We are hearing the term patient engagement a lot these days. It is the subject of many blogs, articles and conferences. But what is it? That depends on who is defining it. From a drug makers perspective patient engagement is getting prospective drug users to know about your disease category, drug and keeping them persistent […]
Why the Healthcare Ecosystem Matters
Value-based reimbursement models have emerged to encourage new efficiencies aimed at improving population health and lowering the cost of care. With the realignment of incentives, the companies and organizations that comprise the healthcare ecosystem: primarily hospitals, medical groups and payers with connections to medical device, pharma, mHealth and others, have been working more closely than […]
Reaching the BFFs of Healthcare Social Media
Now that the majority of brands have established a social media presence, they’ve shifted from developing social media strategies to asking how they can use them to maximize patient engagement. But in order to identify the value of their efforts, marketers must gain an understanding of who they’re reaching, the social channels consumers prefer and […]
mHealth and Telemedicine: A Matter of Right and Not a Privilege
Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s landmark speech at the 1978 Democratic National Convention in Memphis, Tennessee emphatically brought attention to our nation’s health care dilemma, establishing his stance on health care as a matter of right and not of privilege. The human right to health care means that “services must be accessible, available, acceptable, and of […]
Five Things Pharma Can Learn From CPGs
Pharma insiders sometimes dismiss the marketing campaigns of consumer-packaged goods (CPG) as being too far removed from our work to be relevant. “They have such big budgets! They don’t have our restrictions! What can we learn from them?” A lot, we think. Group Account Director David Barwig, who is new to Intouch Solutions’ New York […]
DTC in Perspective: Remembering Amgen’s Marker Weigand
Our colleague Marker Weigand passed away last week. Marker was a DTC colleague at Amgen who was stricken with ALS. He will be remembered by all who knew him as a wonderful person and loving family man. I am always shocked when someone so young passes prematurely. I knew Marker as a Facebook friend and […]
DTC in Perspective: FDA Studying Spousal Influence in DTC Ads
The FDA is interested in researching how drug ads are perceived when viewed alone versus with a spouse. They feel that when viewed with a spouse, drug benefit and risk may be interpreted differently. I think the study could yield interesting information. Does viewing with another person cause different benefit/risk takeaways? The FDA has a […]
The DTC National Report: Through the New Patient Lens
More than 500 DTC marketing industry executives convened at the 15th annual DTC National Conference this past April to learn more about what patients want – and how they, as marketers, can best serve those wants and needs. The overarching theme of the 2015 event was clear: working with the new patient. Kicking things off […]
Adherence and the Authentic Truth
After a patient initiates treatment, the real selling-process begins. More than ever, patients are approaching Rx-trialing with a heavy dose of skepticism. It’s understandable. Oftentimes, long-term treatment is thrust upon patients without time to get comfortable. And sometimes, those patients have healthy fears over side effects. On the other side of the coin, many patients […]
Telling the Healthcare Story
Patient non-adherence is a serious public health concern. But three factors – motivation, recall, and comprehension – have been shown to yield the best results for combatting this issue. To leverage the power of these key influencers, brands should consider utilizing narrative communication methods. Specifically: Strategic, regulatory-compliant, patient-driven storytelling. Sometimes it’s striking how healthcare topics […]