eyeforpharma Awards 2018 - Europe

Mar 13, 2018 - Mar 15, 2018, Barcelona

Because your patients want you to win

Virtual Reality Gets Its Moment

Janssen’s virtual reality support program for nurses wins Most Valuable HCP Initiative award



A pioneering virtual reality (VR) platform designed to aid nurses administering a multiple myeloma drug has been named the Most Valuable HCP initiative at eyeforpharma’s annual awards ceremony in Barcelona.

The idea of the project emerged during Janssen’s UK early access program for its new multiple myeloma drug. The pharma company identified a need for detailed training and guidance for nurses in the management of the first infusion of the drug. Key elements identified were the need for an immersive experience with realistic clinical applicability and the need to build nurse confidence in the administration as well as management of infusion-related reactions.

The team created a bespoke, high-end interactive virtual reality experience to train NHS nurses on the medicine, with the sole aim of delivering confidence around the first infusion and so creating positive patient experiences. Using the HTC Vive VR kit, participants could explore a virtual chemotherapy clinic, interacting with various elements (including the patient).

The results have been very positive; 100% of users believed the VR experience would help in their day-to-day clinical practice and would recommend it to a colleague.

After receiving the accolade, the team said: “Winning this award is an accumulation of a lot of different emotions. It has been a rollercoaster journey. We started with the idea to solve something, then thought: ‘How do we put these insights into practice and what’s the best modality to do it?’ We then had to deal with internal challenges; working out how to get regulatory approval for a virtual environment and how to find the right supplier. The award is a nice point of recognition of getting to the end point.

“For us the real benefit was that patient treatment was not delayed, because the training took place before the product was launched. You build the nurses confidence — before they would delay the infusion for another week or so to get training sorted. Multiple myeloma patients have months to live so you can’t afford to delay their treatment.”

The expert panel of judges — comprising patients, patient advocates, healthcare professionals and senior pharma executives– praised the initiative for building nurse’s confidence before administering their first infusion and for having a tangible impact on the day to day running of operations.  The “immersive interactive experience” is also a great learning experience, they said.

The other finalists for the Most Valuable HCP initiative were:

ADHD Institute (adhd-Institute.com) —

The identified need for a credible ADHD education program led to the ADHD Institute, currently the only educational portal dedicated to imparting the latest scientific understanding of ADHD, approaches for timely diagnosis and current treatment options to HCPs outside of the US.

Dr. Robert (drobert.io) Dr. Robert is a professional digital assistant developed by Navandu Technologiesthat finds information for physicians quickly and with minimal effort, using natural language, to help make clinical decisions at the point of care. It centralizes the search of information from official sources – the European Medicines Agency Summary of Product Characteristics, scientific articles from PubMed, and clinical guidelines and protocols from scientific societies and medical literature.

Perspective — Perspective is a behaviorally intelligent program that enables HCPs to provide tailored support for their patients so that they can manage their treatment and so achieve the best possible outcomes.

Time Hides Alz — Eli Lilly and Company launched a multi-channel engagement campaign, Time Hides Alz, to help educate HCPs on the value of early detection of AD and how to diagnose earlier. Executed in record time (four months from development to launch), the campaign delivered both live education and a multi-pronged digital approach.

For more information on the awards, visit the website.       

 



eyeforpharma Awards 2018 - Europe

Mar 13, 2018 - Mar 15, 2018, Barcelona

Because your patients want you to win