How can pharmaceutical marketers connect with payers?

Without the support of payers, the commercial success of pharmaceutical drugs would be impossible. If payers don't support a particular drug, then prescribers may not have access to it and patients won't be able to receive its benefits.

Marketing to payers can be a challenge, however, because it's often difficult to determine exactly what appeals to these stakeholders. 

What do payers want from pharma marketers?

To effectively market to payers, pharma needs to understand what they're looking for. Generally, payers are concerned with five key factors:

1. Improving the health outcomes of patients.
2. Maintaining a breadth of available drugs so that prescribers have options.
3. Creating a high standard of patient experience.
4. Holding valuable relationships with physicians.
5. Keeping budgetary risk low.

Marketers could create campaigns around any one of these appeals - but do each of these topics hold the same interest for every stakeholder within a payer organization? Probably not. That's why pharma marketers should consider utilizing an account-based approach, targeting unique stakeholders with content that speaks to their unique needs.

For example, some stakeholders may be interested in learning about clinical data to determine how a product supports patient outcomes. Other stakeholders may be more interested in the value of the drug and how it will affect costs. The specifics will depend on the nature of the drug and market conditions, of course. Marketers will have to do their research to determine not only which topics are most relevant to payers, but also which personas they need to target.

Payer stakeholders want to learn how drugs support patient outcomes.

Supporting patient-centric care

According to an EY survey, payers are more focused on containing costs and instilling budgetary predictability in their business over outcome-based approaches to medicine. However, recent proposals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may shift this way of thinking. As providers and payers are able to receive higher reimbursements through CMS's Quality Payment Program (QPP), the industry as a whole may shift toward outcomes-based methods.

To be effective, outcomes-based strategies must involve several stakeholders: prescribers, patients and payers. When these three groups are aligned, there will be more opportunities for improving patient health while keeping costs affordable.

The EY survey also found that approximately 78% of payers believe that boosting drug adherence is critical to lowering healthcare costs. Therefore, pharma marketers may be able to improve relationships with payers by offering patient support solutions. For example, giving providers collateral that will educate patients about drug adherence could not only improve patient health, but also reduce the risk of hospital readmissions - something that CMS penalizes within the QPP.

According to a report from Modern Healthcare, only 14% of Medicare providers currently participate in value-based arrangements. At the recent CMS Quality Conference, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said that the agency is looking for ways to extend this model beyond Medicare and Medicaid.

"Ideally, providers that are participating in models are doing so not only for their Medicare patients but for all their payers," Verma said.

Pharma marketers who support these efforts through educational materials may find it easier to make connections with payers, especially when they're looking to get their drug covered by insurance plans.

Building strong relationships with payers is just one piece of the equation. Growing pharmaceutical businesses should also construct transparent partnerships with physicians and other prescribers. Leveraging print and digital journals as a communication channel can help marketers take a holistic approach to customer attraction and retention. To learn more, speak with an expert consultant from Elsevier today.