Reducing Fear and Expanding Access to Assisted Reproductive Technology
An innovation platform helped our client boost patient engagement by 30% in the first year by easing fears around fertility treatment.
The Business Opportunity
Our client, a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, was on the brink of receiving FDA approval for an existing obesity treatment. They aimed to rapidly expand their patient base but knew the real challenge would be keeping patients engaged long-term. What they also saw was a unique opportunity to connect with patients more directly and personally, moving away from the typical pharmaceutical marketing approach.
Inspired Consulting
Our team teamed up with the client for a 3-day ideation session, diving deep into the customer journey to identify the fears and challenges holding patients back from their first meeting with a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE). We created a solution: an online platform that connects patients with an RE in a relaxed, low-pressure setting – helping to ease the fear around seeking treatment. The result? A 30%+ increase in patients seeking treatment within the first year, significantly expanding the patient funnel for our client.
Meaningful Results
Our approach to ideation was all about putting patients first – and we took a different route right from the start. We didn’t just involve the client and our consultants; we also brought in patients, partners, and even psychologists to contribute. This methodology helped the team think beyond the obvious and tap into their creativity to tackle a tough but common business challenge. In the end, the technology we developed met patients where they were in their journey, while being scalable enough to offer additional services to both patients and their caregivers.
Why We Loved This Project
Fertility struggles are deeply personal and emotional for both women and men, and as the average age of conception rises, more families face these challenges. We discovered that the biggest barrier to seeking fertility treatment is the intense fear patients feel, often made worse by the cold, clinical atmosphere of a doctor’s office. While our initial focus was on solving a marketing challenge, we quickly realized that no marketing strategy could overcome the fear patients experience before seeking help. So, we teamed up with our client to create a solution that tackles this fear head-on-by developing a platform where patients could connect directly with a team of medical advisors in a relaxed, comfortable setting.
