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While there are significant benefits to presenting patients with relevant health information throughout their treatment journey, responsible data collection and use is critical to build and maintain patients’ trust. How can the industry prioritize patient centricity in privacy?
From helping patients have important conversations with their providers to supporting better-informed decisions about their health and more, there are innumerable benefits to presenting patients with high-quality, relevant health information at meaningful times throughout their treatment journey. However, responsible data collection and use is critical to building and maintaining patients’ trust.
Melissa Mitchell, Chief Privacy Officer at Phreesia, and Anthony Matyjaszewski, VP and Chief Compliance Officer for the Network Advertising Initiative, recently joined the MM+M Podcast to discuss best practices for taking a patient-centric approach to privacy and consent when providing users with relevant content. Here, we look at four takeaways from that conversation.
1. Activate patients with relevant content when they say they want it
Phreesia data shows that patients who receive high-quality, relevant health information at the point of care and at other key moments in their healthcare journey have higher rates of diagnosis and increased preventive screenings. For example, 78% of women who saw a Phreesia campaign about breast cancer awareness said they were likely to talk to their doctor about screening, and more than half (52%) of patients who engaged with a Phreesia public service announcement about Alzheimer’s disease said they were likely to talk to their doctor about it.
While tailored health content can help educate patients and activate them to participate in their care, one of the most important factors in delivering this type of information to patients is providing it to the extent that they actually want to see it, Mitchell said.
“Showing this information to these folks really does have an impact on their lives, and we want to be able to do that to the extent that they want to be empowered by that information,” she explained. Prioritizing their consent and being clear about the types of information they will have the opportunity to view is key to ensuring they receive only content they want to see, she added.
2. Be transparent about how data is collected and used
As numerous state consumer health-data privacy laws emerge and go into effect, balancing new regulations with beneficial uses of consumers’ health data—while still protecting their privacy—should be a top priority when reaching patients with tailored content, Matyjaszewski noted.
“Meeting consumers’ expectations and being open and honest with them about what data is being collected, used and shared [is key],” he said. “If done right, it’s the best of both worlds. Consumers’ privacy is protected, and they feel comfortable with what’s going on in the background, while also receiving the right messaging at the right time that can actually help them improve their health outcomes.”
Providing consumers with clear explanations about why they’re seeing particular content also helps to maintain their trust. As part of a privacy-centric consumer experience, individuals should be fully aware of when they’ve opted in to view tailored information. Examples might include consenting to receive additional messaging after seeing their provider or electing to be notified when new treatments or clinical trials become available after reading a relevant article.
3. Create an appropriate feedback loop
While having an easy-to-understand user interface and approach to consent are vital to making sure that consumers are aware of how their data is collected and used, implementing a channel for them to give direct feedback also can go a long way toward boosting consumer engagement and trust. Mitchell noted that at Phreesia, giving individuals the ability to reach out with privacy questions or feedback has become a very important part of the company’s business, as it helps to ensure that patients have a clear understanding of how its platform works, as well as offering a means to inform updates.
By maintaining a dedicated email channel for patients to engage with members of its Privacy team, Phreesia can communicate directly with any patients who write in with questions or concerns. In turn, that patient feedback also can help aid the company’s decision-making around privacy best practices. While implementing this type of approach to user intent might not be scalable for all situations, it’s worth exploring even if in a somewhat smaller capacity, Mitchell said.
“Even if it’s a super-heavy lift for your business, [having some type of feedback loop] is well worth the effort because of the great gain you can make both in understanding what people are thinking and in just how far you can go with patient trust,” she said.
4. Evaluate vendor relationships related to data privacy
Companies that prioritize privacy and consent should look closely at how their vendors or partners are also applying a patient-centric approach to these areas amid today’s rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. Asking questions of partners—such as how they maintain regulatory standards or safely manage user data—will allow you to determine if they’ll be able to successfully help you maintain patients’ trust while supporting your business, Matyjaszewski said.
“One of the most important processes is understanding the extent to which there’s an applicable accountability program,” he advised.
Ultimately, understanding whether a vendor is ready to adapt to changing privacy laws and feedback from patients and other life sciences brands is a key consideration to assess when evaluating partnerships during this dynamic time in the industry, Mitchell explained.
“The ability to be flexible and ever-evolving is important because we’re going to continue seeing more and more guidance, regulations, best practices and expectations—which is a good thing,” she said. “I’d want to try to find out if a partner was ready for all of that.”
Learn more about Phreesia’s commitment to improving health outcomes and protecting patient privacy.
