A multinational, top 100 biopharma augmented their website for patients navigating a complex bladder cancer journey with conversational AI, improving navigation and helping patients find key resources faster. I recently sat down with the company’s head of uro-oncology patient marketing. We discussed how he used Veeva Ostro’s conversational AI platform to improve the therapy’s website for patients and caregivers. He also shared how he increased first-party insights to make more informed marketing and content decisions.
Limitations of traditional brand websites
Ahmed Elsayyad, Question: Your company serves patients navigating a complex bladder cancer journey. What limitations in the traditional website playbook led you to realize these patients needed something different?
Brand Leader, Answer: Our product is a very advanced gene therapy, which means that patients and clinicians are looking for specialized information.
When I reviewed our website structure, it was difficult to navigate and unintuitive. It was really just a digital brochure. I was concerned that website visitors would turn to Dr. Google or ChatGPT, which aren’t reliable sources of medical information. I wanted to pay homage to the value and the innovation of the brand with an equally innovative website experience.
Building MLR confidence
Q: Compliance is the number one hurdle brand teams worry about when it comes to using AI. How did you engage your MLR teams to build confidence in Veeva Ostro’s conversational AI platform?
I brought in MLR and compliance teams to do a concept review so they could see real-life examples. I reinforced that it’s not generative AI: it’s 100% compliant. Veeva Ostro pulls exclusively from content the MLR team has already approved.
A: I socialized the concept of Veeva Ostro early on. I brought in MLR and compliance teams to do a concept review so they could see real-life examples. I reinforced that it’s not generative AI: it’s 100% compliant. Veeva Ostro pulls exclusively from content the MLR team has already approved.
They saw that patients would receive 24/7, personalized support on brand websites with instant answers to their questions.
Veeva Ostro implementation
Q: Our customers often have to explain the difference between generative and non-generative, precision AI to their MLR teams. Now, talk me through the implementation process. What did it look like?
A: It was really easy. The Veeva Ostro team took the content from our web property, went through it with a fine-tooth comb, and created a content matrix. I brought the Veeva Ostro team in to speak with the MLR team to help them see that the platform will use content that’s already been approved. That made the review process very simple.
Increasing patient engagement
Q: What has the impact been on patient engagement for your brand?
A: We review everything users input when they interact with the AI tool. We capture the verbatims, and the Veeva Ostro team helps us analyze what people are looking for.
That way, we ensure we’re presenting the value of the product without reinventing the wheel and unnecessarily creating new content. In some cases, we just need to change the order that we present information. We’ve seen an increase in high-value actions and a reduction in the time it takes for users to find the right content.
In other cases, we can focus our resources on expanding content that we know resonates with users. For example, we invested in a docuseries that features real-life patients. Veeva Ostro helped reinforce that the series is valuable. We went from one to three docuseries episodes, and we’ll be going from three to six, because that’s what consumers were looking for.
When we compare Veeva Ostro users to past website visitors, we see:
- 5x higher completion rate of high-value actions
- Up to 5x faster access to key resources
- Hundreds of free-text queries, delivering audience insights in real-time
Reviewing actual patient queries
Q: When you saw actual questions that patients were asking, did anything surprise you?
A: Not really, and here’s why: I know in advance when there’s a problem, and I have a great deal of trust in the information that I’m receiving. This technology gives me confidence that we’re taking the right course of action with our website.
Expanding conversational AI to new brands
Q: That’s great to hear. For us, you were a trailblazer at your company. Since your initial launch, your company has expanded Veeva Ostro to other brands. How did the AI blueprint that you built accelerate the second brand rollout?
A: Once company leadership had confidence in Veeva Ostro and saw how scalable it is, I approached colleagues in different therapeutic areas to tell them about our progress.
My colleagues saw that Veeva Ostro can also support HCP websites, providing a personalized, conversational experience to HCPs and improving navigation of clinical data. There’s a lot of potential to go beyond where we are now. It’s a fast and simple process.
Adverse event monitoring
Q: There’s nothing we like hearing more than the implementation was easy. We also have adverse event monitoring, and we submit that on behalf of the manufacturer. Can you share more about how you developed confidence in this process?
A: It’s a very simple process. The pharmacovigilance professionals in my company have a very structured process around how they work with external partners on adverse events and pharmacovigilance. The Veeva Ostro team did all the necessary training and are never late on their annual recertification. They understand the landscape.
Using a new marketing playbook
Q: For brand marketing leaders, what is the first step they should take if they want to move away from the old playbook toward conversational AI for their brands?
Your patients and your providers deserve more. They deserve a positive experience with a tool that helps them get where they need to go as quickly as possible and as controlled as possible.
A: First of all, stop waiting. This is a Nike moment: Just do it. Your patients and your providers deserve more. They deserve a positive experience with a tool that helps them get where they need to go as quickly as possible and as controlled as possible.
In addition to Ostro Sites for Patients, we implemented Nurse Navigator, which provides live nurse support. This is especially important in gene therapy, which is a space with a lot of questions about how it works and what effect it will have. It’s helpful to augment our conversational AI platform with nurses to continue the conversation.
They can similarly help me understand what’s bubbling to the top and adjust where I invest resources and close content gaps.
Instead of people hunting for information, we can now get them there faster and analyze what’s important to them.
See how Veeva Ostro works