
Digital Health Coalition Newsletter – December 2018


FEATURED CONTENT: 2019 Predictions from DHC Scholars and Advisory Board Members
Happy Holidays from the Digital Health Coalition! In recognition of the coming new year, we circulated a set of questions to DHC Health Scholars and DHC Advisory Board Members, giving them a chance to share their own end-of-year musing with our readers. We hope these insights from the industry’s best and brightest will inspire you to start 2019 with a fresh energy!
We asked…
What tech/healthcare/marketing/advertising trend that can’t be ignored in 2019, and why?
They said…
Privacy is a tech/healthcare/marketing/advertising trend that can’t be ignored in 2019, because customers are quickly losing trust in all companies that collect, store, manage and use personal data for diagnosis and treatment, risk stratification, financial transactions, and omnichannel tracking and marketing.
— Joe Shields, President and Founder, Health Accelerators
Machine Learning (ML) is a technology trend that can’t be ignored in 2019, because Artificial Intelligence tools have reached a point where they are more powerful and accessible than ever. Machine Learning in 2019 will come out of the niche technology space and begin to become a standardized way to uncover powerful insights in even smaller datasets. Combined with traditional market research tools, ML will enhance our approach to solving some of the most interesting problems in healthcare.
— Lori Grant, President, Klick Health
Data is a trend that can’t be ignored in 2019. Focus on patient engagement and ongoing data handling topics will continue to be front and center of topics for the industry. As patient engagement continues to increase in importance the ability to develop strategies and supporting tactics to effectively reach patients across all digital channels. This also requires expert knowledge in data management as more patient data is collected and utilized having a clear data management approach in the US and globally is critical. Most data exists in silos today and marrying these data silos, cleansing and ensuring data integrity is foundational. The consequences are significant – particularly from a EU perspective, but longer term in order to have the ability to develop targeted marketing programs.
— Jim LeFevere, Director, Global Marketing Services, Roche Diabetes Care
AI is a trend I can’t ignore in 2019 because every vendor and writer is going to be hyping it. Just like every innovation, there are some truly amazing capabilities AI can open up. Focusing on the essentials – who is your customer? what are their needs? how can brands engage with them? are questions that can help keep the hype in perspective.
— Fred Bennett, Patient Engagement & Strategy, Intercept Pharmaceuticals

— Mike Collette, Founder and CEO, PatientPoint
Artificial Intelligence is a tech/healthcare trend I can’t ignore in 2019, for many reason but as a start, the technology provided via automation, chatbots, virtual assistants, etc can provide deeper patient insights, leading to improved healthcare and more personalized engagement, which ultimately should lead to better patient outcomes.
— Deb Nevins, Sr. Associate Director, HCP Integration and Engagement Lead, Jardiance Brand Team, Boehringer-Ingelheim

— Lori Grant, President, Klick Health
What do you believe will dramatically influence the face of pharma and/or healthcare in the next 5 – 10 years?
They said…
I believe pricing pressure will dramatically influence the face of pharma and/or healthcare in the next 5 – 10 years, fundamentally changing the cost structure and business models of big pharma, forcing sweeping changes in how companies discover, test and market medicines and medical devices.
— Joe Shields, President and Founder, Health Accelerators
— Jim LeFevere, Director, Global Marketing Services, Roche Diabetes Care
I believe AMAZON Health will dramatically influence the face of pharma and/or healthcare in the next 5 – 10 years.
— Deb Nevins, Sr. Associate Director, HCP Integration and Engagement Lead, Jardiance Brand Team, Boehringer-Ingelheim
The explosion of data – linking real world outcomes against cost – will continue to radically transform the business of pharma and health interventions in general. What is the long term value of a treatment for a 10 year old child to eliminate traditional (and costly) supportive care? We’ll have hard data at scale to make those decisions. The flip side is we must make tough decisions when we allocate significant investments towards a patient at the end of their natural life – and where the therapeutic and treatment interventions may offer little to no benefit in terms of length and quality of life. We say value-based pricing exists today – but not anything close to how data will truly enable value-based pricing in pharma and health in the next decade.
Another area that will transform pharma will be the use of data to optimize the patient engagement and customer experience with physician customers. While pharma companies have been content to maintain an “arms length” relationship with their customers (often for legal reasons) the push by all other parts of the health system to invest in deep customer experience platforms and solutions will force pharma to come along – eventually. When brands make decisions based on customer experience, traditional segmentation based on historical activity becomes part of a much larger and holistic picture of customer value (and brand success).
— Mark Bard, Co-Founder, Digital Health Coalition
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS FROM DHC PARTNERS
The Health and Tech Trends That Will Shape Pharma Marketing in 2019
Via Intouch Solutions | Website →
Intouch’s annual trends report – this is the fourth – highlights the healthcare and tech trends that will shape the year ahead. This POV focuses on the 7 trends to keep an eye on, including: Healthcare reform and pricing pressures, Understanding the human inside the customer (patient or HCP), Telehealth and other more personalized types of care delivery, Gene therapy, Voice technology and personal assistants, Data privacy and security, and AI inside. Read more →
Health-Condition Influencers Reveal Social Media Strategies
Via Healthline | Website →
Influencers have been impacting the health and wellness marketplace for years, but only recently are we beginning to see pharma brands catch on to this trend. Healthline’s 2018 “Health & Wellness Influencer Survey” questioned health influencers across all social media channels to understand how they work, what they value, and what they’re planning for 2019. Read about the valuable insights from the survey here →
DHC PARTNERS IN THE NEWS
Crossix Customer Insights Team Named One of the Most Innovative Divisions of 2018 by PM360 | |
Via Crossix | Read More → |
Klick Health Wishes You Happy Holidays and Raises Money for a Great Cause | |
Via Klick Health | Read More → |
DHC EVENTS COMING SOON
DHC CONTENT
Moving Brands from Health Literacy to Health Authenticity with Healthline, Publicis Health Media, and the Digital Health Coalition | |
Webinar now available on demand → |
A Look at the Regulatory Landscape in 2019 from DHC Advisory Board Member Dale Cooke | |
Read the full interview here → |