Pharma Matters Q&A

Pharma Matters Q&A: Cardinal Health

Josh Marsh from Cardinal Health talks about the recent shifts in patient support services and the evolution of a digital hub.

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Released By Cardinal Health

By leveraging advanced technology and seasoned expertise, patients are better equipped today than ever before to navigate time-consuming steps along the patient care journey, such as enrollment, re-enrollment and reverification.

Cardinal Health combines best-in-class program and pharmacy operations with smart digital tools to ensure product and patient success. Solutions include patient access, financial assistance and therapy adherence, all designed to ensure complexities and costs never get in the way of care.

In this Q&A, Josh Marsh, Vice President and General Manager of Sonexus™ Access and Patient Support at Cardinal Health talks about the evolution towards digital patient support hubs and the trend of biopharmaceutical companies building and/or insourcing their patient support programs.

Contract Pharma: Can you describe Cardinal Health’s journey towards implementing a digital hub in patient support services and the main drivers behind this shift?

Josh Marsh: Patient support services—and the functions that go along with them—need to evolve in a new era of emerging and precision therapies. As a result, biopharmaceutical companies are seeking innovative solutions that create greater efficiencies and improve the patient experience more than ever before. The need to continually improve the patient journey has expedited innovation in patient support services.

The Cardinal Health Sonexus Access and Patient Support team remains focused on three main goals: enabling quick access to therapy; minimizing obstacles along the way; and helping patients adhere to therapy. While our goals have remained the same, the innovation that is rapidly changing healthcare is also advancing the technology that supports it. We are now able to achieve these objectives in new, efficient, and effective ways by expediting time-consuming steps in the patient care journey. The key is to use human support to create moments that matter with your patients, while automating steps along the patient journey that can’t risk delay.

CP: What technologies are proving most essential in the transition to digital patient support hubs, and how are they enhancing service delivery?

Josh: Advances in technology leveraging both artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can improve upon systematic and programmatic processes to improve a patients’ overall journey. And in new and more efficient ways, technology minimizes the obstacles patients encounter and expedites time-consuming steps, such as enrollment, re-enrollment, and reverification. Advanced technology allows for more efficient and streamlined communication with a wider subset of patients.

Having the right technology to automate interactions between stakeholders, while collecting valuable data for analytics and insights, can lay the foundation for a successful product launch. We mobilize both data and emerging technologies to enable automated, faster patient onboarding, timely and customized patient interventions, and as well as predictive and directive insights. It’s an exciting time to be part of a patient’s treatment journey.

CP: How has the move to a digital hub impacted the patient experience? Are there measurable improvements in patient engagement or outcomes?

Josh: The name of the game is patient centricity. In the context of a digital hub, it means communicating with patients through their preferred channels, whether it’s a portal, chat, email, SMS (text), phone or even paper in some cases, while eliminating unnecessary manual steps in the process for both the provider and the patient.

One of the biggest challenges operationally is contacting patients. Self-service channels for patients such as chat and text messaging are ways to increase effective contact points to meet patient expectations while reducing program costs. For example, we’ve found that 62% of patients prefer the convenience of using chat, or a virtual assistant, instead of receiving a phone call. We’ve seen similar results from pharmacy refill texts, too, with more than 89% of prescription refill orders submitted via text.

Our technology allows for flexibility in each patient journey while balancing our program staff. Patients who wish to engage via self-service can, while the option for dedicated human support is still available to those who prefer it. And, if patients do prefer to engage over the phone, speech analytics can be deployed to ensure compliance to program requirements and identify access disruptors.

CP: What trends are you observing in terms of biopharmaceutical manufacturers choosing to insource versus outsource their patient support programs? What factors are influencing these decisions?

Josh: According to a recent survey we conducted, all biopharma executives polled reported that their organizations currently outsource or have outsourced hub functions in the past three years. And almost all organizations polled (94%) manage some aspects of their patient support program (PSP) in-house, indicating that most biopharma organizations operate, in some capacity, within a hybrid model.

Two main drivers influencing the shift to a more insourced hub model include cost savings and increased control. While 25% of biopharma executives in our survey reported that saving costs was an advantage to insourcing, the reality is that insourcing demands significant resources—of both personnel and technology. Establishing and maintaining a fully functional hub requires substantial investments in training, technology, and ongoing operational costs, on top of continued innovation.

Additionally, organizations are wrestling with the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2023, and reevaluating where capital should be deployed as resources are squeezed. Executives must ask if, “creating and operating a full suite of patient hub services is central to our mission?” The short-term answer is likely no, at least not at a significant expense when weighing other business criticalities.

A hybrid model allows companies to collaborate with a hub expert who is not only invested in the success of the strategy but has the experience, bandwidth, and willingness to support the organization’s PSP evolution, whatever that may look like.

CP: What are the biggest challenges in building an internal patient support hub, and what does Sonexus Access and Patient Support recommend to its clients? 

Josh: Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, nor should there be, if an organization’s long-term strategy includes moving toward a fully insourced, outsourced, or hybrid model. Biopharma executives should conduct a thorough self-assessment of current resources and capabilities concerning technology, personnel, and expertise when weighing options.

Operating in a more hybrid model is a prudent option in uncertain times, and one that allows biopharma companies to direct already precious resources toward their core mission.  A hybrid hub model, combining in-house capabilities with outsourcing to experienced hub vendors, allows biopharma companies to retain control over critical functions while leveraging the team expertise and technology resources of external vendors. It provides flexibility to adapt to changing needs and strategies over time.

Ultimately, the key is to collaborate with a hub that understands the nuances of both digital optimization and hybrid operational models. The smartest path forward is to find a hub expert powered by a more purposeful combination of humans and machines—with the experience, bandwidth and willingness to support your company’s PSP evolution—regardless of which model your strategy currently requires.

CP: Looking forward, how do you see the role and capabilities of digital patient support hubs evolving? Are there any innovations on the horizon that could further transform the field? 

Josh: With consumers embracing self-service as part of everyday life, it makes sense that patients want that same experience from a patient support program. At the same time, specialty medications are nuanced and complex—making patient support services more reliant on the human touch, or the expertise of our team, out of necessity. Distribution of automation and live agent support isn’t an either-or option—it’s a balance. Comprehensive patient access and support services must retain manual functions while dovetailing digital solutions to fast-track steps along the patient journey.

We’re never going to fully digitize patient services, and we shouldn’t aim for that. We have programs at Sonexus Access and Patient Support that are heavily digitized, but still retain employees dedicated to the more complex support required by some patients. Digital solutions effectively deployed provides simple and streamlined experiences for the patient while making programs more efficient to operate for our clients. That’s how we should use digital hub functions—to accelerate and ease the patient experience.

Learn more at www.cardinalhealth.com/sonexus

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