For patients diagnosed with rare diseases or chronic illnesses, treatment delays can seriously impact health outcomes. A meta-analysis of cancer outcomes, for example, found that every four-week delay in treatment is associated with a 6% to 8% increased chance of death for patients with any of five major tumor types.
And in many specialties, those delays are increasing. In the five years ending in 2022, wait times for appointments with cardiologists in large metropolitan regions shot up 26%.
One way healthcare stakeholders, including biopharma companies, can shorten patients’ time to therapy? Help them find and access appropriate specialists as early as possible in the treatment journey.
Of course, finding the right match can be a difficult task, particularly for patients with conditions that only a handful of specialists treat. And patients face myriad obstacles to accessing good specialist care, including location and insurance coverage.
The key is to offer digital resources that can help patients find and connect with specialists who can meet their needs. Doctor-finder tools can be configured to point patients to information about insurance coverage, for example, and even to allow patients to schedule appointments with specialists online.
“Providing patients with innovative options to speak directly with a physician, alongside digital tools that are accessible, easy to use and convenient for the patient, will help remove those barriers and make sure patients have access to doctors and guideline-directed medical therapies,” said Elizabeth Bodin, VP of Respiratory & Immunology at AstraZeneca.
For patients with chronic diseases, getting connected to the right provider early on can delay progression and prevent adverse outcomes, Bodin added, pointing to the average six years it takes for people with lupus to be diagnosed after first noticing symptoms. “Due to the complex nature of lupus, delays in diagnosis allow the disease to progress further, worsening symptoms and putting lupus patients’ health at risk of organ damage or bone tissue degradation,” she said.
Doctor finder tools can also be integrated into consumer-facing websites, whether branded or unbranded, to help bridge educational gaps that can overwhelm patients who are searching for care—particularly shortly after a diagnosis.
Newly diagnosed cancer patients often feel overwhelmed, worried and uncertain about their future, said Nicole Latulippe, US Brand Marketing Lead for Lung at Takeda Oncology. “They are being inundated with information about their disease and have many different sources of information to sift through, many of which may not be reliable or appropriate for them.”
Matching cancer patients with oncologists who specialize in their particular tumor type is essential, as the last decade has seen a wave of new treatments that can dramatically improve outcomes by targeting patients’ specific genetic mutations or other biomarkers. The increase in treatment options “has created greater opportunity than ever for patients to be involved in selecting a treatment option that can meet not only their clinical needs but may also fit better into their lives and treatment priorities,” Latulippe said.
In addition to helping patients find and access care, the industry can leverage digital platforms to inform patients’ understanding of their disease and what to expect on their care journey. Before they meet with their doctors, there’s an “opportunity to help patients identify the right questions they need to ask their physician to be more proactive in their care,” Bodin said.
Reaching patients with trustworthy content tailored to their condition is also crucial for equipping them to engage in shared decision-making with their healthcare providers, Latulippe added.
“Digital tools have transformed how we are engaging with and educating patients,” she said. “These tools help us serve the right content to the right audiences at the right time and more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of patients and the healthcare providers treating them.”