Digital patient engagement is a powerful tool for supporting patients with daily treatment management, which can help improve adherence and persistence and, in turn, health outcomes. MyTherapy is a medication management platform that has been developed for 10+ years to support the needs of people taking regular medications, regardless of the treatment or therapeutic area. MyTherapy has been shown to improve self-reported adherence among a broad range of patients within its 10,000,000+ user base.

For patients who require an additional layer of more specific support – primarily those taking a specific medication – configurable modules can be enabled on the MyTherapy platform and made available to target patient groups. The result is a comprehensive patient support program that can be launched within six weeks.

The MyTherapy Platform: Out-of-the-Box Patient Support

MyTherapy is a free app available to iOS and Android users around the world, available in over 30 languages, and used by over 10,000,000 people. Developed over more than a decade, its features have been designed to address practical barriers to adherence that apply to a broad range of patients, regardless of which disease(s) they are living with.

Features include:

• Medication Reminders
• Inventory Tracking & Refill Reminders
• Symptom Tracking
• Activity Reminders
• Care Team Integration
• Appointment Management
• PDF Health Reports
• Drug Interaction Checker (available in selected markets)
• Integration with Online Pharmacies (available in selected markets)

MyTherapy’s features result from hundreds of iterative improvements made over the years and have been refined based on input from thousands of reviews and testing performed among patients living with a range of chronic diseases. Features such as medication reminders have been designed to handle real-world use cases, such as complex regimens and many co-medications.

MyTherapy has been shown to improve self-reported adherence among a broad range of users, using the validated MARS-5 adherence questionnaire. However, additional support is often required for patients taking specific medications. This can be down to difficult intake methods, known adverse effects, treatment fatigue, and many other nuanced challenges that patients face.

To address these challenges, configurable modules can be launched on the MyTherapy platform that are made accessible to specific patient groups. We work with partners to identify the optimal configuration for any given program.

Configurable Modules Launched Based on Patients’ Needs

To achieve more targeted support, smartpatient works with partners to run custom versions of the app that are accessible only to the specified patient populations – usually, patients prescribed a specific treatment within the partner company’s catalog.

These versions of MyTherapy can be custom-branded to ensure continuity with other patient materials.

Partner programs running on MyTherapy can be configured to include features that are specific to the requirements of the target patient group, including:

• Automated Regimen & Titration Scheduling
• Onboarding Support
• Connectivity to Other Patient Support Channels
• Connectivity to Medical Devices (ISO 13485 and ISO 27001 certified)
• Injection Site Tracking
• Custom Content

The configuration of custom apps is dependent on partners’ requirements and identified patient needs; the configuration can even be defined on a market-by-market basis if necessary. Where applicable, smartpatient also works with partners to outline and develop new features that address an unmet need. While developing new features adds complexity and takes time, this can happen in parallel to the launch of the program and can be included in a later update, meaning time-to-market does not need to be delayed.

While launching a patient support program in just six weeks is one of the tighter timelines, it is possible thanks to a platform that allows us to simply configure key program parameters like behavioral triggers, onboarding sequences, or personalized content.

Launching a PSP in 6 Weeks: A Timeline

Week 1: Understanding the PSP

The first week will be spent understanding the medication in question and how the PSP will handle topics such as the regimen, titration period, and restrictions. With this information, we can outline the setup of the program and the steps necessary to get users up and running as efficiently as possible.

Week 2: Safety Contents

The next step is to define the safety content that users will access in the app. Our team of medical writers and behavior science experts conceptualize the content pieces, identify gaps, and define a plan to help ensure we engage users in the right manner and with the “voice” that will best support their treatment.

Weeks 3 & 4: Configuration & Custom Branding

In what will undoubtedly be an intense two-week sprint, our Scrum teams and UX/UI designers will work their magic and meet the goals defined in the previous weeks. Together, our iOS, Android, and Backend developers will bring the vision to life and configure the program defined, along with our team of designers who will implement custom branding and help ensure aspects such as usability and accessibility are of the highest standard.

Week 5: Testing & Bug Fixing

With the deadline now looming, our testers will leave no stone unturned in the search for bugs and any other issues that need resolving. While the MyTherapy platform undergoes frequent testing, each program that is configured for partners still needs to be put through its paces to ensure there are no unexpected issues.

Week 6: MLR & Launch

In the final week comes the essential (but often dreaded) Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) review. Fortunately, our years of experience in producing content for PSPs means MLR reviews rarely throw up surprises, helping avoid any delays and allowing us to achieve the final target: Launch!

Post-launch: User Acquisition & Advanced Customizing

The six-week timeline reflects our ‘MVP’ approach – whereby a Minimum Viable Product is launched rapidly and real-world learnings can be made regarding user behavior. The configurable modules that can run on the MyTherapy platform ensure that the ‘MVP’ is still of an extremely high standard.

The immediate post-launch focus is on user acquisition; for established products, existing patients within MyTherapy’s user base can be alerted to the program and seamlessly onboarded. For both established and new products, further user acquisition efforts – including campaigns, patient materials, and HCP engagement – can help ensure high levels of user adoption.

Finally, partners work closely with our PSM (Partner Success Manager) team to review the program and outline the plans for the future, including scaling to new markets, refining the configuration, and – where necessary – outlining advanced customization such as custom features, connecting to other patient support channels, and medical device/connected device functionality.

If you are interested in learning more about the MyTherapy platform, click here to submit a quick form and we will get back to you with a demonstration of how you can launch a comprehensive and engaging patient support program.