Physicians & Patients Still Aren’t on the Same Treatment Page
Often when marketers develop strategic and tactical plans, the plans are based on an assumption that physicians and patients perceive a given disease state the same way. This belief is often fueled by another assumption – that physicians and patients have open lines of communication with one another that are frequently utilized. These assumptions are not only naive, but can prevent a brand team from fully realizing potential opportunities for brand growth.
A recent example of the real world disconnect between physicians and patients was found within a prostate cancer study by Sonn et al. in 2013. The study found that Urologists are poor assessors of the quality of life impact of prostate cancer treatments on their patients. Across multiple health-related quality of life domains (e.g., fatigue, pain, libido, etc.), urologists underestimated the degree of impairment when compared to patients’ self-reported score.
Results for our own previous work corroborate Sonn’s findings. We sought to evaluate physician perceptions of the impact of a specific condition on patients’ lives. The chart below illustrates the disconnect we uncovered between physicians and patients and its similarity to the work that Sonn and colleagues demonstrated.
It is clear that the evidence shows that physicians continue to underestimate the impact of many conditions on their patients’ ability to thrive, not just survive.
From our research, a campaign was developed to sensitize doctors to the disconnect and encourage them to take a more thorough assessment of their patients quality of life measures. Without a full view of their customer dynamics, it was impossible for both professional and consumer pharmaceutical marketers on this team to maximize the effectiveness of their initiatives.
Have you been able to identify and quantify perceptual gaps between your target physicians and patients? If not, how might this information affect your strategy and communication approach for both physicians and patients?