Creating a digital support community for patients
Developing a social network and engagement hub to connect patients, physicians, and support groups for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria
Situation
Exco InTouch had been engaged by a Top 10 pharma with a marketed product for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) who wanted to build a digital community where people affected by this rare skin condition could come together.Exco had been set a tight deadline to deliver the program, which was to include a website and social media presence to drive recruitment alongside a global, consumer-grade community application for Android and iOS.The application needed to provide a familiar look and feel for social interaction, but also include assessments to track their progress and the opportunity to find and connect with specialist CSU clinicians in their local area, whilst protecting data integrity and security for users.
Solution
Having completed a number of patient support and digital health projects previously, Exco found that leading with development did not deliver the level of solution they were striving for to improve user experience and engagement. They knew they needed to turn the development process on its head and start from the end-user perspective, then build the technology to needed to meet the product requirements.nuom worked alongside the Exco product team, using our expertise to design and develop the Target MyHives brand, recruitment portal, and native applications. Concept development and wireframing was key to this process as it enabled the client to engage with the solution throughout development and obtain approval from internal stakeholders, which was critical to meeting the launch timeframe.Using nuom’s design & development methodology the full project was delivered in 3 months, compared to a standard delivery which would have been in excess of 6 months.- Registration of interest portal live within 4 weeks (8 languages)- Target MyHives app available in the App Store 8 weeks later (8 languages)
Outcomes
The program was highly valued by the CSU community, tripling the number of target downloads in the first week (target:500, actual downloads: >1500).In the first year Target MyHives was downloaded over 70,000 times with 3,500 active users and 150+ clinics linked to the community.As part of the engagement and reward strategy the app captured a baseline Comparison of Urticaria Activity Score at registration and then at regular intervals. This successfully showed a reduction in the score for users engaged in the community.The community peaked at >5000 active users. The app supported 9 languages and was used all around the world, with concentrated pockets of activity in some regions. A dashboard showing where patients were being registered and enrolled was displayed in the client headquarters so everyone could see how and where people were interacting with the community. This information was also used to identify areas of high unmet need, highlighting where the client should focus their marketing strategy and activities.In 2017 the app received the [CPhI Pharma Award](https://www.pharmtech.com/view/awards-recognize-industry-contributions) for Patient Centricity.
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Creating a digital support community for patients
Developing a social network and engagement hub to connect patients, physicians, and support groups for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria
Situation
Exco InTouch had been engaged by a Top 10 pharma with a marketed product for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) who wanted to build a digital community where people affected by this rare skin condition could come together.Exco had been set a tight deadline to deliver the program, which was to include a website and social media presence to drive recruitment alongside a global, consumer-grade community application for Android and iOS.The application needed to provide a familiar look and feel for social interaction, but also include assessments to track their progress and the opportunity to find and connect with specialist CSU clinicians in their local area, whilst protecting data integrity and security for users.
Solution
Having completed a number of patient support and digital health projects previously, Exco found that leading with development did not deliver the level of solution they were striving for to improve user experience and engagement. They knew they needed to turn the development process on its head and start from the end-user perspective, then build the technology to needed to meet the product requirements.nuom worked alongside the Exco product team, using our expertise to design and develop the Target MyHives brand, recruitment portal, and native applications. Concept development and wireframing was key to this process as it enabled the client to engage with the solution throughout development and obtain approval from internal stakeholders, which was critical to meeting the launch timeframe.Using nuom’s design & development methodology the full project was delivered in 3 months, compared to a standard delivery which would have been in excess of 6 months.- Registration of interest portal live within 4 weeks (8 languages)- Target MyHives app available in the App Store 8 weeks later (8 languages)
Outcomes
The program was highly valued by the CSU community, tripling the number of target downloads in the first week (target:500, actual downloads: >1500).In the first year Target MyHives was downloaded over 70,000 times with 3,500 active users and 150+ clinics linked to the community.As part of the engagement and reward strategy the app captured a baseline Comparison of Urticaria Activity Score at registration and then at regular intervals. This successfully showed a reduction in the score for users engaged in the community.The community peaked at >5000 active users. The app supported 9 languages and was used all around the world, with concentrated pockets of activity in some regions. A dashboard showing where patients were being registered and enrolled was displayed in the client headquarters so everyone could see how and where people were interacting with the community. This information was also used to identify areas of high unmet need, highlighting where the client should focus their marketing strategy and activities.In 2017 the app received the [CPhI Pharma Award](https://www.pharmtech.com/view/awards-recognize-industry-contributions) for Patient Centricity.
