The Power Of Patient Advocacy In Pharmaceutical Development :The Advocate

Patients deserve to have their voices heard by the healthcare industry. Their input can not only improve the quality of their own care, but also that of many others with similar needs. It also sheds light on under-recognized sources of demand in the industry and opens up new opportunities for professionals who have the skills to fill that demand with new solutions.

To this end, our research team at The Brooks Group publishes an annual report on patient advocacy in the healthcare industry. Our pharmaceutical market research publication (The Advocate: Supporting the Patient Voice) has all of the information you need to assess the state of patient advocacy in the healthcare market and determine how to better align your company's offerings with patients' stated needs.

What Is The Advocate?

The Advocate: Supporting the Patient Voice is an annual market research report published by The Brooks Group that first debuted in 2018. It was preceded by our publication STAR: Successfully Targeting Advocacy Relations, which ran from 2010 to 2017.

The Advocate comprises information from 103 healthcare companies and 37 professional organizations spanning over 18 therapeutic areas in total. It includes both quantitative and qualitative data to create a more holistic and compelling picture of patient needs.

To complete our data set, we also conduct 45-minute follow-up interviews with a selection of the top organizations in the healthcare industry. These interviews give these organizations a chance to comment on their patient advocacy efforts in more detail and outline the areas they plan to work on in the near future.

Our Goals for The Advocate

In each edition of The Advocate, we strive to:

• Help the pharmaceutical community better understand patients' needs
• Provide an overview of how each organization is viewed by the patients it serves, facilitating improvement both internally and within the industry as a whole
• Create a set of consistently measured annual benchmarks that can be used to chart progress toward major patient-centered goals

Why It Matters

Patient advocacy is more than a professional courtesy – it is a fundamental duty within the healthcare industry.

The goal of all healthcare is to improve patients' health and quality of life. Providing treatments for disease only accomplishes part of that goal. Patients must have a platform to express their needs and priorities. Patient advocacy gives this vulnerable population a voice and makes it more likely that they will receive treatments that suit their budget, lifestyle, and overall health requirements. Advocacy work may even prompt companies to develop therapies for some conditions that are currently overlooked.

Since patient advocacy information is essentially an expression of demand, it also has significant repercussions for the sales side of healthcare. Major payers often shift their buying habits in response to patient feedback. Top healthcare consulting firms emphasize the importance of this relationship when advising clients on how to navigate changing markets.

Account managers who do not take the time to keep up with the latest patient advocacy reports may suddenly discover that their pitches are no longer resonating with their clients. In contrast, keeping up with this information on a yearly basis allows healthcare sales professionals to make timely propositions that address concrete, documented patient goals.

Bridging the Gap Between Patients and Industry

Investing in patient advocacy research could significantly improve your company's ability to close sales and make meaningful investments with appreciable ROI. The Brooks Group makes it easy to upgrade your workforce's skills with account management training courses, healthcare executive training, market research, and more. Contact us today to learn more about how your organization can receive access to The Advocate or to sign up for our any of our industry-leading healthcare sales training courses.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2022/05/power-of-patient-advocacy-in-pharmaceutical-development-the-advocate/

How is Digital Health Revolutionizing the Healthcare Industry?

Digital technologies have crept into every facet of daily life, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Digital health is the latest trend set to revolutionize the healthcare industry.

This new model of care will change everything from research and development to patient care outcomes – no aspect of the field will be left untouched. Understanding this phenomenon, its benefits, and the opportunities it presents can help healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals adapt their practices to the new digital paradigm.

What is Digital Health?

Digital health is the process of integrating new digital tools into the healthcare industry. Using technologies like wearables, connected devices, and software applications, physicians and other healthcare professionals can collect vast amounts of health data from patients. This allows them to get a more well-rounded, accurate, and timely picture of each patient's health status, sometimes on a real-time basis. They can then offer high-quality care even at long distances.

Benefits of Digital Health

Healthcare providers who adopt the digital health paradigm benefit in many ways, including:

• Better communication. Patients who are treated using digital health technologies can communicate directly with their doctor for most of their treatment, facilitating trust and openness between both parties. Patients do not need to discuss their health information with receptionists, assistants, and other people who may be present in a typical clinic setting.
• Accelerated treatment. Because digital health solutions are usually extremely efficient and require very little human input, patients treated with these technologies can receive treatment much more quickly than someone being treated using conventional methods.
• Lower costs. Digital health technologies make it easier to deliver quality care with fewer resources. This benefits healthcare providers, insurers, and patients alike.
• Increased accessibility. Digital technologies like telemedicine solutions allow more people in need to access healthcare services, even when they live hundreds of miles away from the specialists they need to see.
• Improved knowledge of patient profiles. Digital health allows healthcare providers to access patient health data directly using a single touchpoint, improving their ability to assess each patient's condition and relay accurate information to them.

Digital Health and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Digital health has also made a noticeable impact on the pharmaceutical industry.

Now that electronic health records are more widely used, patients' health information is being recorded in a standardized and easily accessible format for the first time. This shift gives researchers and healthcare providers access to more detailed patient health profiles, including current vitals readings and records of any comorbidities each patient has.

This information unlocks a whole new realm of possibilities for drug companies. Researchers can use it to develop drugs that are targeted to specific presentations of a particular condition. They can also determine which type of patient responds best to each medication and market their products appropriately. This process can be aided by AI-powered drug discovery methods that can experiment with thousands of chemical combinations to find the formula that produces the desired effects.

Digital Health and Pharma Sales

These opportunities presented by digital health technologies have additional implications for pharmaceutical sales.  Account managers who factor digital health advancements into their services and pitches will be the most successful in this new reality.

To do this, salespeople will need access to specific tools. Pharmaceutical market research is critical to keeping abreast of new developments powered by digital health technologies. Account management training courses can refine professionals' ability to tailor their pitches to customer needs. Pairing the two together gives account managers the skills and knowledge they need to seize the opportunities before them.

Don’t Let Your Company Get Left Behind

As one of the top healthcare consulting firms in operation today, The Brooks Group recognizes the importance of staying up to date with the latest digital health developments. We offer a multitude of services designed to improve market knowledge and sales skills in healthcare professionals, including healthcare executive training and managed care training. Contact us today for more information on any of our world-class training programs or to sign up for an upcoming session.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2022/05/how-is-digital-health-revolutionizing-the-healthcare-industry/