Today’s end users and providers of health products, both prescription and over-the-counter, come in any number of alias’: customer, consumer, patient, healthcare provider (HCP), pharmacist —and their behaviors shift and change alongside the evolving environment we live in.
Across Southeast Asia (SEA), a region that has historically preferred face-to-face (F2F) engagements, the pandemic has dramatically changed health delivery, with some changes expected to have a longer-term impact. Launched in 2020,IQVIA WellTrackis a syndicated market research study that quantifies behavior changes and shifts in mindset, across SEA. Using the WellTrack data, we were able to identify some emerging trends:- HCPs were forced to adoptnon-F2F modes of patient consultationduring country lockdowns. Post-lockdown, SMS, chat, calls and video apps show potential to become part of standard consultation options. For chronic conditions, chat showed strong uptake in Indonesia, compared to SMS in Vietnam and the Philippines or video in Singapore.
- Patient groups exhibited different behaviors. Sufferers of chronic disease, compared to the general population, were more likely to stock up on items such as masks, essential medication, co-morbidity medications and multi-vitamins —particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
- Pharmacy personal visits declined, and consumers/patients relied on low risk andalternate means of purchasing essential medication, such as phone, website or 3rdparty delivery apps. Notably, all markets except Thailand maintained the increase in 3rdparty delivery app use, even after lockdowns ended.
- Varied openness to remote engagement. When it comes to the type of remote engagement, the frequency, and the recipient, not all non-F2F engagements are made equal. Across SEA, HCPs prefer a mix of F2F and non-F2F engagement whereas pharmacist preferences varied between a mix or one or the other by market. Patients/consumers also have a mixed response.
Healthcare brand engagement requires triangulation on stakeholder strategy and channel success across different fronts, with some requiring a more customized approach than others. As end-user behavior continues to change, there is a strong need for insights as life science companies continue to look to: what’s next?
Click the links below to read the thoughts and perspectives shared by our IQVIA experts on the key emerging themes, orclick here find out more about ourIQVIA WellTrackservice offering.- Same same, but different: The case of complex HCP digital engagement preferences in SEAby Nick Roberto, Engagement Manager, Primary Intelligence, IQVIA, APACRead here.
- Keeping up with Southeast Asia pharmacist digital engagementby Delphine Keng, Consultant, IQVIA Consumer Health, IQVIA, APACRead here.
- Navigating through complex digital shifts – Philippines case study露丝米兰达,本金,IQVIA消费者Health, PhilippinesRead Here.
- Creating vision and agility in Consumer Health channel dynamicsby Erwin Widjaja, Principal, Advanced Analytics, IQVIA, IndonesiaRead here.