Personalization—we’re all talking about it, and we’re all trying to do it better. So what sets Veradigm apart? In this interview, Michelle Benz, Content Director at Fierce Pharma, engages in a conversation with Damon Basch and Dr. Auren Weinberg from Veradigm, exploring how strategic personalization at crucial stages in the customer journey can make a difference. Watch now or read the transcript below.
Michelle Benz: Hi, my name is Michelle Benz, content director here at Fierce Pharma. I'm joined today by Damon Basch and Dr. Auren Weinberg from Veradigm. Welcome gentlemen.
Damon Basch: Nice to be here, Michelle. Thank you.
Dr. Auren Weinberg: Thanks for having us.
Michelle Benz: Now, before we jump in, would you like to tell us a little bit more about what you do there in the company?
Damon Basch: I work in the Life Sciences Business Division of Veradigm. We also have a payer business unit and a provider business unit where physicians use all of our clinical applications and software every day. In the life science side of the business, we focus on real world data, real-world evidence and study work around the data that is thrown off by physicians using our clinical platforms. We also work with pharma on messaging and marketing towards the providers who are using our clinical applications as well. And so I lead that area in both sales and business development, and I'm pleased to be here today.
Dr. Auren Weinberg: I'm the Chief medical Officer at Veradigm. My role is to represent the clinical perspective, both of the physician and the patient, and ensure that all three of our lines of business are compliant, patient-centered, and clinically appropriate.
Michelle Benz: What are the most exciting opportunities for enablement and pharma marketing today?
Damon Basch: The major difference I'm seeing this year versus previous years is the proliferation of ad tech and MarTech using technology in a more meaningful way and using data-driven modalities to make sure that the interventions and the marketing approach we take with providers is more specific, that it's driven by data, that it's baked into affinity models, predictive models, using the entire omnichannel spectrum in a more meaningful and targeted way and driving better outcomes. That's a major shift from what I've seen in previous years at Digital Pharma East.
Dr. Auren Weinberg: From a clinical perspective, I would add that the importance of the quality of data continues to increase because as much as we apply new tools like AI and machine learning, aggregation tokens, it's really about how good the data is, how accurate it represents that interaction between the physician and the patient at Veradigm. Because we're right there in the room in a way, and we have the data collected in a meaningful way. I think we at Veradigm have a unique perspective and a value that we can bring to this marketplace.
Michelle Benz: In what ways are digital enabling pharma companies to personalize and impact the customer experience?
Dr. Auren Weinberg: Personalization is really important because we have an avalanche of data available to us. There's so much information out there and really knowing how to identify targets, do it accurately and effectively, so we make sure that we're trying to get the best value for our effort and our dollars is really the way to go in this space. My perspective about Veradigm's unique position is that because we're so close to the patient and so close to the physician, we can do things that other organizations can't do, and we can bring that quality and personalization that another organization might not because of the different lines of business that we represent. And because of Veradigm's closeness to the patient and the doctor, we know details that other pharma companies may not know, and we can deliver that in a meaningful way.
Damon Basch: So you think about the fact that from the omnichannel perspective, now you're reaching physicians everywhere from connected and linear TV through endemic websites all the way down to point of care, which is the area that we live. If you don't have a personalized approach at all the different stages in that funnel, if you will, then a physician is not being taken on a journey to an endpoint. They might be receiving an awareness message when they're with a patient. They might be receiving something about financial savings when they're watching television, and so there has to be an appropriate message that is data-driven at the appropriate part of that omnichannel environment or ecosystem, if you will. And so the data-driven approach that we're seeing here allows for that level of specificity. Where Veradigm comes in is that we're experts in understanding that bottom of the funnel where the actual physician is with the patient and is making diagnostic decisions, is making prescribing decisions. And so we're able to leverage the data of their practice and of the specific provider and patient to make sure that that personalization is there and that it's the right message at the right point in time when they're making these really important decisions about your personal health.
Michelle Benz: Given the digital enablement and personalization occurring across the omnichannel spectrum, what role does point of care play in complimenting the overall marketing mix?
Damon Basch: Well, I think we talked about this a little bit before. No matter what, new technologies are driving better data-driven engagement throughout the omnichannel spectrum, at the end of the day it comes down to a physician with a patient making decisions. So all the awareness you built up at the top and all the redundancy and the sequential messaging you've taken 'em through down to this bottom of the funnel when they're actually making a diagnosis and prescription decision that ends in the EHR that ends in a prescribing workflow. So point of care doesn't change. What changes is the fact that you are driving the physician through a learning process and a decision-making process to that point of care moment, and you need to make sure that the message is appropriate when they're there because it's very different than when you're watching connected tv. And so point of care, our position in the marketplace from the marketing perspective doesn't change, but the data enhances the entire journey. So when you get to that point, it's that much more impactful and will drive the outcome that you're looking for.
Dr. Auren Weinberg: My perspective on this as a physician is that I'm most ripe for being influenced or informed about my decision-making. When I see a patient sitting with them, caring for them, doing the exam, entering their history, and then deciding what I'm going to do to treat, and in that moment where it's right platform, right place, right patient, right time, that's when I'm most likely to be influenced and when information is most important to me. And at Veradigm, we can do that because as we said, we're in the room. Our EHR is right there and is a tool that's being used by the provider for the patient and messaging to the patient even through the EHR in some cases. So that's where the Veradigm value comes in because we can do that point of care delivery. We also have an opportunity to connect not just at the first step, which is where the data's going in, but at the last step where the advertising is happening, because we can put the information right in front of the provider at that moment. And that's what makes us unique. And that's where I think Veradigm can bring physicians like myself, great value.
Damon Basch: When you think about Dr. Weinberg's experience intuitively, you understand that if they're watching a television show, they're going to ingest information very differently than if they're thinking clinically, if they're reading an endemic journal, if they're in a clinical platform like an EHR or practice management. And so marketers do and need to continue to understand that when you're at that top of the marketing funnel and you're trying to generate initial awareness around a product, by the time you get down to the bottom, when they're in those endemic journals, when they're in clinical platforms, they're making decisions at that point based on a specific need, a specific patient or their specific specialty. And so the message that they receive at that point in time is an evolution of an entire marketing funnel, and it's where conversion occurs. And so you can't leave that out, and that's what point of care is. So it's important to use this data, to use these platforms to make sure that you have sequential messaging that is germane to the environment that they're in, awareness to engagement to conversion, and that's where point of care lives.
Michelle Benz: Thank you both so much for taking your time and speaking with me today. I really enjoyed learning from your insights.
Damon Basch: Thank you, Michelle. It was a lot of fun.