By Claire Paling, Senior Director, Patient Insights & Support, Precision AQ | January 24, 2024
Multiple regulatory and compliance organizations within the pharmaceutical industry have a strategy, guide, or pledge regarding the importance of putting patients at the heart of the work they do.* Even the World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution includes the notion that "informed opinion and active co-operation on the part of the public are of the utmost importance in the improvement of the health of the people."
It seems to be fairly unanimous that putting patients at the center of all that is done in the pharmaceutical and medical devices sphere is vital. Added to this, the starting point for any patient engagement should ideally involve identifying and establishing a clear approach early, and this should be done in collaboration with the patient community.
When embarking on patient engagement activities, how often are these reactive or specifically project-based and focused on one singular patient partnership and/or one outcome for just one therapeutic brand? How many of us can hold our hand up and say that we truly took a step back and gave careful consideration to an overarching strategy for patient engagement activities, and involved the patient community in that strategy and planning?
I’m sure there are those out there who will confidently and proudly hold their hand up. I commend you, and I’m sure there are learnings to be shared which I would welcome. However, I also think there are many people who, if they were honest, would admit that there wasn’t and still isn’t a clear strategy for patient engagement across the board within their organization. Or perhaps there is a clear strategy, but it doesn’t filter through the whole organization and there are inconsistencies and varying approaches to patient engagement. What about the involvement of patients from the outset? Does this always happen?
Great strides have been made in recent years, and the prevalence of collaborative working—not only with the patient community but also with wider stakeholders—is ever-increasing, as is the commitment to gathering patient insights and co-planning/co-creating with them from the start.
However, it is not yet a standard operating procedure for all, and as the journey to widespread adoption of effective patient engagement rooted in a clear and thoughtful co-created strategy continues, there are enhancements that can be made along the way.
Precision AQ is dedicated to progressing the direction of travel toward true patient centricity and undertakes an annual patient partnerships insight-gathering exercise with stakeholders from the patient community and the pharmaceutical industry. It explores how vital partnerships between industry and patient organizations/independent patient advocates play out in practice and reflects on areas for consideration and improvement. Read the Good Patient Partnership Guide to get inspired.
If this has sparked your interest or has you thinking about your patient engagement strategy and you’d like to talk, we would love to hear from you: mh.patientsupport@precisionaq.com.
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*The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Patient Involvement Strategy; the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Patient Engagement Strategy; the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Working Together With patients guide.
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