Situation
For patients living with chronic conditions, receiving a prescription is only one part of managing their disease. Staying on treatment can require ongoing education, practical guidance, and support to help patients understand their therapy and navigate challenges over time.
In Iraq, patients receiving treatment for autoimmune diseases, including Rheumatoid Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis, had limited access to personalized support outside of their clinical visits. This created an opportunity to complement medical care with ongoing patient support that could help patients better understand their treatment, stay connected to their healthcare team, and manage their therapy over time.
The challenge was to create a support model that could provide consistent, personalized guidance while fitting into existing healthcare pathways and adapting as patient needs grew.
Solution
In 2021, a multinational pharmaceutical company partnered with Axios to launch a Patient Support Program (PSP) for patients with autoimmune diseases in Iraq.
The program introduced dedicated nursing support as an additional point of connection between patients and their healthcare providers. Nurses provided personalized guidance throughout the treatment journey, helping patients better understand their therapies and supporting them in managing their treatment.
The model was designed to grow with patient needs, with the ability to expand the number of nurses and participating centers as program capacity increased.
Axios managed the program’s day-to-day operations, including physician engagement, patient enrollment, consent processes, and coordination between patients, physicians, and nurses. This created a structured pathway for patients to access ongoing support while maintaining communication with their treating healthcare professionals.
By combining nursing support with program coordination, the PSP extended the support available to patients beyond individual clinical consultations.
Results
Since its launch, the program has enrolled more than 1,900 patients with autoimmune diseases in Iraq.
The program established an ongoing connection between patients, nurses, and healthcare providers, giving patients access to personalized support throughout their treatment journey.
Rather than relying solely on periodic clinical interactions, patients had an additional source of guidance to help them navigate their treatment over time. The scalable program model also created the flexibility to expand nursing and center capacity as patient needs increased.
The experience demonstrates how patient support programs can complement clinical care by creating additional touchpoints throughout the treatment journey, particularly for patients managing chronic conditions that require long-term therapy.
