Using RWD to Create Personalized Engagement

Pharmaceutical Executive: How can agencies harness real-world data (RWD) to drive smarter, more personalized engagement?
Ted Sweetser: When we think about RWD, we think about claims data and healthcare observations that have been de-identified and rendered HIPPA compliant, but still allow you to get a really fine-tuned understanding about what patient challenges are, what drives decision-making, and what obstacles they may face in obtaining care.

I gravitate towards being able to go past persona-driven strategies where market research is involved much earlier in the pre-commercial or early-launch phases and things are boiled down to broad set of archetypes. We’re able to actually describe those markets in far more detail. That means that agencies should be able to shape messaging that reflects the needs and cares of the given constituency.

We think about this in healthcare in the research side of the business. This includes getting communities to have access to care. There’s a pretty well-established link in getting somebody a healthcare provider that looks like them and is able to reflect their sensitivities and concerns. A notable and unfortunate example of that is the historical record of African Americans reporting pain symptoms and not necessarily being believed by HCPs.

Being able to match the needs of the population with the brands that you’re promoting is an area where RWD can be incredibly essential.