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Another thought of mine at the moment is that pharma is quite possibly undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. It’s not surprising really due to the changes happening within the pharma landscape and the paradigm shifts that have been occurring. Maybe this is why there’s a ‘slump’ in patient-centricity and why it appears to have gone quiet.
For my next question I asked Paul the following:
Has patient centricity become an ‘umbrella’ for the other terminologies such as ‘person-centred’, ‘human centred’, ‘customer centred’ and ‘consumer centred’?
Or are they all individual entities?
This was his reply:
“As for whether we talk about patient or person or human, to be honest I don’t care. Yes, I totally get the argument that you have to look at the ‘whole person’, not just their illness, to find a real solution. But that will be better solved by solving the problems I mention above. Generally, I like the giant mess of it all, because that’s what entrepreneurial and innovative industries are – messy. Who cares whether it’s called a mobile phone or a cell phone, the fact is that the industry had enough freedoms to be truly innovative? Unlike healthcare.”
Fair enough is my answer to Paul for that answer, in fact it gave me a huge sense of relief.
My reply to Paul explained my viewpoint that
‘I personally don’t care what they call it either, however, I find it irritating that people appear to be trying to enforce political correctness… because to me that is what it triggers in my mindset when I hear people say it should be person, human, or customer centricity and even dislike stating it myself just to conform. The pressure to conform as a patient advocate can be quite high and I dislike having to refer to all the terms just to prevent ‘people’ taking offence and causing unwanted debates. I hope you understand why I say that.
There are other issues more worthy of a good debate!
That’s me being brutally honest!’
Keyboard nattering with Paul Simms
To continue…
‘For me, I just wondered if the term patient centricity was disappearing?! As a result of the different replacements that are being used. Plus, the focus is all on digital and AI, again my opinion, it’s as if people have moved onto a different trend/focus.’ Then considering what Paul said about data, and data silos, there needs to be that focus doesn’t there? I even say as much myself in this mini-mags introduction!
I also stated in my response to Paul, ‘Regarding healthcare, wealth and pharma marrying / aligning up there is a long journey ahead before that happens.’
Now I elaborate for the purpose of this post and say, however, they are starting to align as the multi-stakeholder approaches begin to develop and take place. In fact, ‘cross-functional‘ working is becoming the norm, whereas ‘cross-industrially‘ it is only just beginning, but it is beginning and through my experiences during 2019 I saw it and experienced it for myself. It isn’t very visible yet and to be honest it will probably take a while before it is because of the issues such as the ones that Paul explained that are discussed above.
‘In my opinion, and yes although it looks like a lot has happened… not enough has happened, and a lot of it is just show boating for companies to look like they are doing something.’
Carole Scrafton keyboard nattering with paul simms
The above statement is something else that I said in my reply to Paul because it is easy to make it look like you’re being patient-centric, putting it into action isn’t. Having a high Credibility score creates trust, and helps relationships to form with the right people, and unfortunately the types of relationships formed with showboating companies don’t carry much as much weight in the grand scheme of things.
Again, my opinion!
However, overall I must say that after attending the ‘Patient Engagement Open Forum (PEOF2019) in September 2019’ there was plenty of evidence to suggest that the industry is changing, okay, maybe not massively but enough to prove that it is moving in the right direction with the acknowledgement that there’s still a lot of work to do. In my opinion, getting patient engagement strategies right will prove vital towards creating patient-centric ideals because without developing those bonded relationships with patients it will continue to be difficult to gather all the relevant data required to progress further the drug development industries that require the skills from healthcare, medical and clinical as well.
The phrase ‘it takes a village’ became one that will stick and to hear everyone saying it by the end meant a lot to me because I finally feel like my ideals regarding multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches are being accepted.
Read all about the Patient Engagement Open Forum via this link:
My final thoughts after considering all of the above, including the wise words from Paul Simms, is that it appears to be all about ‘context’ when considering what ‘patient centricity’ means to you. Speaking about the whether it is called any of the descriptors discussed in this article.
