Example Reflection – Learning Launch- For a medicine used to treat high blood Pressure called “Brand S”

Challenge:

One of the challenge we have in pharmaceutical industry is lack of differentiation. There are too many competitors selling  the same medicine resulting in “price” driven or “transaction based” business model to generate revenue. So the challenge is  to break the clutter. Challenge is to create a “differentiation” which provides value to customers. In pharmaceutical industry  these challenges bring higher level of complexity as “consumer of medicine” is a patient & the decision maker is a different  person well known as a “Doctor”. All these challenges were faced by Brand “S” used to manage high Blood Pressure.   Brand “S” had competition from too many identical medicine molecules selling as different brands. Brand “S” also faced  high competition from newer blood pressure reducing medicines which were liked more by current generation of doctors.

Selection:

The tool selected to deal with this challenge was learning launch. We started looking at our challenge from a different point  of view. We looked at what is the problem faced by patients suffering from high blood pressure. Simply put it as “Lack of  Blood Pressure control”. Learning launch was the tool used, not because of lack of data. We had enough data on medicines  used in management of BP. We looked at it as a “human” challenge, where something which can be easily managed like  high Blood Pressure is still producing worst outcomes like brain stroke & heart attack. All current data and current method  of approach to generate revenue with brand “S” has not resulted in favorable outcome. So a different approach was required  to solve the problem of brand “S”.

Application:

We spent time looking at certain other challenges faced by other diseases. For Eg. How authorities are trying to deal with  HIV spread. One of the key elements used to defeat HIV was pushing more and more people for “Diagnosis tests”. Higher  the rates of diagnosis test lower the chances of HIV spread. We made a list of following relevant issues for high blood  pressure patients. They are, there is “no symptom” of high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a “silent” problem. Lack  of awareness was another issue, as a person classified as suffering from high blood pressure did not know that, consistent  high blood pressure above 140 by 90 is defined as high blood pressure. Lack of self-initiative to “measure” blood pressure  was another challenge faced by patients. Based on learnings of HIV disease management focusing on “diagnosis”, self- measurement of blood pressure is identified as a way of ensuring blood pressure control. We wanted to test the hypothesis  about how self-measurement of blood pressure can be achieved. For this three initiatives were taken. One is to put up digital  BP machine with instructions on how to “self” measure? In patient waiting area of “targeted” set of doctors. Second, put up  such self-measurement BP kiosks in petrol bunks nearer to clinics & hospitals of targeted doctors to fuel their vehicles.  These fuel bunk kiosks were put right next to vehicle tier air pressure filling kiosks. Here the message was, you frequently  take care of your vehicle tier pressure, why don’t you check your own blood pressure? Third was to keep few digital BP  machines with targeted doctors, so that they can lend these machines to patients and return later after a week with home  measurement of blood pressure. Here targeted set of doctors was essential as brand “S” needs to get associated with those  set of doctors who believed in the belief of brand “S”. That belief of brand “S”, was if frequent self-measurement of blood  pressure is achieved, it will help us in achieving blood pressure control. All this work by brand “S” started getting support  of targeted doctors, resulting in “differentiated value” generation. Learning launch was done in specific state targeting 25  doctors for a period of 6 months. Only senior doctors above the age of 50 were targeted, as current generation of young  doctors did not have enough experience with brand “S”. Learning launch was to observe the whole set up as patient friendly

for self-measurement of blood pressure. How useful for doctors to achieve blood pressure control with patient participation  in their own “silent” disease called high blood pressure. Learning launch tool gave valuable learnings in designing patient  resting arm near the blood pressure machine, comfortable sitting chair for patient, transparent top glass to ensure visibility  of numbers etc.

Insight:

Data has limitations to gain “empathy” especially to understand life of high blood pressure patients. Learning launch tool  allowed us to look at challenges faced by brand “S”, from different perspective. The key insight here is changing the  problem statement from “how to differentiate brand “S”? To, how to ensure blood pressure control in such patients? Design

thinking is valuable in human centric solutions. Another insight was confidence & rapid scale up done in 3 more states with  learnings of 25 Doctors learning launch.

Approach:

One learning from this exercise is, patients still did not owned up their “blood pressure” number. They blamed the wrong  machine or something else for their high blood pressure number. This approach did NOT create impact on all patients, but it  created impact on “targeted set” of doctors. Doctors appreciated the initiatives of brand “S” to achieve blood pressure  control. Continuous touch points in first three months of “self- measurement” with patients to answer their query need to be  tested with “learning launch” tool.

