By Kimberly Reyes (@CommDuCoeur)
The e-patient movement has driven people to take control of their health and work collaboratively with their circle of care on managing and overcoming health conditions. Often referred to as “participatory medicine,” the movement is also a call to action for pharmaceutical companies to turn their attention towards education and information in order to reach the consumer.
EyeForPharma has recognized the growing power of patients and is celebrating the movement with a one-week series on how patients connect with the medicines that improve their lives and the doctors that prescribe them. Some of this week’s highlights include:
Why we need Patients’ Week
Patients are the heart of the healthcare system. Lets treat them that way!
Making patients part of the pharma conversation
Why pharma should give patients a real voice in the drug-discovery process
Collaborative care: Improving information exchange and adherence
How Michael Schultz, a hemophiliac, created an iPhone app that helps physicians and pharma make patients healthier
Here are more details from EyeForPharma:
A Call to Pharma: Put Patients First
EyeForPharma launches Patients Week with a week-long series of stories on pharma-physician-patient collaboration
By Andrew Tolve
Amid all the challenges facing the healthcare system, patients can often get lost in the shuffle.
As payers reduce the amount of reimbursement physicians receive for patients, physicians must see more patients in less time to cover practice overheads.
Meanwhile, the administrative burden on physicians continues to increase with ever more paperwork that, on average, takes an hour for every two hours of patient time. Add to this the pressure to meet pharmaceutical sales reps and to stay on top of new medical information and its no wonder physician-patient collaboration is suffering.
eyeforpharma believes the pharmaceutical industry can play a pivotal role in changing this.
For the next week, eyeforpharma will dedicate its website to patients and how the pharma industry can work with physicians to help put patients first.
Welcome to Patients Week
The site will feature daily stories of patients and doctors who have collaborated for positive outcomes¢‚Ǩ”stories like that of Michael Schultz, a patient who created a hemophilia iPhone app to get patients and physicians working together.
These stories of collaboration are critical to understanding how the pharmaceutical industry can do more to enhance collaboration with patients.
With all the talk of shrinking sales forces, R&D overhauls, and tougher regulatory hurdles, the industry is in danger of losing sight of its ultimate customers¢‚Ǩ”patients.
There are lots of things the pharma industry can do.
Pharma firms can embrace technology so sales reps are more efficient and less interruptive.
Sales and marketing departments can reach out to doctors through e-detailing, create websites for physicians to learn more about products on their own time (like Novartiss “Premium Doctors), and supplement short presentations with apps that doctors can download and pass on to patients. This will lead to more time for doctor/patient visits and to more adherent and happier customers.
The pharma industry can also roll out personalised disease forums for doctors, in which doctors can interact with patient groups, share new research and condition management techniques, and host Q&A sessions.
Doctors waste valuable time repeatedly giving similar advice to groups suffering from common diseases.
If day-to-day health maintenance issues can be addressed in online forums, doctor/patient visits can focus on the specific details of patients particular conditions. Patients are the heart of the healthcare system.
During eyeforpharmas Patients Week, well treat them that way.
To join the community and get all the exciting content updates click here: http://www.eyeforpharma.com/patient-week/
