The COVID-19 pandemic exposed countless structural public health issues that created unnecessary barriers to preventive care. Some got a lot more attention than others. Take trends in patient uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine, for example. We all heard about race-based disparities in care and social determinants like location, education, and other demographic factors that had a disproportionate effect on vaccine access for certain populations. 

But we’ve heard less about the supply chain challenges that limited access to vaccines in the first place. If you’re a Life Sciences company trying to better understand patient behavior and patterns of utilization of your new breakthrough drug, it’s critical to understand if that drug is facing resistance in the marketplace and whether that resistance is coming in the form of active avoidance on the part of consumers or simply a lack of availability. That’s not something you can identify with prescription counts alone. 

Understanding the How and the Why
That was the challenge one of our clients presented us with at the height of their rollout of a new vaccine. It was not enough just to know how many prescriptions were being filled, and where. The client needed to understand all aspects of the rollout, from transportation and logistics to patterns in provider prescribing habits to common pairings of the vaccine with other preventive care measures. Only then could they get a complete picture of the how and the why behind their overall prescription volumes and take proactive steps to remove barriers and improve uptake.

Achieving that level of granularity requires linking disparate datasets. Komodo’s Healthcare Map™ tracks the complete healthcare experience of over 330 million patients. Yet, for this level of analysis, in addition to tracking detailed patient journeys and interactions with all aspects of the healthcare system, we also needed to incorporate consumer data, advertising and marketing data, and even pharmacy inventory and storage capacity data to understand the details behind vaccine access and obstacles. 

Putting the Pieces Together
That multidimensional view of the total drug journey was made possible by our MapEnhance™ solution, which allows our customers to automatically integrate a wide range of specialized data products, including new lab, clinical, chargemaster, and genomics testing insights from our partners and others.

Armed with this higher-fidelity information, we were able to isolate the client-specific instances in which marketing and provider outreach efforts were hitting the mark and driving surges in vaccine utilization, as well as others in which—despite strong provider engagement and widespread interest—patients were not able to access the vaccine due to supply chain and pharmacy availability issues. We were also able to identify areas where consumer resistance was highest and those with the largest untapped growth potential. 

For commercial Life Sciences teams, the difference between those discrete patient profiles and the tactics used to address each of them in a highly personalized, effective manner, is the difference between a blockbuster rollout that closes crucial gaps in care and a lackluster launch that never quite hits its potential. 

Despite the best efforts to capture macro trends and analyze the overarching themes driving patient behavior, the reality is that every patient is unique and every decision they make is the result of countless psychological, logistical, and practical variables coming together at a single moment in time. The only way to understand the interplay among all of them is not just capture the data, but to add layers of nuance and draw connections between specific behaviors and outcomes.  

At Komodo, our mission is an aspirational one. It’s a complex goal requiring the integration of real-world data, advanced analytics, leading technology capabilities and the expertise of clinical and industry experts applying real-world insights to improve outcomes.  As part of my new role here, I’m excited to help Life Sciences team join us on this ambitious mission by making it possible to better understand the dynamics of patient behavior in conjunction with external variables, such as supply chain, ad campaigns, and a host of other criteria, and ultimately, reduce the burden of disease.

Get more information about Komodo’s MapEnhance solution.

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