Is Pharma Taking the Wrong Approach to Patient-Centricity?
By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader
Richie Etwaru is the chief digital officer at IMS Health. In a recent article that appeared on Medical Marketing & Media, he questions whether pharma is taking the right approach when it comes to their patient-centricity efforts.
Already a hot topic in most life science companies, the issue will continue to be a focal point for pharma as patients and patient advocacy groups become more engaged and enabled. Etwaru notes focusing on patients is also good for business.
But while many companies are placing their focus on asking patients what additional services they would like to have provided to them, he feels they should be asking how they might be able to deliver a better patient experience.
“Life-science companies want patients to come to them for more than a prescription,” says Etwaru. “They are trying to become the kind of brands that patients care about—and from which they want to purchase added services. But most patients don't see pharmaceutical companies that way. Frankly, they don't like us.”
He believes most consumers have two pie charts in their heads: one that tracks brands they like and one that tracks brands they dislike. For me, one chart would include Apple, Under Armor, Kohl’s, and Ruby Tuesday, while the other would include Microsoft, Nike, Walmart, and Red Lobster (I won’t say which group is good or bad). With most humans having a finite number of emotional units to assign, it is critical for pharma companies to move from the “dislike” list to the “like” list. While he feels that transition will be difficult, it is certainly not impossible.
Etwaru cites Uber as an example of how to help customers make the transition from bad list to good list. He used to hate taking taxis, because of the dirt, the smell, rude drivers, and never knowing what the fare would be. Uber changed all that and has now made hailing a ride a much more pleasant experience. It moved calling a taxi from the “dislike” chart to the “like” chart.
Likewise, pharma has to get the likes, create a pleasant experience around their brand, and only then will they be able to look at providing additional services. “People enjoy buying products and services from brands they like,” note Etwaru. “The key is to make the primary consumer relationship exceptional, and only then provide other services. It's about becoming a consumer organization that focuses first on improving the customer experience rather than selling products.”
How can pharma accomplish this task? Uber looked at the overall customer experience of taking a cab, identified the ugly parts of it, and removed them from the equation. Pharma needs to do likewise, and stop taking what is an ugly, unlikeable experience and adding new services to it. As Etwaru points out, the patient experience starts with pain or illness, might be followed with an unpleasant clinical trial experience, and may end with anxiety, disappointment, or frustration. Rarely do companies attempt to identify and address those underlying issues.
“For life-sciences companies to truly understand the patient experience, we need to study it so carefully that we figure out what isn't working and find a way to fix it,” he says. “How? Technology can help. Technology today enables companies to listen to the sentiments of the marketplace, understand what people like and dislike and determine why they prefer one brand over another. By listening to customers, and working to understand the good, bad and ugly parts of the patient experience, life-sciences companies can become patient-centric and move from “dislike” to “like.” Only then will customers buy more of our products and services.”