December is HIV Awareness Month; a good opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by those living with the condition as they navigate strategies for HIV prevention and treatment. Significant medical advancements have been made, and individuals with HIV face complex decisions regarding their treatment options which have long-term impacts beyond their health.
At ZoomRx, our HCP-Pt Conversations research format brings real-world doctor-patient dialogues to light, offering life sciences brands and healthcare professionals a unique lens into the patient experience. By analyzing authentic conversations, we uncover actionable insights based on directly observed treatment preferences and patient priorities.
This blog draws from these clinical examples to understand the realities for those living with HIV and will touch on some key themes about HIV care, including long-term patient wellness to helping patients make informed decisions on treatment switching.
Patient Wellness and Integrating Holistic Patient Care
Caring for patients with HIV today is not just about managing their viral load, but seeking overall wellness. We see HCPs increasingly taking holistic approaches and balancing side effects and treatment burdens with efficacy to best fit into the lives of their patients.
Doctors often educate HIV patients about these mentalities and coach them on how they can structure their treatment decisions. The following HCP-Patient dialogue shows a doctor demonstrating this concept:
Patient: "Yeah."
HCP: "So, probably what's written most about now in oral medications is 2-drug combination antiretrovirals rather than 3 or 4."
Patient: "I see."
HCP: "But to think about that, you want to be virus suppressed, which you are."
Patient: "Yeah."
HCP: "Okay. And so, that could be a consideration. You know, a lot of the patients that I have this discussion with, when I say, they say, well, everything's working, so don't get fancy, or--"
Patient: "Yeah."
HCP: "--if it's not broke, don't fix it, that kind of thing. But I think patient wellness is clearly a real concept and you're going to live with HIV for a long time, hopefully get cured someday completely. But that concept's real."
This conversation highlights how wellness-driven care guides treatment planning, aiming to balance medication efficacy with a patient’s overall quality of life. Providers can use this as a reason for a patient to switch to different regimens with wellness benefits.
Long Acting Injectables: A Paradigm Shift in HIV Care
The emergence of injectable HIV treatments created an exciting alternative for patients seeking relief from the burden of daily pills. These options offer a greater sense of freedom while maintaining efficacy, something that this HCP points out to their patient, describing the injectable treatment as ‘non-inferior':
Patient: "Okay."
HCP: "--rather than taking pills every day. Okay. And the efficacy of them in the medical nomenclature is non-inferior to the medicine that you're on."
Patient: "Okay."
HCP: "And again, the medicine that you're on is probably considered a gold standard."
Patient: "Okay."
HCP: "Because it has a lot of patient experience, and no resistance develops while on treatment. So, you know, as we talk about this, this is not, you know, pick door 1 or 2. You don't have to do that, but it's important that I let you know what's available so we can decide together which route to go on."
Patient: "Yeah, I appreciate that."
Providers are actively looking to connect with their patients and be a valuable resource to support their understanding of their healthcare options. For chronic conditions, treatment decisions don’t always happen during a single appointment, often doctors share information about new treatments at opportune moments, or over time in advance of when a decision needs to be made.
Individual options for Individual care
HIV treatment is not one-size-fits-all, and for many patients, the choice of medication is influenced by their situation and priorities. Symtuza, while being a daily pill, has strong efficacy and the added benefit over integrase inhibitors that it is not associated with weight gain.
Patient: "Okay."
HCP: "It's one pill a day. It's not an integrase so you're not going to gain weight."
Patient: "Okay."
HCP: "Like you'd gain weight with the other ones."
Patient: "Right."
HCP: "And hardly has any, not many side effects, maybe-- All meds kind of have a little GI like we might have a stomach issue or feeling nauseous but that passes, it doesn't stay."
Patient: "Okay."
Treatment decisions are only a small moment in a much larger patient experience. By leveraging insights from key moments of truth in a patient’s journey, pharmaceutical companies can improve their understanding of their target patients, enabling them to refine product strategies and align messaging with patient centric language.
Shaping the Future of HIV Care with HCP-Pt Conversations
The advancements in HIV treatment reflect the remarkable progress in medical science, yet the core of HIV care remains rooted in understanding patients—their experiences, needs, and individual goals. Insights from HCP-Pt conversations bridge the gap between clinical outcomes and real-world experiences, enabling life science companies to craft communication in language that their patients can understand and messages doctors can get behind.
ZoomRx empowers pharma teams put their patients first with real-world examples at key moments of truth. Stay tuned to see how these discussions evolve or Learn more at ZoomRx HCP-Pt.
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