Overview
The future of patient services is bright.
Patient Services offers pharmaceutical companies a tremendous opportunity—for those willing to invest in the right places and let patients know about them in the right way. We surveyed 200+ patient services executives in the pharma industry to understand where their companies are in developing patient services and where they intend to go over the next two years and contrasts that with patients told us they want, value and expect from patient services.
Our survey covered seven therapeutic areas: heart, lungs, brain, immune systems, bones, hormone/metabolism, and cancer. And guess what? Our study revealed that the future of patient services is bright—for both pharmaceutical companies and patients.
This research report is intended to help pharmaceutical companies’ hone in on the services that present the highest potential—for them and the people who use their therapeutics—so they can take a leadership role in shaping this rapidly evolving market and prepare for the shift from delivering products to delivering better patient and health system outcomes.
See how the key findings differ between executives the US and Europe.
Key Findings
Patient services are delivering value with a significant increase in focus and investment expected over the next two years.
9 of the top 10 services offered by companies are driving above average business impact.
Companies are going big with investments in digital engagement technologies and supporting analytics.
95%
companies are planning to invest in patient engagement technologies over the next 18 months.
Digital channels play a dominant role in making patients aware of their services.
Top three ways to make patients aware of services.
SEE THE DIFFERENT CHANNELS USED BY COUNTRY
Much of this investment (but not all) is aligned to what patients value.
50% of the services expected to grow the most are highly valued by patients.
There are some cases where patient value exceeds expected expansion in service offering:
Medication Delivery/Support:
Remote Monitoring:
Patient Outreach, Reminders and Scheduling:
Valued by 85%
Expected increase by 55%
Valued by 79%
Expected increase by 68%
Valued by 79%
Expected increase by 54%
Barriers To Success
Three potential barriers to ensure future investment delivers increased patient and business value:
Implications
Patient services will become a competitive driver and are no longer optional for pharmaceutical companies.
It will no longer be a question of if pharmaceutical companies should offer services, but which ones and how.
Investment should be led by what patients value, but measuring business value is critical to sustainability.
Invest in understanding the needs of patients to direct your patient services strategy.
Develop a robust measurement capability to ensure your patient desired patient outcomes and business value.
Clear organizational and operating strategy must be in place to ensure companies are structured for success.
Mixed or unclear ownership may create inefficiency and limit the impact of services.
Articulating the patient and economic value of services needs to be central to healthcare professional interactions.
Focus conversations on the outcomes achieved by the solutions (products + services) you offer. When healthcare professionals see the bundled solution as integral to achieving better outcomes, they will be much more inclined to discuss the solution with the patient.
About The Research
Pharmaceutical Patient Services Executives asked to benchmark current and anticipated activities and investment in patient services:
Heart
Lungs
Brain
Cancer
Immune System
Bones
Hormones/Metabolism
Anthony Romito
anthony.r.romito@accenture.com
anthony.r.romito@accenture.com
Ramon Pressburger
ramon.w.pressburger@accenture.com
ramon.w.pressburger@accenture.com
Eva Wiedenhöft
eva.wiedenhoeft@accenture.com
eva.wiedenhoeft@accenture.com