Everyone’s talking about it
Posted on 01. Sep, 2010 by chiantichiara in Communications, Industry, Market access, News
Has this ever happened to you or is it just me? When you finally decide you want to buy something – a new pair of trainers or a handbag or even a car – you suddenly notice that most of the people around you are sporting or driving the object of your desire. Why is that? Well this has now happened to me for the first time on a work level.
Aurora has been advising clients on market access a lot this year and then all of a sudden there seems to be a flurry of market access-esque articles in the trade press. We at Aurora pride ourselves in being innovators, and I refer you to www.wehatesocialmedia.com for our latest offering, so we don’t really want to jump on bandwagons. That said, we also like to have our say and engage in ‘hot topics’ so here are our thoughts on all things market access.
The healthcare market in the UK is changing. We now find ourselves in an age of austerity with healthcare budget cuts becoming a daily reality. In addition, following the publication of Andrew Lansley’s NHS White Paper, the balance of commissioning power is due to shift from the PCO level to the hands of GPs themselves.
What does this mean for new drugs entering the UK healthcare market? How are pharmaceutical companies adapting to the environmental changes and what preparations are they making to create a positive healthcare environment to support their new drug?
Traditionally, this remit has fallen to pharmaceutical company ‘Market Access’ teams. Just how big these teams are varies widely across companies. Some teams mostly deal with NICE and SMC submissions, and devising patient access schemes, while others are involved much earlier in the drug lifecycle and engage directly with payers. However, all discussions are based around the financial value proposition of the drug in question. The messages relayed are very distinct from the marketing team’s data centric conversations with their customers – the prescribers.
But in the proposed new healthcare system the distinction between payers and prescribers is much more blurred. Gone are the blockbuster days where Professor X could say, ‘Just look at the data! New drug A is clearly better than existing drug B.’ What’s more, patients are being given more choice and are actively being encouraged to be more empowered about their health decisions. Only by having a clear understanding of the patient journey, and how their drug positively benefits that journey and improves patient outcomes, will companies be able to effectively communicate the true value of their product to the decision makers who influence uptake. Does this mean a more holistic approach to market access is required in this new healthcare environment? And as an extension of any pharmaceutical marketing team, what role do healthcare communications agencies play in assisting and supporting this new market access model?
NW1er
01. Sep, 2010
I think we all know from personal experience that we can deliver the best results for our clients when we are fully integrated with all levels of their business: from field sales force through to the medical, commercial, legal and market access teams. It therefore feels intuitive to me that an integrated communications approach will deliver the best results for our industry in the changing world.
People have talked about the evolution of a medical/comms/legal in-house exec to deliver rapid social media engagement; perhaps such fusions of skills and departments is on the horizon for front line communicators too? Change is afoot but it feels like a holistic approach is coming, which surely should make things more efficient for all involved?
neilcrump
05. Sep, 2010
Hey Chiara – A holistic approach to market access, both in the way it is undertaken and communicated about, is definitely the way forward. As the White Paper puts patients at the centre, so should our pharma company clients. So many are doing so much already on this front and really showing the value that they bring to the mix in terms of patient care. A medicine’s value lies in the total contribution that it, and the company that developed it, brings to the healthcare system (private or NHS). In these austere times, which we haven’t properly felt yet, this approach will give a medicine the chance to reach its full potential.