Sanofi Patient Connection™...A Look Back at the First Year

April 26, 2013 /3BL Media/ - In 2012 Sanofi US launched “Sanofi Patient Connection (SPC)” a cutting-edge program to provide reimbursement support and patient assistance to help patients access our products, additional services and resources that may be useful in the comprehensive management of their diseases. Let’s take a look back at the first year to see how the program is doing in relation to its three primary patient centered objectives.

First...bringing access to patients in need
The numbers for 2012 are indeed impressive with over 200,000 patients assisted and $280.5M* in free drug distributed.

“I will tell you though that the initial days and weeks last year were a bit rocky”, says Peter Lalli, Senior Director, NA Corporate Social Responsibility, explaining that due to the increase in demand for services compared to previous years, the team needed to nearly double its staffing in Q1. Next, it took some time for healthcare providers and patients to adjust to our more engaged process of checking documentation and working to maximize benefit coverage opportunities versus moving right to the free drug option.

When people think of patient assistance programs they usually associate it with free drugs only. However, the majority of people that come to SPC already have or qualify for some level of insurance coverage. “People tell us every day that they do not want a handout, so when we help them to first take full advantage of coverage they already have or qualify for their appreciation for the respect shown for their integrity by this approach validates the process flow we have chosen to follow, ” he said.       

Second...integration across our businesses
At launch, Sanofi Patient Connection supported 20 products across Sanofi businesses in the U.S. As of May 1 this number will have increased to 26 and includes products in Hematology/Oncology/Transplant, Diabetes, Biosurgery, Cardiovascular/General Therapeutics, Rare Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Vaccines.

“This is truly one of the defining factors that makes Sanofi Patient Connection unique in the industry,” says Pete. “A couple of other pharma companies are attempting to launch an integrated hub platform similar to ours but we are the only company that has succeeded at this level of integration and with this breadth of services.”

The industry norm remains to have separate patient assistance programs within a company, usually at a therapeutic or even brand level. In 2012, approximately 15% of the patients assisted by Sanofi Patient Connection were prescribed more than one Sanofi product and were able to apply for assistance using a single application, with the same eligibility criteria and with access to the full suite of services available through the platform.

Third...preparing for healthcare reform
While concentrating on having a successful launch of the new Sanofi Patient Connection platform was the priority in 2012, there was also a parallel effort preparing for the realities of the 2014 healthcare reform implementation. “Fortunately we recognized early on the need to prepare for changes that healthcare reform will dictate” says Pete. “We are now into our third year of speaking with healthcare providers, payers, co-pay foundations and others to help shape the future of Sanofi Patient Connection and we will be making decisions shortly on how our program will evolve to meet the needs of patients and healthcare providers in the new healthcare environment.”

Sanofi Patient Connection is a NA Corporate Social Responsibility program for which every employee can help bring awareness. By accessing and utilizing with family and friends the informational tools available you can show Sanofi Patient Connection as an example of Sanofi’s patient centric commitment in action. 

*The patient assistance program (product donations) component of the platform is made possible by Sanofi Foundation for North America.

Questions about SPC can be sent to sanofipatientconnection@sanofi.com.