Defining "Patient Centricity"

Patient Centricity used to be a buzzword in that it was often mentioned but seldom practiced by pharma companies.

A lot of progress has been made in the past years to achieve patient centricity, but not all drug companies have had much success. Unfortunately, that has had a negative impact on the industry’s reputation.

Timothy White, Head of Global Customer Interaction Management at Lundbeck, once said people on the commercial side of the pharma business have an “unhealthy obsession with ‘buzzwords’.”

Worse than that, noted White, marketers cannot articulate the usefulness of the buzzwords they use.

Two years ago I compiled a list of “Buzzwords” used by pharmaceutical marketers. Patient Centricity was one of them (read "Pharma Buzzwords Heard During a Conference").

In a recent podcast (listen here) I pointed out how patient centricity has paid off in a big way for the drug industry when it comes to marshaling patients in support of speeding the approval with the FDA, which, by law, must include the patient perspective in the drug approval process.

But pharma still struggles to achieve patient centricity. Rich Myer, author of World of DTC Marketing Blog, reported recently that according to IMS a majority of pharma companies have attempted patient-centric initiatives but only a third have reported any success. Only 4% reported a high degree of success and nearly 60% of pharma professionals said there is no consistent definition of patient centricity in their organization (read "Why Does #Pharma Have Problems With Achieving Patient Centricity Success?").

To be successful at patient centricity, the drug industry must first define what they mean by the term. Astrazeneca has taken the first step to doing that.

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