Patient Journey Mapping: Definition, Significance, Inclusion of Technology, and Prospects

As the pharma industry is moving forward to the next revolution of Industry 5.0, patient-centric approaches are being incorporated by the pharma companies. The time is gone when HCP suggestions were the cornerstone of the industry. In recent times, the industry’s inclination toward patient-centricity has led to patients being the decision-makers. They happen to be more knowledgeable, involved, and informed. This calls for a deep understanding of patient experiences, pain points, and preferences. A ripple effect, so to speak.

A patient journey mapping example can prove how crucial it is to navigate the patients in the current pharma market. It incorporates varied methods to report and map evidence about patient experiences and interactions with services, HCPs, and systems. It assists marketers in unlocking critical moments, identifying treatment barriers, and boosting engagement and support. 

Pharma enterprises these days are significantly using Patient Journey Mapping (PJM) tools to optimize outreach, tailor patient-centric strategies, and boost health outcomes. 

What is meant by Patient Journey Mapping? 

It’s nothing but a research methodology that focuses on highlighting the lived experiences of patients and/or their family members and their respective HCPs, purposefully and methodically. PJM has the potential to offer detailed data about patient experiences, gaps in health services, and challenges and catalysts for access to health services. This data can be applied discreetly or alongside information from greater datasets to transform and enhance models of care relevant to the population that is being investigated. 

To date, the most frequent reason for embracing this approach is to inform health service redesign and betterment. There are other reasons such as- (a) to gather a comprehensive understanding of a patient’s journey throughout the health systems (b) to flag delays in treatment or diagnosis (also coined as bottlenecks) (c) to assess continuity of care across health services and localities (d) to decode and assess the thoroughness of care (e) to comprehend how people are navigating health systems and services and lastly (f) to tally patient experiences with practice guidelines and levels of care.

An effective patient journey mapping (PJM) breaks down the patient experience into classified stages, identifying vital touchpoints, challenges, and opportunities for betterment. Vital stages include-

• Commencement of Symptoms & Awareness- initially patient experiences symptoms and starts looking for information online, through social networks, or from trusted HCPs. 
• Start with Treatment and Diagnosis- Patients go through consultations, diagnostic tests, and the commencement of treatment initiation. This phase is often classified by emotional stress and uncertainty, especially if diagnoses are delayed or miscommunicated. Consumers might also face challenges with insurance coverage or access issues. 
• Treatment Adherence and Behavioural Shifts- Once the treatment commences, patients may face hurdles like side effects, budget constraints, and treatment complexities. These challenges can lead to non-adherence, alterations between therapies, and even discontinuation, which can hamper treatment success.
• Long-term Disease Management & Engagement- For acute diseases, patients need perpetual care, lifestyle alterations, and uninterrupted medical adherence. Long-term success often hinges on steady patient education, support programs, and consistent engagement of HCPs. 

Significance of Patient Journey Mapping in Pharma

By now, you might have understood the key reasons why the pharma market needs to adopt patient journey mapping. In short, it enhances patient results and commercial success. However, there are critical advantages that are being recognized in the pharma market. They are-

• Highlighting Unmet Needs- Patient journey mapping helps accelerate diagnosis and support early-stage intervention, particularly for rare diseases, minimizing delays and enhancing outcomes. 
• Unraveling Patient Pain Points- PJM unravels challenges like poor adherence, side effects, or financial interests, enabling the design of support programs to enhance outcomes and access. 
• Upgrading Brand Messaging- Another vital beneficial element that PJM offers is that it enables patient-centric messaging for every stage, fostering trust through transparent, empathetic communication. 
• Boosting Engagement & Adherence- The approach addresses financial, emotional, and informational challenges by offering targeted resources, such as educational content and financial aid. 

Inclusion of Technology in Patient Journey Mapping

PJM is a hands-on methodology, relying on interviews, surveys, and observational research. The technology that bolsters this research has, to date, included word-processing software, and data analysis packages, such as NVivo, Stata, and SPSS. With the advent of more sophisticated technological tools, such as EHRs, data analytics programs, and patient tracking systems, HCPs and researchers can potentially utilize this technology to endorse and enhance PJM propagation. There are existing illustrations where technology has been harnessed in the patient journey. Research showcased such an example where a PJM has been used to verify disease treatment data from the outlook of the patient and then the authors developed a remote prototype that visualizes and organizes personal health information according to the PJM. They incorporated a visualization approach for analyzing medical information in personal health management and assessed the medical information representation of seven mobile health apps that were used by patients and individuals. The apps offer seamless access to patient health information; they initially import data from the hospital database, without the need for patients to structure their medical records and information. 

In another example, research used radio frequency identification technology (a wireless system that has the potential to track a patient’s journey) as a component of their PJM project to track surgical daycare patients to enhance patient flow, minimize wait times, and boost patient and staff satisfaction.

Patient Journey Mapping: Future Prospects

In recent times, patient journey mapping has emerged as an effective research process in pharma, enabling more reactive and insightful patient engagement.

• AI-enabled Predication and Messaging Optimization- AI analyses patient data in real-time, predicting behaviors and optimizing messaging. Tools like KRISTL and AiGILE offer actionable insights to enhance satisfaction and adherence.
• Real-time Patient Journey Mapping- PJM in the future will update in real-time utilizing wearable data, offering in-depth insights into patient behavior and enabling timely interventions.
• Enhanced Communication, Co-designs, and Collaborations- Mapping patient interactions with HCPs and journeys within and across health services enables particular gaps in communication and collaboration to be flagged and potentially informs responsive strategies for betterment. In principle, these strategies would be co-designed with patients and HCPs, leading to enhanced care coordination and healthcare experience and results. 
• Patient Empowerment and Engagement- It is predicted that when patients are invited to share their health journey experiences and notice visual or written representations of their journeys, they may come to comprehend their health situation holistically. Potentially, this might lead to enhanced health literacy, renewed adherence to treatment plans, and/or self-management of chronic issues such as cardiovascular disease. Given these benefits, it is recommended that pharma companies provide patients with information on research and quality enhancement projects with which they are involved to close the chapter and to ensure that the research is appropriately circulated. 

Conclusion

PJM has turned out to be an unavoidable tool for pharma marketers seeking to align their strategies with patient preferences, boosting engagement, and enhancing treatment adherence. By monitoring the healthcare patient journey, PJM enables pharma enterprises to identify gaps in care and plan interventions that support patients more appropriately. 

Pharma marketers who are hyperactive about boosting their patient-centric strategies should embrace patient journey mapping in their commercial plans. Reach out to our team at Newristics, who can assist in optimizing go-to-market communications through advanced market research, ML analytics, and consulting services.