{"id":24528,"date":"2021-02-16T10:47:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T10:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/?p=24528"},"modified":"2021-02-16T10:47:08","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T10:47:08","slug":"the-rise-of-telehealth-implications-for-pharma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/the-rise-of-telehealth-implications-for-pharma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Telehealth: Implications for Pharma"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div>

The Growth of Telehealth and the Implications for Pharma<\/span><\/h1>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Last year, <\/span>largely <\/span>driven<\/span> by<\/span> Covid-19, t<\/span>he use of telehealth services surged<\/span>. <\/span>According to the <\/span>American Academy of Family Physicians<\/span><\/a>, t<\/span>he term telehealth <\/span>denotes <\/span>\u201ca broad collection of electronic and telecommunications technologies and services that support at-a-distance healthcare delivery and services<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/b> <\/span>Including<\/span> virtual consultations<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span>rem<\/span>inders<\/span>,<\/span> and mobile health, <\/span>among other services, <\/span>the rise of telehealth <\/span>and its future evolution <\/span>has<\/span> <\/span>important implications for pharmaceutical companies. <\/p>\n

One <\/span>growing service <\/span>in<\/span> telehealth<\/span> <\/span>is <\/span>digital pharmacies and <\/span><\/b>the market for <\/span><\/b>direct-to-customer prescriptions<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/b> <\/span>A<\/span>s more <\/span>and more <\/span>patients obtain their prescriptions through an online provider, companies <\/span>must <\/span>re-evaluate <\/span>and adapt <\/span>their supply chains<\/span>. <\/span>Technologies like A.I. can help <\/span>manufacturers<\/span> <\/span>with <\/span>supply and demand <\/span><\/b>forecasting <\/span><\/b>and<\/span> help them produce the right <\/span>product quantities<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>elehealth<\/span> could <\/span>also <\/span>contribute to <\/span>combat<\/span>ing<\/span> <\/span>patient<\/span> non-adherence<\/span>,<\/span> <\/span>which has implications for <\/span>patient <\/span><\/b>treatment responses<\/span><\/b> <\/b>and companies’ commercial activities.<\/strong> <\/span>Studies suggest <\/span>non-adherence<\/span>, to varying extents, is a <\/span>pervasive <\/span>problem<\/span>, <\/span>being <\/span>present<\/span> <\/span>in up <\/span>to<\/span> <\/span>50% of patients<\/span><\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/b>T<\/span>elehealth services like s<\/span>martphone <\/span>a<\/span>pps<\/span>, emails<\/span> <\/span>or e-health platforms <\/span>can <\/span>provide <\/span>usage <\/span>directions <\/span>and <\/span>alerts <\/span>to<\/span> <\/span>remin<\/span>d <\/span>patients to take their medication<\/span>,<\/span> and<\/span> <\/span>e<\/span>arly findings<\/span><\/a> suggest <\/span>such <\/span>features<\/span> <\/span>increas<\/span><\/b>e<\/span><\/b> compliance<\/span><\/b>. <\/span>Given the <\/span>negative impacts of poor adherence on treatment outcomes,<\/span><\/a> telehealth interventions could result in<\/span> <\/span>improved <\/span><\/b>patient <\/span><\/b>health outcomes <\/span><\/b>and a<\/span> <\/span>better positioning of products in the market.<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

Increasing digitalisation<\/span> <\/span>in healthcare <\/span>is also <\/span>shift<\/span>ing how pharmaceutical companies communicate <\/span>about their products.<\/span> <\/span>Telehealth platfor<\/span>m<\/span>s are now providing a<\/span> <\/span>site of exchange <\/span>between product representatives and<\/span> <\/span>h<\/span>ealthcare professionals<\/span>, and opportunities to share information digitally. <\/span>Building <\/span>capacities<\/span> to<\/span> market effectively in the digital space will <\/span>therefore <\/span>be increasingly important in <\/span>engaging prescribers and outperforming competitors<\/span><\/b>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

One <\/span>important<\/span> <\/span>challenge<\/span> <\/span>in <\/span>telehealth expansion is <\/span>earning and maintaining <\/span>the <\/span>confidence and trust of patients<\/span><\/b> <\/span>when it comes to<\/span> the <\/span>security and protection of their data<\/span>.<\/span> It is of utmost importance that <\/span>patients<\/span> can be reassured that <\/span>healthcare providers<\/span> are <\/span>safeguarding their<\/span><\/b> personal<\/span><\/b> and health <\/span><\/b>information<\/span><\/b>.<\/span><\/b> <\/span>Providers<\/span> must ensure their systems are highly secure and <\/span>educate their staff<\/span><\/a> on cybersec<\/span>urity to help avert attacks and data breaches. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

There are also other challenges to overcome<\/span>, including <\/span>gaps in telehealth awareness <\/span><\/b>among users and a <\/span>lack of internet access in rural regions,<\/span><\/b> according to<\/span> <\/span>one <\/span>European telehealth <\/span>market analysis<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span>However, <\/span>from 2019 to 2025, the telehealth market is expected to <\/span>expand at a<\/span><\/b> <\/span>CAGR of over 28%<\/span><\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/b> And <\/span>many think positively about <\/span>telehealth’s potential to supplement<\/span> traditional<\/span> healthcare system<\/span>s<\/span> <\/span>to<\/span> <\/span>improv<\/span><\/b>e<\/span><\/b> <\/b>patient experience<\/a>, satisfaction, and<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/b>outcomes.<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/b>For companies<\/span>, <\/span>earning patient trust and the capabilities to adapt <\/span><\/b>will be crucially important as telehealth<\/span>, and <\/span>the healthcare landscape more widely, continues to evolve.<\/span><\/p>\n

References: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Keeping Up with Telehealth: Pharma\u2019s Evolution, December 2020, <\/span>PharmaExec.com.<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Why is a romance burgeoning between pharma and telehealth? July 2020, <\/span>ExpressPharma<\/span>.<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Pharma\u2019s Role in Personalized Smart Health, May 2016, <\/span>PharmaVoice.com.<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Wearables in Clinical Trials: Exciting Developments and Lingering Concerns, Linda Kesselring, August 2020, <\/span>Emory Technology Transfer Blog.<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Securing The Future Of Telemedicine, Andrew Peterson, June 2020, <\/span>Forbes.<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last year, largely driven by Covid-19, the use of telehealth services surged. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, the term telehealth denotes \u201ca broad collection of electronic and telecommunications technologies and services that support at-a-distance healthcare delivery and services.\u201d Including virtual consultations, reminders, and mobile health, among other services, the rise of telehealth and its future evolution has important implications for pharmaceutical companies.  One growing service in telehealth is digital pharmacies and the market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","myguten_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24528"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24637,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24528\/revisions\/24637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strammer.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}