Communication & Transparency

12-01-2006 | Categories:

Communication

Power to the Patient! Improved communication and transparency are key to improving pharma’s relationship with newly empowered patients and patient groups. Jeannine Nolan. May 1, 2006

Written from Pharma’s point of view, this article focuses on the dilemma patient empowerment presents in Europe:

While their partnerships with patient groups are strong (and in some cases financially critical) pharmaceutical companies cannot — and do not want to — control the patient voice. And legally they cannot be seen to be behind patient campaigns for greater availability of their products.

The solutions are, as the subtitle suggests, communication and transparency. While some of the material deals with regulatory agencies and restrictions that are specific to Europe, the article is worthwhile read, in large part because the author rejects the notion of corporations seeking direct access to patients while controlling the flow of information, attempting, in effect, to have their cake and eat it too.

From the pharmaceutical industry’s point of view, the distrust and cynicism that has goaded companies for years has to be removed if all those channels that touch the lives of patients are to become genuine partners in healthcare management. A better informed and vocal consumer will be more questioning and demanding, and this may present challenges where new channels exist. Control cannot be exercised in channels such as the web or health blogs, but upfront provision of impartial, credible and consistent information where it can be disseminated is critical.

Ironically, the less control a product has over its communication, the greater its credibility can be. When third parties or those with no vested interest can testify to the success of a product, there is clearly more credibility. For relationships between patient organizations and industry to remain credible, however, they must be regulated and transparent for the benefit of both parties.

Commentary

I’ve become especially interested in the notions of open communication and transparency as I have come across more and more examples of high compliance rates or other “researched proven” adherence enhancements that are kept hidden beneath the screen of “proprietary information” or depend on atypical definitions, criteria, or statistical interpretations. Some data must, of course, remain shielded to protect trade secrets; fair play, however, would dictate that one doesn’t trumpet research findings as proof and then refuse to disclose the research.

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