The worst part of the Zika story we know so far, is that we do not know nearly enough to combat it in a meaningful way. First it was just an exotic STD from South America. Then it turns out to be a virus that could cause severe disability in newborns. As of August 2016, […]
The theme of this month’s DTC in Focus newsletter is “From the Patient’s POV”, so I want to start with a little experiment. Si escribo esta frase en español, va a entender? Did you understand that? The Spanish sentence simply says, “If I write this sentence in Spanish, will you understand?” I’ll admit that I […]
Nothing makes one better at their job as a healthcare marketing art director than actually experiencing healthcare firsthand. I’ve always been relatively healthy – doing my fair share of exercising physically and mentally, and eating “kinda” well. I rarely visited my doctor’s office, except for the usual appointments. More honestly, I steered clear of doctor visits almost […]
Part 1: Testing And the Lancing Device Editor’s Note: Last month, DTC Perspectives’ President & Chief Operating Officer, Scott Ehrlich, was diagnosed with diabetes. Join us in the multi-part series as he shares a first-hand account of his experiences as he moves along his treatment journey. About a month ago, I went for a blood test and found […]
Shire and Digitas Health LifeBrands (the agency of record) announced a new celebrity spokesperson today, partnering with Jennifer Aniston to raise awareness and understanding of chronic dry eye. By sharing her own experiences with the condition, she hopes to “educate and inspire people” to learn and communicate more with their healthcare professional. According to the news […]
One of the first health lessons many of us ever heard was that famous rhyme our mothers used to recite frequently: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. With all due respect to mothers everywhere, while apples are a perfectly good source of nutrition and have many benefits, unfortunately we know that simply eating one […]
The current statistics on medication adherence are remarkably somber. At the moment, lower rates of adherence translate not only into poor health outcomes which result in 125,000 deaths per year, but also healthcare costs ranging from $100 to $300 billion annually. Over the past 30 years, the WHO and Institute of Medicine (IOM) have not […]
Today’s most successful adherence programs focus on the patient, not the product Developing successful patient adherence programs is a win on all fronts. Each year, a lack of patient adherence costs the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $290 billion. Indeed, payers benefit in the long run from reduced costs of healthier patients. Yet there are […]
The irony of the surname of 19th century Scottish author and reformer Samuel Smiles resonates within the pharmaceutical industry in its efforts to bring disease education and prevention to a huge and diverse population. Smiles stated, “Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success, for who so hopes strongly has within him the […]
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has joined the American Medical Association (AMA) in calling for a ban on DTC advertising. Announced during an annual meeting of the ASHP House of Delegates during their Summer Meetings and Exhibition last week, the national pharmacist group approved a new policy calling on Congress to ban all […]
