Question 1

What should I consider when selecting a patient market research provider?

Accepted Answer

When selecting a patient market research provider to work with, you can evaluate them along the same dimensions as other research providers, but you might give more weight to depth of experience in patient markets. Deeper experience suggests more familiarity with medical issues and vocabulary, better skills developing a rapport with patients and gaining their trust, up-to-date knowledge of health care regulations and professional norms, and more extensive resources on hand, such as patient panels, secondary research materials, and technical capabilities. The quality of the research depends on the quality of the participants; how well they match the needs of the study, how engaged they are, and how willing they are to share their experiences and perspectives. Diseases and stages of diseases have very specific definitions, and patient conditions can change over time. An experienced patient market research provider will know how to translate diseases and stages into the key variables needed for screening, how to express them in patient language, and how to earn patient trust so they will share their conditions. If the provider maintains a panel, they will know to keep their panelist profiles current and to refresh it as necessary. These providers will also have an advantage over those with less patient experience when it comes to validating the participants and their data. Experienced patient market researchers will not only be able to translate diseases and stages into screening criteria, but their familiarity with medical issues and vocabulary will facilitate written and face-to-face interactions with patients, make it easier for you to collaborate with them, and result in more meaningful insights development and reporting. Knowledge of health care regulations and professional norms enables them to operate within the legal boundaries within each market and make them more acutely sensitive to issues such as patient privacy and data security. Generally, an experienced patient market research provider will be able to offer more resources. Having a proprietary patient panel signals their commitment to the industry, and the number of panelists qualified for each disease and the number of data points available for each suggests how successful they can be in reaching quotas and meeting project deadlines. They may also have access to relevant sources of secondary data, and the expertise to leverage them effectively. These can include published market research reports, archives of journal articles, clinical decision support databases, and other resources.

Question 2

How do market research providers recruit patients?

Accepted Answer

Finding patients that meet the criteria for a particular study within the general population can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, or for a particular needle at a sharps disposal center. To increase the incidence of qualified patients, many patient market research providers begin with a more defined population, and they may recruit for many diseases at once to increase efficiency. To target likely patient populations, many market research providers participate in a variety of patient events. These may include in-person events, such as awareness walks, patient support groups, or conferences sponsored by healthcare providers or organizations, or virtual “events” such as social media group discussions and bulletin boards. They may also recruit patients directly on their own website and may partner with patient advocacy groups or others in the industry who can recommend them to patients or distribute screening surveys. In some cases, they may develop close partnerships with HCPs so they can study patients as they receive treatment and experience the provider and may even receive permission to coordinate as patients check in for appointments. Advocacy groups and HCPs are often eager to partner because patient market research, whether done for a private company or other entity, generally will lead to better patient care. Their association with research and the ability to provide opportunities for patients to share their experiences and receive incentives can buttress their reputations and build stronger relationships. In some cases, they may also receive research results, and the patient market research provider may make donations to advocacy organizations directly or provide participants with the option to donate their incentive to an advocacy group or charity. Patients are motivated to participate for similar reasons. They believe the research will ultimately help to improve patient treatment and possibly improve the patient experience. To be honest, patients are probably less passionate about contributing to the development of a new packaged green bean product than they are about a treatment that may transform their lives. While research participants are often motivated by financial incentives, patients may be especially motivated: they may see a direct relationship between receiving money and paying down the costs of their afflictions, and compensation will likely be higher than for the average market research project because of the low incidence of their disease and their potential time commitment. All of these factors also help to establish the validity of the research participant. Because patients may be identified via official organizations, they are likely to be who they say they are compared to, say, your average online recruit. A fake participant may find it difficult to maintain their facade when confronted with very specific questions about a disease, its stages, and its treatment. A patient panel provider might also be more consistently engaged than other panel providers because it is particularly important to keep patient information current as they progress through different stages. For patient market research providers who maintain panels, it makes sense to mix targeted recruiting for a disease with recruiting from a general population. They may be able to partner with an advocacy group or support group that represents a particular disease or medical issue, thereby providing opportunities for targeting. To supplement these opportunities or to address gaps, it makes sense to recruit for several diseases from a general patient population because the incidence of a patient who qualifies for some study will always be greater than the incidence of one who qualifies for a particular study. For this reason, you will see patient panel providers offer targeting for several diseases because, generally speaking, it is more efficient than to focus on just one or two diseases.

