Helix

Caty Reid

Career Lessons: Bring Consumer Thinking Into Diagnostics

I started my career in marketing agency-side in Boston. Naturally, given Boston is the leading biotech hub in the world, I had a blend of consumer and healthcare brands for clients. More specifically, I balanced work on brands like Carnival Cruise Lines and Nike with brands like Novartis and Vertex.

It was clear to me early on that healthcare needed more consumer-thinking. A lot more. When I started more specifically in diagnostics, at Foundation Medicine, the head of marketing wanted someone who could bring consumer thinking to product launches and downstream execution and that is exactly what I did. At the time, consumers did not get to choose any of their diagnostics really, but they could influence and make their preference known for one diagnostic versus another or one brand over another. What has evolved since then, though, is exactly what I had hoped, consumers are now more in the driver’s seat when it comes to their diagnostics.

I have intentionally chosen companies that have created models and approaches that give patients more optionality and more control. This consumer-driven mindset does not mean that providers, care teams, etc. are not critical; it means we need to educate consumers, provide earlier access to critical diagnostics and, at times, put the decision-making power directly in their hands.

I’m delighted at how far we’ve come in terms of telehealth and direct-to-patient (DTP) options that mean patients don’t need to wait for 12 months and a “yes” from their current PCP or specialty doc just to get a diagnosis. But diagnostics are still considered way too late, and cost is still too much of an issue.

One of the reasons I joined Helix is the health-systemlevel approach we’ve taken. Our enterprise-level genomic programs mean our health system partners cover the cost of CDC tier 1 screening for patients and encourage this screening for patients to understand what lies in their DNA that might impact current and future health.

That’s one, of many, approaches here at Helix that fundamentally change how genetic testing is incorporated into a patient’s journey and puts more control in patients’ hands.

Data and Empathy: Know When Nuance Matters

A great use of data is generating insights that inform escalation pathways and exception handling. Patients deserve fast, accurate, helpful and tailored communication to where they are on their journeys. That doesn’t mean every communication needs to be bespoke, but it does mean you need to identify the situations, channels and formats where nuance and personal touch is imperative vs. where speed and accuracy is imperative; the data can distinguish between the two, while flagging the nuanced cases that live in between.

For example, if you repeatedly receive the same question about at-home sample collection for genetic testing, data can flag:

1. what percent of the time this question is coming up,
2.  what the most cited/consistent response is.
3.  what channels that response should live on for automated and self-serve response 4) When the question being asked is actually an exception to norm.

“ Consumers are now in the driver’s seat when it comes to their diagnostics. “

Predictive analytics can flag possible complex and highfriction moments where a custom response and sensitive language is needed. Leveraging data in this way, allows you to maximize your ability to meet specific patient needs which feels about as patient-centric as it gets.

Diagnostics Marketing: Bridge Innovation and Clinical Readiness

We are at an inflection point where there are diagnostic and laboratory tests available to consumers with information that providers are not yet comfortable with in practice. While I strongly believe that consumers should have decision-making power over their testing, it’s also important that they have clinical support in the “what comes next” decisions that follow biomarker and variant results.

The challenge is that local provider training, adoption and availability are not keeping pace with the rapid innovation of direct-to-consumer testing technologies. Take MCED (multiple cancer early detection) testing like Galleri or Cancerguard; a recent article that highlights this dichotomy perfectly; a patient reported that an MCED test detected a rare subtype of ovarian cancer, which doctors had previously misattributed to perimenopause.

In that very same article, providers stated their reluctance to use, one going so far as to say, “I certainly wouldn’t take this test myself. I wouldn’t recommend it to any family member, friend and patient.”

That is a major disconnect. Unfortunately, we see the same with even guideline-recommended genetic testing at Helix. Many providers are not comfortable or familiar with incorporating regular pharmacogenomics testing (PGx) into their practice and, yet, PGx testing can reduce financial burden and time to proper/effective treatment and prevent harm to patients. There are a number of ways Marketers can address the challenge presented by this disconnect.

One example is to leverage customer understanding (from user research, from performance analytics, from reviews, from customer communication) and shape experiences that support connecting patients to providers who are comfortable with the technology. Or, somewhat the opposite direction, give providers tools they can share with their patients like genetic testing education and consent modules that can help delegate the sharing of pertinent information without the provider having to get as deeply involved with a technology they are not yet routinely incorporating into their practice but a patient would like all the same.

Personalized Medicine: Marketing Must Become Equally Precise

To put it simple, as medicine becomes more precise, marketing must follow suit.

We’re no longer marketing breast cancer diagnostics or drugs to patients with breast cancer; we’re marketing to patients with a PIK3CA-mutated cancer that their specific genetic variant can be targeted in specific ways by specific therapeutics. Finding those patients with PIK3CA-mutated cancer, or those that don’t yet know their hereditary or somatic genetic profiles, is more difficult than finding patients with breast cancer.

Advice to Peers: Let Your Network Broaden Perspective

I recommend building a robust network that includes pharma, providers, patients and employees at organizations that genuinely interest you. Healthcare is a smaller world than you’d expect. Understanding its interconnectivity will help you better serve customers and navigate more effectively between roles and organizations. Your network is your most powerful asset, even if you don’t feel that yet!