Copay cards are a direct way for manufacturers to reduce out-of-pocket costs, supporting patients’ ability to choose their treatments instead of being pushed towards generics by their insurance. Yet the opportunity copay cards offers goes far beyond just an out-of-pocket discount.Copay cards open the door for patients to even approach a new treatment, knowing that their costs may be offset in some way. Any new diagnosis or drug regimen can be highly intimidating – especially in the case of pricey specialty drugs – and copay cards are the way manufacturers support the patient to jump a major hurdle: affordability.
Patients expect more, and so do brands
Just as consumers have gotten used to transferring money and ordering flights on the go, they also expect to order, buy and manage their meds easily through mobile. Distributing copay cards through mobile is a no-brainer from a user experience perspective; but no less of a no-brainer from a business point of view.
With the right mobile data capabilities, a digital copay card can unlock invaluable insights not only on copay activation and utilization, but also on the patient’s journey on therapy. Such data can enable brand teams to personalize the resources and messaging they offer each patient to drive better activation and adherence, all with a personal touch.
Here are some examples of those signals and potential insights that brands can unearth by placing smart copay cards on patients’ smartphones:
Direct copay signals:
Helping patients get started on their treatment is always a challenge – copay card utilization data can help:
- Copay card unredeemed – Knowing that a card has been activated but not redeemed may signal that the patient ran into a hurdle in their path to therapy, needs some extra support to get going, or often just doesn’t realize that they have a discount in their hands, even after they activated it. Sending an app reminder or making a case manager aware of such patient could be the difference between successful and failed on-boarding.
- Changes or halt in copay card redemptions – Similar to an unredeemed card, notifying a case manager of a sudden halt or time shift in redemptions can enable an intervention to prevent the ubiquitous patient drop-off.
- Copay cards “off schedule” – Prescriptions set particular dosages and require on-time refills to maintain therapy schedules. People who lag with refills or take their medication off schedule may have less favorable outcomes on treatment. By detecting these signals, a case manager can be alerted to this patient and reach out to help.
Indirect (passive) copay signals:
Using a smart mobile platform to host and serve the copay card also allows case manager to gather passive activation and adherence signals for analysis and tailoring of their programs:
- Repeated hospitalizations – Mobile platforms that can detecting frequent hospital visits (ideally without draining the battery with GPS), may indicate potential disruptions to therapy or uncontrolled symptoms, e.g. flare-ups or asthma attacks. After this type of signal, a a check-in phone call from a nurse or case manager may help a patient get through the rough patch or offer a nudge to see their HCP about a dosage update.
- Patient is traveling – Perhaps there are travel tips that every patient needs when they are away from home and taking a particular medicine: hints at keeping their medicine at temperature, how to administer doses in different time zones, etc. Mobile patient data can detect when people are on the road, and offer appropriate content and support resources to help stay on therapy throughout and after the trip.
- Patient is missing out on workdays – Identifying that the patient is at home, instead of at work, for several days may indicate a variety of challenges. Mobile patient data can detect this change in day-to-day behavior and notify the case manager that this patient needs special attention.
In summary, digitizing copays cards using mobile patient data enriches patient programs to improve their services and help more patients on-board and adhere to their therapy regimens.
To learn more about helparound’s mobile patient data, visit us at www.helparound.co