Question 3

How do patient market research providers differ from each other?

Accepted Answer

Like other market research providers, experts in patient market research differ from each other with respect to how they source their patient participants, their primary research methodologies, and how they use technology. Some providers will be stronger on quantitative or qualitative, and some will be experts in ethnography, patient journey mapping, in-home tests, clinical trials, or other areas. Also, some will leverage technology in data collection by integrating with health care provider systems or other data sources, and some will offer DIY tools. For quantitative research, surveys are the most common methodology used for primary research, and some providers may offer interactive voice response (IVR) surveys via telephone. However, quantitative research can also be performed using secondary sources, such as electronic health records (EHRs), transactions, and census data. Patient market research providers will differ with respect to how much they emphasize these approaches in their offerings. Qualitative research methods include a variety of in-person and remote methods. Focus groups and in-depth interviews (IDIs) may be conducted at central locations, and certain product or usability (UX) studies may require in-person interaction, for example, if a technician is needed to set up and control the medical devices or products. However, focus groups and IDIs can also be conducted online, and IDIs can be conducted via telephone. Some UX and product studies can be conducted as in-home use tests (IHUT). Ethnographic methods are used to observe patients in relevant settings and may include in-person observation, webcams, or mobile technology. Patients may also be assigned homework, such as journaling or keeping a diary, or they may be asked to contribute to online bulletin boards or communities occasionally or periodically. Some providers may also be able to conduct clinical trials to measure the effectiveness and side effects of potential new treatments. Some patient market research providers leverage technology that integrates with health care provider systems, for example, to identify potential research participants as they check in for a visit so they can be studied in the context of care delivery. They might also be able to integrate with resources such as electronic health records (EHRs), claims activity, mobile devices, or other sources. Some experts in patient market research may also offer DIY tools for data collection, analysis, and reporting. These tools automate some or all of a research study, enabling you to take control, save money, and minimize turnaround time from design to results. Because they are cost-effective and generally leverage panels of patients who are willing to engage frequently, these tools enable you to break a project up into smaller pieces so that you can leverage early findings to shape later research.

Question 4

What is patient journey mapping?

Accepted Answer

Patient journey research documents a patient’s experiences sequentially as they progress from symptom awareness to diagnosis to treatment to post-treatment to stabilization or equilibrium, and patient journey mapping visualizes this sequence. If all patient journeys have a high degree of similarity (or the marketing organization has a low tolerance for complexity), one patient journey map may be produced. If there are significantly different patterns across patients, multiple maps may be developed and personas may be created to summarize them. Documenting the patient journey accurately is an essential step to adopting a patient-centric perspective. It is important to adopt a patient-centric perspective because patient treatment is the central activity of the healthcare industry. To deliver the optimal treatment experience with the best possible outcomes, you need to understand the process as the patient experiences it, not as it was designed or as it is seen by providers. An accurate, thorough patient journey map identifies gaps in service and treatment and uncovers barriers to successful treatment. Given this knowledge, gaps can be closed and barriers removed. The patient journey documentation includes not only the steps in the journey, but also the patient’s experience in each step; for example, what they were feeling, how satisfied they were with the outcome, what alternatives they considered, and so on. Gaining this empathy with the patient enables providers to communicate more effectively and streamline their processes to increase patient comfort and confidence. In today’s world, patients often do a lot of research online before they seek treatment, and they use online resources to identify treatment alternatives and providers. Sometimes these resources are accurate and helpful, and sometimes they are not. They may direct patients toward the wrong self-diagnosis, the wrong treatment, or make it difficult to discuss diagnosis and treatment with them because their heads are filled with misinformation. For these reasons, it may be more important than ever to understand the part of the patient journey that occurs pre-visit, especially the online portion. Knowing how the patient searches for information, what they encounter, and how they process it may better prepare you for managing their diagnosis and treatment and give you insight into how to optimize your own online presence.

Top Firms for Market Research with Patients

What are Patient Market Research Companies?

Featured Experts in Top Firms for Market Research with Patients

Compare Market Research with Patients Companies

Pinnacle Research Group, LLC

Pinnacle Research Group, LLC

Fieldwork Network

Fieldwork Network

RCHorowitz & Co., Inc.

RCHorowitz & Co., Inc.

Thrivable

Thrivable