How patient centric is your business?

Our information rich society has created more informed and vocal end users which means that patients have taken their place at the table and can no longer be ignored. Payers are also demanding proof of outcomes, which can only come from patient interaction. How are drug companies responding and adapting to the inexorable pull towards a patient centric world? And how can your business move further along the patient focus spectrum?

Patient Centric Pharma: Advancing the New Business Model reveals how success can be achieved and provides food for thought on various ways to place patients firmly at the heart of your business and achieve commercially beneficial outcomes. Based on interviews with 10 experts at the cutting edge of the patient revolution, this report lifts the lid on this business-critical area.

• Assessment of the factors driving the shift towards a patient-centric business model as well as the expectations placed on pharma from various stakeholders.
• Detailed discussion of the key challenges and barriers facing pharmaceutical companies at various points on the patient centricity journey – plus expert views on how to address them.
• The latest thinking on multiple patient centric structures and strategies with insight into the opportunities arising as new approaches take hold.
• Clarity on how to bring about transformation including practical ideas, case studies and expert guidance on making the transition from brand focus to patient focus.

• Provides inspiration for long term plans: Improve understanding of the many significant opportunities that arise when patient-centricity moves up the priority list.
• Highlights the operational changes required: Consider various business models; find out the core elements that apply to all; hear which tools have helped others and why.
• Bolsters the business case: Read compelling arguments for gaining senior management support and business investment as well as planning operational restructuring and IT transformation.
• Puts decision-makers on the same page: Ensure all areas of your organisation understand the background and route to firmly embedding a patient centric strategy.

The clock cannot be turned back on patient empowerment; but what can change is how pharma responds. For some, it has already proved to be an opportunity to differentiate and edge ahead. What is clear is that there is no single blueprint for success and that the evolving landscape continues to offer plenty of opportunities for competitive advantage. Some will inevitably be left behind as the world moves on. But for those that genuinely engage with patients, there is much to gain.

• Who has a role to play? Is patient focus a departmental or company-wide strategy? Is it just about patients or should pharma also engage with family members, carers and others?
• What are the commercial benefits? Are there key metrics to have in place to keep track of progress? What does success look like?
• How is the concept of patient centricity similar to ethics within pharma? What can be learned from reviewing how an ethical stance is accepted and embedded across the business?
• When does the patient become most important? At what point in the product lifecycle should pharma seek to engage patients? How should engagement take place?

• Dr Anne Beal, MD, Chief Patient Officer at Sanofi
• Pamela Bennett, Executive Director Patient and Professional Relations at Purdue Pharma, US
• Dr Neil Croft, PhD, Senior Manager, Advisory Services at Kinapse, consultants on capability building and operational services to the life sciences industry
• Barbara Donalson, Patient Advocacy & Engagement Manager, Communications & Government Affairs Department, Janssen Pharmaceuticals UK (Johnson & Johnson)
• Dr Oleksandr Gorbenko, MD, PhD, Global Patient Affairs Medical Lead, ViiV Healthcare.
• David Jones, Head of Involvement and Shared Practice at Diabetes UK
• Richard Jones, Patient Services Director at The Earthworks, UK
• Jayne Galinsky, Health Services Researcher, Myeloma UK
• Simon Ridley, Director of Research, Myeloma UK
• Dr Tehseen Salimi, MD, VP Global Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca, US

“One of the biggest challenges is the structure of pharmaceutical companies. They're looking through the lens of a brand trying to identify what its competitor's doing, rather than truly looking at it from the patient perspective. That's the challenge that needs to be overcome if pharma is really going to become patient centred.”
Richard Jones, The Earthworks

“People want to understand what it means for them in their day-to-day work. They may hear that the company is patient centric but they think ‘I’m working in finance for example, and it doesn't mean anything for me’. So, companies need to make it real for people there, or in manufacturing for example.”
Dr Neil Croft, Kinapse

“It's important to recognise that patient engagement is critical and we need to incorporate it early in the development process and have it aligned across pharma functions.”
Dr Tehseen Salimi, AstraZeneca

• Patient affairs and patient interaction leads
• Senior leadership teams and key decision-makers
• Marketing departments
• Advocacy and government affairs specialists
• Medical affairs teams
• Digital innovation and IT decision-makers
• Trial designers and managers

• The rising tide of patient centricity within healthcare and pharma
• Changes in the environment trigger the need to revise the business model
• Companies’ responses to adoption of patient centricity vary
• Patients speak up
• Key factors driving the change to patient-centric business models
• Informed patients
• Healthcare accountability
• Patients can be payers
• Patient-centric outcomes are instrumental in payer and reimbursement decisions
• Increased demand for managed access programmes to optimise patient outcomes
• Expectation for pharma to provide patient engagement strategies
• Shifting the paradigm to a patient-centric business model
• The value in adopting a patient-centric business model for pharma
• Value lies in recognising the significance of the patient’s role in healthcare
• Incorporating recognition of the patient role into company culture
• Recognising the patient as a key stakeholder is essential
• Failure to address patient needs may lead to a fall in sales
• Patient centricity means incorporating patient-relevant value into the product life cycle
• Gaining real patient insights through effective patient engagement
• More than a product, an innovation is a solution
• Harnessing patient insights
• Incorporating patient-relevant value early in drug development optimises benefits for pharma
• Opportunities and challenges surrounding becoming a truly patient-centric company
• Key findings
• Challenges
• Accentuate relative patient value, not just net present value
• Engage with regulatory and HTA bodies about patient value early on
• Patient-centred outcomes need to better reflect real patient experience
• Senior management buy-in is essential
• Place resources early in development
• Building trust against a history of mistrust
• Recognising the cost of becoming patient centric
• Opportunities
• Refine tools to gather patient insight
• Include carers, families and those at risk as well as patients
• Nurture patient involvement early on
• Interaction with patients forms a relationship, not a transaction
• Patient centricity can deliver better medication adherence
• Technology will transform patient involvement in clinical trials
• Transforming a business model from product centric to patient centric
• Structuring business around disease not brands
• Real patient centricity involves collaboration
• Layers of patient centricity in the product value proposition
• Shifting to a patient-centric business model requires organisation-wide change
• Cross-organisational cultural reform
• ‘Patient centricity, like ethics, should be part of everything we do’
• Patient-centric roles and team structures
• Where exactly does the Patient Affairs or Advocacy team sit in a company?
• Inject patient-centric values into each function’s strategic planning
• Chief Patient Officer or Patient Affairs/Engagement Leads
• Engage with patients to understand how patient value can influence the business model
• Metrics measuring performance of patient centricity
• Operational change: the nuts and bolts of transformation into a patient-centric company
• Ensuring patient-relevant impact of a product
• Nurturing constructive relationships with patients and their organisations
• Ask patients to talk about their experiences at meetings
• Let patients know your company is listening to them
• Case study: Pfizer Link: Community for Study Participants