To put patients in the driver's seat of their care, Pfizer's Diabetes Control Network program is arming physicians and more than 20,000 diabetics with "Patient Passports," "Continuing Care Records" and a Mission: Control newsletter to bolster its disease management initiatives.
To give the four-year-old program more of a patient emphasis, the Lyons Lavey Nickel Swift (LLNS) agency, based in New York, developed a comprehensive patient information program that ultimately (with physician input) put diabetics in control of managing their disease.
The backbone of the effort is the newsletters which are distributed via the American Diabetes Association, Pfizer's sales field force and managed care organizations. Based on the ADA's 11 standards of care, the bimonthly newsletters motivate diabetics to set goals, modify their lifestyles and become actively involved in monitoring their care.
Full of "how to" advice, tips and quizzes, the newsletter uses business reply cards to gauge its effectiveness. So far, the program boasts a 10% BRC response rate, according to Charlie Niemeth, LLNS's senior VP/director of relationship marketing.
A key component of Pfizer's patient information program (newsletters, brochures and booklets) is its emphasis on health literacy of type 2 diabetes sufferers. The newsletters are written at a fifth to eighth grade level and printed in English and Spanish. The "Goal Setting Journal" urges diabetics to write their goals down (dating them), take weekly steps toward those goals and make vital changes to their behavior to achieve them.
"Through this program, patients can really track goals in the comfort of their homes," said Niemeth. (LLNS, 212/771-3301; Pfizer, 212/573-1097)