In today’s healthcare landscape, the pharma industry is experiencing a shift from volume to value. This requires pharma marketers to communicate a message of quality to their primary stakeholders and healthcare providers (HCPs).
Not only should quality be demonstrated in the product and brand but also in the general approach to medical marketing.
How credible is your content, and does it communicate standards of quality? Are the channels through which you market your message reliable? How well do they engage your stakeholders? Is the overall experience consistent and does it support a mutually beneficial partnership? These are the questions you need to ask to make sure your marketing strategies support a message of quality.
In the field of oncology specifically, demonstrating quality is one of the pharma marketer’s greatest challenges. But oncology marketing that applies a message of quality can successfully bridge the transition from a volume-based to a value-based model of care, instilling confidence in vital stakeholders. This blog will discuss best practices in demonstrating quality in cancer care; how to measure quality of care; and finally, how to disseminate a message of quality across various marketing channels.
Best practices for demonstrating quality
The challenges of demonstrating quality in the area of cancer care are due in part to simple barriers of communication. The solution as proposed by multidisciplinary oncology stakeholders was to establish best practices for measuring and communicating the topic of quality care.
- Clearly communicate the standards that guide quality care with all stakeholders, HCPs, and other pharmaceutical professionals.
- Engage stakeholders to better understand and address their concerns regarding the way in which the quality of care is measured and—in the cancer field—how it is perceived to support oncology products or programs.
- Prepare to communicate quality measures and metrics as an industry requirement. This is not currently a condition for payer reimbursement, but it may be an adopted standard in the future.
- Create a consistent message to be disseminated to key stakeholders highlighting the quality of care provided by your brand. Digital channels used to engage stakeholders can be leveraged in order to communicate your message of quality.
Measuring quality of cancer care
Measuring quality is the key to validating the care experience that is to be provided by your product or service. Stakeholders may have different ideas of what constitutes quality in care, and various clinical factors can contribute to the definition of quality in cancer care specifically. While patients measure the quality of care by their overall care experience, including their relationships with providers and financial services, stakeholders often require a more quantitative expression of quality.
Typically, oncology practices need to meet certain data reporting requirements in order to demonstrate quality to stakeholders. This can be a burden, but ultimately to meet the defined standard of quality, the model of care needs to show that it yields the most value to the cancer patient. And while the patient experience is a valid concern, the primary goal for pharma companies is to demonstrate quality in the form of clinical results, metrics, and relevant trial data, which should all support a successful treatment paradigm.
The requirement to demonstrate quality by providing specific measurements and metrics is a current standard established in the pharma industry. It is a good practice for pharma companies to consistently communicate their standard of care to stakeholders and HCPs by providing data that is well documented and published.
Implementing standards of quality into marketing practices
Given the challenges of demonstrating quality in cancer care, how do oncology marketers effectively deliver a message of quality? The first step is to communicate clearly the guiding standards of care established by a panel of stakeholders, and the methods used to measure the quality of care. Second, make sure your oncology marketing campaign includes access to high value content—such as important clinical data used to conclusively prove quality—and maintains a consistent, reliable message across all communications.
Finally, a thoughtfully designed, multichannel approach to oncology marketing can ease communication barriers on the topic of quality care in cancer. Multichannel marketing provides more channels for stakeholders to engage through, and a platform whereby you can create and disseminate a consistent message of quality.