Improving Patient Outcomes and Strengthening Business Performance
A pioneering insulin delivery company, long recognized for serving the needs of Type 1 diabetics, faced a pivotal growth opportunity: expanding into the far larger and more complex Type 2 diabetes market.
While Type 1 diabetes affects approximately 8.4 million people globally (typically diagnosed in childhood), Type 2 diabetes impacts more than 589 million adults—a number projected to exceed 700 million by 2045. Roughly 25% of these patients—over 145 million today—currently use or will require insulin.
The company’s insulin pump platform, trusted by endocrinologists and caregivers in the Type 1 community, had recently been approved for use by Type 2 patients. Leadership saw this as a transformative market expansion—potentially several times larger than the current $4 billion insulin pump market.
However, realizing this opportunity meant much more than scaling operations. It required rethinking how the organization understood and engaged with entirely different patient population. The Type 2 experience, ecosystem, and mindset diverge sharply from the company’s historical base.
To win in the Type 2 market, we couldn’t just scale what worked for Type 1—we had to reimagine the experience from the patient out.
Low brand recognition among Type 2 patients and healthcare providers (HCPs), particularly primary care physicians (PCPs)
A fragmented ecosystem with varied stakeholders, including PCPs, family members, caregivers, wellness coaches, and digital tools
Patient denial, stigma, and emotional barriers surrounding Type 2 diagnosis and insulin initiation
Low trust in health company messaging and a lack of tailored, supportive communication
Constantly evolving payer models, regulatory frameworks, and digital communication channels
Internal strategic challenges included:
Capabilities, focus, and CX maturity built around the Type 1 diabetic experience
Limited insight into Type 2 patient journeys and the moments that matter most
Inadequate CX staffing, measurement systems, and cross-functional governance
A cultural need to shift from a product-centric model to one led by experience and outcomes
To succeed, the company had to bridge these gaps—externally and internally—with an approach rooted in experience strategy, ecosystem design, and a deep understanding of the patients it aimed to serve.
To successfully enter the Type 2 diabetes market, the company partnered with McorpCX to develop a customer experience strategy focused on insight, alignment, and action. The goal: to understand patient needs, close experience gaps, and build internal capabilities to deliver at scale.
Five integrated workstreams guided this effort:
1. Understanding Type 2 Patients and Their Experience
Research began with in-depth stakeholder interviews and internal “Voice of the Business” workshops. Insights were deepened through qualitative and quantitative research with nearly 400 Type 2 insulin users.
Personas and journey maps visualized patient needs, pain points, and emotional drivers
JourneyTrack software enabled consistent documentation and internal alignment
2. Mapping the Experience Management Capabilities
The team assessed the broader experience ecosystem—spanning people, processes, data, and systems—to evaluate readiness and identify gaps.
Capabilities were benchmarked using McorpCX’s XOS Pulse tool and Experience Operating System framework
3. Evaluating Internal Governance and Management
Sustainable change requires more than insight. Governance structures and performance management practices were assessed to support cross-functional coordination and accountability.
4. Defining Current and Future States
Insights were synthesized to establish a clear view of today’s patient experience—and a desired future-state aligned to both patient expectations and strategic priorities.
5. Turning Insight Into Action
To enable impact, McorpCX delivered:
A 12-month action plan for near-term execution
A 3-year roadmap aligned to business goals and experience outcomes
This structured, experience-led approach gave the organization a clear path to market growth—grounded in real patient needs, supported by aligned capabilities, and designed to deliver sustainable growth.
This program laid the groundwork for a strategic transformation—helping the company align around a shared view of the Type 2 patient experience, improve internal capabilities, and unlock a significant growth opportunity.
With redesigned personas and journey maps, teams gained the insight and tools needed to better support engagement and adherence. New patient support models were developed to reflect the emotional and lifestyle realities of Type 2 insulin users, while internal education efforts helped employees reframe their work through the eyes of the patient.
By rethinking insulin care through the lens of experience, the company advanced its mission to improve lives, positioning itself to scale impact and reach more patients.
Governance structures were updated to support cross-functional collaboration and sustained improvement. These internal shifts, supported by a clear CX strategy and roadmap, led to:
Stronger trust from healthcare professionals
Increased treatment preference over competitors
Clear signs of accelerated adoption
Most notably, the company identified the potential for significant revenue growth over its current base—evidence of the commercial power of patient-centered strategy in a $4B+ market.
The benefits extended well beyond financial impact. The initiative also:
Helped to improve patient outcomes, referrals, and long-term care efficiency
Enhanced education tools to increase patient understanding and confidence
Modernized measurement systems to better reflect the full patient journey
Strengthened competitive differentiation in a crowded, fast-changing healthcare environment
Opened new opportunities to improve experience delivery across PCP and specialist networks
By rethinking insulin care through the lens of experience, the company advanced its mission to improve lives—while positioning itself to scale impact, reach more patients, and lead confidently in a rapidly expanding market.
Insights from patient interviews and internal perspectives revealed five priority focus areas to improve experience and drive business results:
Prioritize early-stage engagement—diagnosis, education, and onboarding—as these are critical moments that shape trust, treatment preference, and adherence.
Provide personalized, stigma-sensitive support and education tailored specifically to Type 2 patients, beyond standard clinical messaging.
Adapt to nonlinear, emotionally complex patient journeys by designing experiences around support, not just procedures.
Increase internal visibility into patient experiences to reduce reliance on product-centric thinking and improve decision-making.
Strengthen measurement systems to reduce fragmentation and align more closely with real-world experience outcomes.
These recommendations created a foundation for change—enabling the company to reframe how it delivers value to patients, and how it competes in a crowded marketplace.
McorpCX is independently recognized as a top customer experience services and solutions company, enabling and guiding leading organizations since 2002.
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