Olympia Mantsios, Global VP Data and Analytics, dentsu health
Kent Groves, PhD, Global Head of Strategy, dentsu health
Greg Reilly, President, dentsu health
Erin Kelsh, Messaging Vertical Group Lead, Merkle Health
Every healthcare marketer can relate to a meeting where multiple stakeholders have had different views on what data is useful or valuable. Consider a media director needs who needs to see “everything”, the therapeutic franchise VP looking for a weekly one-pager informing them of 1-3 critical KPIs, and the group EVP looking for directional insight that qualifies spend, assumptions, and ROI. While the data that delivers against all of these expectations may be the same, actual and projected metrics will be markedly different for each scenario.
While individual needs and interpretation may vary, the future of health data revolves around the ability to stitch together a mosaic of data points about an individual across the digital ecosystem. By combining historical data collection methods with current insights and future data use, we can improve communications with HCPs, patients, and caregivers..
The where, when, how, and what of audience data and the associated inflection points are fluid and evolving. Failure to consider or overlook these dynamics will ensure significant gaps in the go-to-market strategy.
Prioritize Your Data Efforts
When we think of data, we typically jump to relational conclusions that speak to the association (be it causal or correlative) between dependent variables and their outcomes. To further complicate these considerations, the sheer volume of available data has pressure tested the evaluation process.
To navigate this complexity:
- Identify What You Need: Determine what insights you're seeking. Without a clear goal, it’s difficult to extract meaningful insights.
- Know Your Audience: Understand who is relevant to your analysis. Proper audience selection and identification are crucial.
- Choose the Right Tools: Select the appropriate technology and platforms to best support and measure your needs effectively.
While these elements are critical, if your question (insight sought) and business objective aren’t aligned, then the approach, methodology, and solution will also be misaligned. The solve for this is to not only recognize the need for accurate and consistent data, but to change the question from “What does the data tell us?” to “What do we need to know, what data will give us the answer and how can we use this data to achieve our business objectives?”. Identifying the necessary data, utilizing it effectively, deriving meaningful insights, and achieving business objectives are all interconnected and essential for success.
Regulatory Considerations Enroute to Health Data Optimization
Originally, the collection and use of health data was mostly unregulated, but with the evolution and universal adoption of digital technology, structured frameworks for the collection and the use of data gained traction. In the early 2000s, stricter data governance policies such as HIPAA in the US, GDPR in the EU, and PIPA in Japan were introduced to protect patient privacy and ensure data accuracy. With emerging challenges such as data breaches or ethical AI, these regulations will tighten further, and new regulations will be introduced, making health data a spoke in a complex web of local, state and national regulations.
Despite the restrictions and challenges, health data and analytics are indispensable for reporting, measurement, insights, and optimizations. While analysts strive to distill complex concepts into clear, actionable messages, healthcare insight measurement still lags in providing clients with the information needed to make informed decisions.
Effective decision-making hinges on the quality of results, distinguishing between metrics that inform the general state of a campaign and those that reveal what drives real impact. Understanding this difference is crucial for performing effective optimizations and driving business outcomes.
Where Do We Go From Here?
While there are multiple approaches that can be considered as we look to the future, an approach referred to as “user-forward messaging”, is a realistic consideration for the next step. User-forward messaging leverages the stitched-together customer profiles we mentioned earlier, compiling customers’ preferences and behavioral actions, but is flexible and reactive, enabling organizations to create content that can be modular and personalized at the same time. Whether using this approach or an alternate, we are specifically looking to securely unify customer profiles with their behavioral actions (vs a specific purchase journey). While reactive and flexible, user-forward messaging enable organizations to create content that is relevant, modular and personalized, while filling the identity gap that continues to grow between what we know and what we are allowed to use to inform our next messaging action. Additionally, these new considerations support the short and midterm jurisdictional/government objectives of protecting citizens from inappropriate and exploitive use of personally identifiable information (PII).
Pursuit of the full spectrum of health marketing efforts relies on “good” data for good results, combined with an understanding of audiences, channel activation, and measurement to inform business impact rather than just aggregated marketing metrics. To this end, the entire health/life sciences industry is facing a tipping point. Specifically, a period where the history of the past, present, and future approaches to data acquisition, communications, analysis and insight are about to collide in such a way that we will see a transformation in the engagement with all healthcare professionals (HCPs).
In the following articles within this series, we will:
- Expand on the role and nature of omni-channel data, associated unique insights derived via these metrics and the nature of the platforms that inform and integrate with current business platforms.
- Share actionable data-driven insights beyond traditional geo-, demo-, and behavioral graphics.
- Focus on aligning business impact as the ultimate performance metric in your strategy.
The vital opportunity in this transformation of health data is a future where we are more patient-centered, facilitated by HCPs. As our ability to connect data improves, so will patient engagement. Embracing these fundamentals will distinguish the data leaders from the data laggards and determine who will be on the cusp of the next wave of advances in health-directed CX.