PainScale

PainScale launched in 2017 to capture, qualify, educate, and connect pain patients with doctors that implant Spinal Cord Stimulators (SCS).

Overview

Challenge

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an invasive surgery with low awareness for chronic pain patients. The business goal was to increase SCS revenue 10%, and a cash flow positive solution in 18 months.

Solution

Patients are captured and qualified with digital advertising, and use PainScale to learn about different treatments, and track their health for their doctors.

Screenshot of body pain identification in PainScale app

Screenshot of insights tab in PainScale app

Screenshot of content calendar in PainScale app

Screenshot of pain report in PainScale app

Impact

100k+

Happy Customers

4.5★

Apple & Play Store Ratings

3 yrs

Best Fibromyalgia App Healthline

50%

of the team was acquihired by Boston Scientific

Customer Research

We conducted customer research with 75K patients and 450 physicians, using methods like ethnography, interviews, surveys, and desk research.

Patient

Doctor

Payer

Employer

Therapy

Pain Points

Treatment information is confusing, and the pain journey is long, complex, and opaque.

Doctors have low quality patient data, limited time, and friction with insurance companies.

The same treatment’s cost can vary 8x between different hospital systems.

Chronic pain costs employers ~$635B/yr in lost productivity and insurance premiums.

Patients have low awareness and negative perception of spinal cord stimulation.

Needs

Reduce pain and participate in daily activities

Spend more time with patients, and less time with paperwork

Align incentives with physicians, patients, and therapy providers

Healthy and productive workers

Reduce customer acquisition cost, and increase customer lifetime value

Pain Points

Needs

Patient

Treatment information is confusing, and the pain journey is long, complex, and opaque.

Reduce pain and participate in daily activities

Doctor

Doctors have low quality patient data, limited time, and friction with insurance companies.

Spend more time with patients, and less time with paperwork

Payer

The same treatment’s cost can vary 8x between different hospital systems.

Align incentives with physicians, patients, and therapy providers

Employer

Chronic pain costs employers ~$635B/yr in lost productivity and insurance premiums.

Healthy and productive workers

Therapy

Patients have low awareness and negative perception of spinal cord stimulation.

Reduce customer acquisition cost, and increase customer lifetime value

Customer Journey

We mapped the patient & physician journey to visualize their progress, pain points, needs, attitudes, and behaviors.

Patient Segmentation

We segmented patients with demographic and behavioral data to inform product use cases and align marketing activities.

SCS Qualified

Surgery Seeker

Education Seeker

Quantified Self

Support Network

Caregiver

Market Research

We conducted market research to understand trends, competition, and business models. The research informed 30+ divergent ideas that were tested and iterated with customers. The final solution was picked for its desirability, viability, feasibility, and strategic fit.

Feature Research

We conducted concept and usability testing with 125 customers.

Content Research

We evaluated 7 competitive products to benchmark content quality, table stakes requirements, and differentiation opportunities.

Product Development

We built, tested, and iterated for 7 months on the patient, physician products, and sales rep workflow optimization.

Value Prop

PainScale helps chronic pain patients find the right treatment for their condition.

MVP Features

Track pain, activities, treatments
Learn about treatments, conditions
Share health data with doctors
Identify qualified SCS patients

Backlog Features

Community support
Doctor finder
Track mood, pain triggers

Patient MVP

Track Your Health

Log pain, activity, and treatments.

Discover Insights

Learn about relevant treatments from the patient community.

Access Trusted Content

Learn about your condition, and explore therapy articles, videos, and meditations.

Share Pain Report

Share pain, activity, and treatment data with your doctor.

Track Your Health

Log pain, activity, and treatments.

Discover Insights

Learn about relevant treatments from the patient community.

Access Trusted Content

Learn about your condition, and explore therapy articles, videos, and meditations.

Share Pain Report

Share pain, activity, and treatment data with your doctor.

Content Creation

We created original content to capture, educate patients online. We optimized SEO to reduce patient acquisition cost.

79 Descriptions

29 Infographics

15 Guided Meditations

345 Articles

48 Wellness Videos

79
Descriptions

29
Infographics

15
Guided Meditations

345
Articles

48
Wellness Videos

Physician Report

The pain report provides doctors with accurate, complete, and historical patient data. It takes 1 minute to analyze, and is attached to electronic medical records (EMR’s) for treatment authorization and reimbursement.