Patients want a better experience from pharma, and pharma wants patients to have those better experiences, so this should be pretty simple, right? Yet, the industry’s approach to patient centricity and delivering the types of experiences patients want has a fundamental flaw. According to Francesco Lucarelli, Chief Commercial Officer at Boundless, who responded to our crowdsourced questions on the patient experience, “Most companies—manufacturer side and agency side—are using ‘patient centricity’ as a core value/focus but in reality, it only means they are focused on communicating their core message to the patient. To truly be patient centric, we must better understand the unique variables and pain points patients face along their unique journeys and realize these items can change over time—even for the same patient.”
The good news: when pharma companies do really listen to patients, they are delivering some pretty incredible experiences. You can find great examples of that in our story on unconventional patient engagement. When one company discovered how Parkison’s patients have one of the highest separation rates, they worked with them to develop a kit to improve their intimacy with their partners. When another company heard stories of kids being bullied or losing friends because of the skin lesions on their face, they created a book to help them feel empowered and better explain how their disease isn’t contagious. When another company saw the need to help those with bleeding disorders learn about the benefits of exercising without being too strenuous and increasing the risk of a bleed, they created a card game that the whole family can enjoy.
Those are just a handful of the examples. You can learn about a custom Marvel comic book, tech-inspired virtual product launch, interactive zines, and more. In most of these cases, what the companies involved found was a crucial need being unrecognized because it wasn’t involved in the clinical workup of these patients. That’s why pharma must understand everything they can about how a disease impacts a patient’s life. Because that is how our industry can deliver the types of experiences that will best serve patients—the types of experiences they crave.
And if you crave more exceptional examples of innovative approaches from our industry, then check out our recently announced Trailblazer Awards finalists. Then join us on October 3rd for our awards gala to meet the people behind this work and to enjoy what we promise will be an unforgettable experience of your own.
