The patients participate in three surveys before, during, and after, using the kit to help measure performance.
A six-month follow-up is conducted to determine adherence and experience. Initial acceptance of the kit has been very positive with 100% use among pilot participants. More importantly, those who receive the kit have taken their first injection almost two times faster than those who did not.
A Roadmap for Successful Patient Engagement
Learnings from this pilot have led Noble to adopt new methods for collaborating with pharmaceutical manufacturers and specialty pharmacies to improve patient engagement and positive outcomes. For starters, Noble is partnering with pharma brand market access teams to identify key, contracted specialty pharmacies to implement an enhanced patient engagement model. In addition, they are working with targeted specialty pharmacies to optimize workflow integration of patient materials with current patient engagement protocols. Noble is also coordinating communications between pharma fulfillment houses and specialty pharmacies to ensure proper patient information exchange and delivery expectations.
Together We Can Improve Patient Care And Drive Better Outcomes
By properly equipping the pharmacist to help the patient in their therapeutic journey, we can improve patient adherence significantly in the long run. Through building alignment across multiple stakeholders around the needs of the patient we can improve engagement and ultimately, fix what up until now has been a broken patient training process.
Noble Speaks Patient®
Noble has traditionally combined its knowledge and understanding of the patient’s needs and anxieties around self-injecting along with its design and engineering expertise to develop and commercialize training devices that mimic the exact feel, force and function of the real drug delivery device in order to help increase patient confidence and adherence to self-administering drug therapies.
Noble also assists brands with training utilization, training device Instructions for Use (IFUs), training videos for patients, Human Factors support, product launch strategy programs, and more. Noble works with pharma companies in the development of patient training videos to help patients easily learn how to properly self-administer their medication and enjoy the benefits and peace of mind that come with this.
Start today by exploring our training solutions and digital tools. Let’s redefine the patient experience, giving every individual the confidence they need to properly self-administer their medication and enjoy the benefits of their treatment. The time for change is now. Let’s empower patients and improve healthcare, one step at a time. Contact us today to learn how you can contribute to this transformative journey.