With over 260,000 health apps worldwide and 70% of patient groups using at least one app to manage their condition, it’s clear that a digital ecosystem has developed within healthcare. New research released by the Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions explores how digital technology can help pharma embrace patient centricity to remain relevant, profitable, and to deliver better health outcomes.
Simply put, patient centricity refers to the process of developing positive healthcare outcomes through direct engagement with patients. Genuine patient centricity means understanding the patientâ⠬⠢s experience of his or her condition, and what the individual patient values and needs.
There are five key dimensions of patient centricity:
Pharma is at an inflection point where increasing risks mean many companies are now looking to demonstrate value for money through a combination of new pricing models, improved benefit tracking and the introduction of wraparound services that Ã¢â ¬Ë go beyond the pill.â⠬⠢ There is a growing realisation that a new business model is needed if the industry is not only to thrive, but to survive.
Patient centricity is important because the insights gained by listening to the voice of the patient can be applied at every stage of a pharma companyâ⠬⠢s efforts, from drug discovery to winning regulatory approval, to post-market disease management. By engaging directly with patients and partnering with them across the entire pharma value chain, pharma companies can re-invent their business and operating model in order to re-vitalise the industry so that they can remain relevant, profitable and sustainable in the future.
Based on extensive literature reviews, new primary research on the production and utilisation of health apps by 12 major pharma companies and a survey of 190 patient groups, as well as our experience working across the healthcare and life sciences sector, our report examines the barriers that pose a threat to pharma’s transformation as well as the strategies being used to achieve patient centricity.