When Digital Exam-Room Posters were first commercially introduced five years ago by Health Monitor Network®, it was unclear to what degree this new channel would provide true benefit to patients, caregivers or physicians.  Now, most Point of Care (POC) companies offer digital patient engagement products, and third-party research has proven that these Digital Exam Room Posters increasingly provide strong value for physicians and their patients.  Life science marketers can be confident that these digital exam room screens deliver the right message, to the right audience, at the right time.

Patient/Caregiver Share of Voice

Before a patient enters an exam room they are saturated with information about their diagnosis, disease and treatment options.  The Internet provides everyone with access to any data (good or bad) at any time.  In this environment it may be difficult for physicians to help patients cut through the clutter and develop meaningful HCP/patient dialogue and engagement.

Digital Exam Room Posters provide physicians with an efficient educational tool to help patients and caregivers learn more effectively about their disease and treatment options.  Digital Exam Room Poster technology has evolved over the past five years.  Dependent on the condition focus, most Digital Exam Room Posters provide rotating content, 3D animation, and on-screen writing capabilities.

However, functionality is subordinate to the quality of the content.  Physicians prefer content that is peer-reviewed and curated by a professional society or third-party patient advocacy group.  Patients and caregivers prefer educational content that has been vetted by credible professional societies and patient organizations. Digital Exam Room Posters that rotate content that is curated through professional societies or peer-reviewed by physicians is considered industry best practice.

Physician Value
The Digital Exam Room Posters help physicians improve patient education and foster better dialogue with patients and caregivers. Physicians have less time today, so anything that can help patients better understand their diagnosis and treatment plan, can accelerate patient visits. The better physicians can educate patients, the better the patient outcomes.

For example, when a patient with cardiovascular problems can view a 3D heart on a screen and the physician can draw lines, arrows and circles on the screen — patient education increases exponentially. And if the content is tailored to the patients’ educational needs and is stamped with a professional society imprimatur, patient engagement and compliance increases.

“The Health Monitor platform decreases patients’ perceived wait times, provides patient education and helps increase medication compliance, further driving our ACO patient experience and preventive health goals … all with one turnkey solution,” said David Cooper, MD, CEO and managing partner, founder of ProHEALTH Care.

Pharma Marketing Muscle

In the past, pharma marketers stuck their toe in the water as it relates to the use of digital exam room patient education tools in their marketing mix.  In the beginning, the cost of entry was high, and the ROI was unknown.  Today, digital exam room posters are considered tried and true, because of the positive impact.  In fact, as this measurable patient education channel evolves, life science marketers are seeing real results in the form of:

• New patient starts on Rx ads shown on exam room screens
• Improved patient compliance
• Specific patient behavior linked to exam room screen content

Point of Care Marketing

As pharma leaders continue to experience greater pressure to allocate their limited resources against appropriate marketing tactics, the use of POC tools becomes more strategic.  In particular, as digital exam room patient education support gets “smarter” we are seeing patient outcomes, physician/patient dialogue and ROI for pharma and life science marketers improve.

Contributing Author Bio:

Dan Tassone, Vice President-Product Strategy & Integration – For over five years, Dan has played an integral role in transforming Health Monitor Network® into one of the leading patient-engagement companies in the U.S. The company has experienced hyper growth in the last three years, notably doubling sales and tripling its employee base. www.healthmonitornetwork.com