Disease state academies can be a valuable resource for physicians, as they provide educational resources on therapeutic areas relevant to their practice or specialty. Online academies are designed to benefit all involved, helping to implement standards of care as well as novel therapies in today’s clinical practices.
With the field of medicine continually evolving and newer therapeutic options taking center stage, these choices not only offer additional treatment opportunities for patients, but they also require specific expertise from treatment centers of excellence. Managing these patients effectively and efficiently affects all engaged stakeholders. Our Academies offer disease state insights through a series of virtual educational meetings and corresponding educational online platforms featuring renowned clinical experts from all over the world. Since their launch in 2020, these Academies have become a valuable resource, facilitating direct interactions with expert faculty and access to clinical resources. Disease state academies are designed to improve collaboration and communication among treating physicians and clinicians to positively impact patient outcomes.
In this blog, we’ll look at 2 examples of disease state academies developed by Aptitude Health: the Global Leukemia Academy and the Global Multiple Myeloma Academy, multisponsored events that offer independent educational resources.
Disease State Academies Provide High-Quality Content
A primary goal of disease state academies is to increase the interaction of healthcare providers (HCPs) with clinical experts. These academies offer a unique opportunity for participating physicians to connect directly with a group of respected global experts.
Meeting content is typically delivered through didactic and interactive presentations that focus on a range of topics, such as diagnostic criteria of a disease state, risk stratification (when and how to intervene), prognostic value of various clinical markers, and therapeutic guidance. These meetings feature interactive case studies and audience response system technology, facilitating engaging discussion among the expert panel. Topics include current therapies and treatment choices, future therapies (including trial updates on promising new strategies), and guidance on managing patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With dramatic advances in the oncology-hematology field and the need to engage with global experts, disease state academies are an important resource for practicing HCPs, and are sponsored by multiple life science companies.
Benefits for Physicians and Life Science Companies
Disease-specific academies aim to improve collaboration and communication among treating physicians and clinicians to positively impact patient outcomes. Academies provide a series of virtual educational meetings and corresponding websites featuring renowned clinical experts. Additional offerings include a resource library, ask-the-expert tool, and opportunities for continuous engagement with participants via sponsored surveys.
Content libraries are available to participants of past meetings—and HCPs who may have missed a meeting—via online portals, and grant access to resources such as presentation decks, videos, and supportive care guidelines that the program experts use in their practices.
The portal further provides attendees the ability to submit feedback/pose questions to academy program experts. To improve disease state content and participant engagement, surveys are administered to program attendees following regional events. Academy sponsors can also administer quarterly or biannual surveys via the online portal, tracking how the participants continue to approach treatment of the disease state and whether they have incorporated the instruction into their practices.
Case Example: Global Leukemia Academy
Progress in understanding acute leukemias has led to the development of novel therapies and contributed to rapidly changing treatment paradigms. The Global Leukemia Academy is an educational resource for the specific treatment and management of acute leukemias. Site visitors have access to presentations, podcasts, regimens, and supportive care guidelines, and are invited to directly submit questions to experts and receive their personal insights on leukemia treatment approaches.
The program addresses barriers to managing patients with leukemia and how to overcome the challenges of adopting state-of-the-art innovative approaches to practice. It helps sponsors better understand specific clinical challenges providers face in caring for pediatric and adult patients with acute leukemias around the world.
In the past year, under the Global Leukemia Academy umbrella, 7 regional virtual meetings were organized, attracting over 600 attendees worldwide. The website had 4,800 unique visitors from across the globe who watched videos of past meetings, downloaded presentation decks, or asked questions directly to the expert faculty.
Case Example: Global Multiple Myeloma Academy
The Global Multiple Myeloma Academy similarly offers an advanced educational series on the treatment of multiple myeloma, giving physicians around the world an opportunity to engage with experts who have a concentrated knowledge of this rare cancer. Participants receive access to treatment guidelines from key clinical centers, along with expert commentary on new and emerging treatments for multiple myeloma.
A recent virtual program of the Multiple Myeloma Academy spent the first day on minimal residual disease, frontline therapies, and the role of transplantation. Day 2 featured topics on the management of high-risk, relapsed, and heavily pretreated multiple myeloma cases, future therapies, and a patient case discussion.
The “Ask the Expert” tool presents a unique lifeline for physicians with relatively few local colleagues who have experience in treating multiple myeloma. For pharma and life science sponsors, the Academy is an opportunity to receive personal insights from practicing physicians and better understand the clinical needs involved in managing patients with this disease.
Sponsor a Disease State Academy
If you are interested in sponsoring a disease state academy like the examples described above, it is highly recommended that you approach a team of medical communication experts who are familiar with the topic and have a roster of like-minded sponsors.
Aptitude Health is an expert in oncology and hematology communications and marketing, and has extensive experience in launching successful disease state academies, including the Global Leukemia Academy and the Global Multiple Myeloma Academy. Contact us for more information.