I think it possibly means something different to everyone, depending on what they are doing. For instance my opinions are based upon what pharma have been telling me it means, but as an individual my beliefs may be different and I think I have expressed that in this article. One thing for sure is that it is time for new ideas and Paul touched upon that, especially with the world of digital health fast becoming the forerunner within the industry. The fact that none of it can really progress unless we all unite as stakeholders to push progression forwards. Pharma isn’t just pharma anymore and its role in helping healthcare industry develop should be very visible by now.
The way to assist each other is to collaborate. We all know how to engage with each other and the means to do it are there with more toolkits being developed from across industries.
What is next for ‘patient centricity’? Paul Tunnah and Kris Sterkens both give us what they think!
Considering the topics of discussion that are currently happening such as how we are trying to Humanise healthcare; using digital to personalise healthcare; becoming patient-centred; and customer-centred; I cannot help assuming that they all mean the same thing. Do they?
Think about it, patient centricity was / still is a ‘pharma focus’, but now you have, multi-stakeholders involved so of course it has changed, is changing…
Personally, I think it is time to create that ‘Umbrella‘ and begin to organise patient centricity by industry sectors. Pharma Marketing have different goals to drug developers and also clinicians and patients…
… whether we are classed as humans, persons, patients, subjects, customers, payers, buyers! It doesn’t matter because they are all just labels to identify us whether they have anything to do with patient centricity, or not!
It’s time for you to ‘stop changing the rules of engagement‘ and take the time to construct a firm and clear manifesto for all areas of the industry to follow, including patients!
Why not create a Board of Multi-stakeholder Advisors who will collaborate, and co-create, develop that manifesto to tell us all what ‘patient centricity’ is for the 2020’s?
Like I said at the beginning all I ask is for you to at least consider my thoughts. I’m a patient advocate advocating for patient health research and pharma so I do see things in a different perspective.
Thank you to Paul Simms for taking time out of his very busy work schedule to engage with me via keyboard nattering to discuss what patient centricity means to him today. An exchange of views for each other’s writings!
A few weeks ago Paul wrote an article which is an interesting read and gives you a more in-depth view of Paul’s current ‘pharma’ mindset. Also, I was one of 20 people to help contribute to it too. The link is below.
Into pharma’s roaring twenties | Published on LinkedIn January 8, 2020
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pharmas-roaring-twenties-paul-simms/?
I’ve included a few other articles about patient centricity too that I feel are worth reading.
Again, here’s the link from eyeforpharma back in 2014 >
Patient centricity: What is it – and why aren’t we there yet?
By Zuzanna Fimińska on Dec 10, 2014 | eyeforpharma
Patient Centricity: The Changing Paradigm For Pharma
BY Dr Ammar Raza, Country medical Officer, Allergan, APAC CIO OUTLOOK MAGAZINE – Copyrighted
Walking the patient centric talk
Published in PharmaTimes magazine – May 2018 by Katrina Megget
Can pharma prove that being patient centric is more than just a fad?
Patient centricity efforts becoming more wide-ranging and sophisticated, say CROs
11-Sep-2019 By Melissa Fassbender
From pilot projects to process changes, the evolution of patient centricity is affecting all aspects of drug development, say industry experts, who share best practices and lessons learned.
Disclosure: My own opinions and observations… as always!
Many thanks for reading things from my perspective as a patient looking in and if you wish to discuss it further I hope to see you at eyeforpharma Barcelona 2020
FibroFlutters supporting eyeforpharma by Reuters as Patient, Health, Research & Pharma advocates, we are non-commercial.
If you’d like to know what I got up to in 2019 please read my review via this link:
Reflecting back, my year of patient, health, research and pharma advocacy 2019
Below is the summary report from the discussions held at the eyeforpharma Patient Summit in October 2019
Report: Patient Summit EU 2019 patient-led roundtables
This 21-page exclusive paper will show you why we need to start taking the patients view of the world, if we are to understand the drivers of health behaviour that impact their condition so they can play a more active role in managing it.
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