Posts Tagged ‘healthcare’

Our Managing Director Nick Leonard has already written about the exciting new hires in our Healthcare team, me included, and now we’re preparing to welcome another new member – Emma Morton, Health and Science Editor at The Sun.

Emma will be joining us as Media Strategist at the end of May after 13 years at the paper, including six years in her current editorial role, and brings unparalleled media experience into the agency.

Emma has been at the forefront of healthcare reporting and has seen at first hand the media landscape evolve. She knows the importance of online platforms, and how developments like Digital Health are changing the game.

Being on the receiving end of pitching from numerous communications agencies on a day-to-day basis, Emma will also be able to add to our already superb media skills and ensure we continue to excel at clearly communicating and maximising every story potential.

We are thrilled Emma is joining us. We’re in an even stronger position to fully integrate every media opportunity. The healthcare arena doesn’t stand still and neither do we.

Our newly strengthened media team will support our expertise in traditional healthcare communications, advocacy, public affairs and digital to enable us to develop truly integrated multifaceted campaigns that change behaviour, policy or attitiudes.

We are always looking for new members of the Ruder Finn family. If you’re interested in joining us please contact Alison Denham.

Things are moving fast in Healthcare at Ruder Finn, and we’re hiring some great people.

Becky McMichael, our Head of Strategy and Innovation, tweeted last week about Stephen Davies (above centre) joining to drive our Digital Health offering, and this is an extremely exciting development (well, I think so).

This is a huge opportunity for us as an agency; we are very strong in Healthcare, Technology, Digital and Policy, so Digital Health sits at the convergence of these areas. It’s also an industry that’s growing fast and we feel we have the people, skills and ambition to take a lead.

In addition, we have strengthened the leadership team within our core Healthcare division to reflect recent growth and capitalise on future opportunities.

Vicky O’Connor (above left) has joined as Head of Healthcare from Cohn & Wolfe and leads the team. Vicky is extremely bright, experienced and ambitious and will help us maintain the great momentum we have at the moment. Joining her is Annabel Fiddian-Green (above right) as a Director. Formerly interim head of comms at the ABPI, Annabel has worked across almost every therapeutic area and has invaluable advocacy experience – which plays very well into our global expansion.

Judith Cranford, formerly our Head of Healthcare in the UK, has taken on a global role driving our Advocacy and Global Development proposition. There are few people as experienced as Judith in this area and we are delighted she’ll make an even bigger contribution to the agency on an international scale.

So lots going on and lots still to happen. We’ve always been strong in Healthcare at RF, but these hires and our diversification strategy will take us into new, exciting and (hopefully) market-leading areas. We’re still hiring too, so if you like the sound of this please get in touch.

Another question we added to our recent Mums focus group was where do they get the health information that they rely on?

There are a number of reports showing which social networks parents trust but when it comes to reading the papers vs joining forums vs family or peer support, we wanted to know where people turn when they want child health advice.

What does this mean for PR and digital comms professionals?

Long live the integrated campaign…

I’m sure I’m not the only one waiting with anticipation to see what will come out of the current FDA Hearing on Social Media. The very fact that this meeting is taking place puts the FDA under pressure to issue some coherent guidance on how pharma companies can and should be engaging in dialogue with patients and physicians online and how to address the issues around adverse event reporting. We’re fortunate enough to have a colleague at the hearing and below is her update from yesterday’s session. The updates are also being posted www.HealthieRForum.com

HealthieRForum Exclusive: From the Floor of the FDA Social Media Hearing

Nicole Preiss-Riley, Senior Vice President in Ruder Finn’s Healthcare practice, is onsite at the FDA hearing on social media.  Based on the sessions from the first half of the day, here’s what she has to report:

Presenters were asked to focus their remarks on five key questions:

1.     For what online communications are manufacturers, packers or distributors accountable?

2.     How can manufacturers, packers or distributors fulfill regulatory requirements in their Internet and social media promotion, particularly when using tools that are associated with space limitations and tools that allow for real-time communications?

3.     What parameters should apply to the posting of corrective information on Web sites controlled by third parties?

4.     When is the use of links appropriate?

5.     How should adverse event reporting be addressed online?

Thus far, presenters have selectively responded to questions rather than answering each one of the five as part of their respective comments – much of the discussion has focused on the unique character of social media and the value it provides to both providers and consumers.

It’s clear that the pharmaceutical and medical device companies are eager to work with the FDA to determine parameters for working within the social media sphere as well as a plan for implementing those guidelines.  However, the question has been raised repeatedly as to what product-related information companies should be responsible for conveying.

Much of the commentary has focused on moderated sites (i.e., WebMD) that have discrete editorial roles. What has not yet been addressed with any robust discussion is the broader social media landscape of bloggers and opinion-based Web sites.

How this type of content can or should be regulated has not been touched yet. One independent blogger who is scheduled to present at the hearing tomorrow said, “It’s been a good meeting so far.  Based on what’s been said, I hope the FDA will come up with guidance within the next year.”

It seems we are in the midst of a noticeable shift in focus from pharma companies towards the emerging markets. As a number of major brands in key therapeutic areas come off-patent, western drug makers are considering growth opportunities that lie outside of North America and Europe, in countries such as India, China, Russia and Brazil.

According to IMS, annual pharmaceutical sales in emerging markets is expected to reach $400bn by 2020, equivalent to current sales in the US and the five top European markets combined. It is also predicted that during the next five years, the market in China has the potential to double in size, becoming the seventh largest pharmaceutical market by 2010.

This makes me wonder what the future will hold for global healthcare PR? Is there a possibility that more and more of our target markets will be based in these “new economies”?

The Financial Times reported last week that Pfizer signed two licensing deals with India-based Aurobindo and Claris, strengthening the company’s position in emerging markets and significantly expanding its portfolio in solid dose and sterile products. Eli Lilly also recently forged a cardiovascular-focused research deal with India’s Zydus Cadila. David Simmons, president and general manager of Pfizer’s Established Products Business Unit, said the company is open to discussions with pharmaceutical companies in emerging markets that offer unique capabilities and product offerings.

Despite their growth potential, emerging markets do present some challenges for global PR. Russia, India, and China, as well as countries in Latin America, have large and extremely varied consumer audiences, different time zones, languages, cultures and media practices. With this in mind, there is an increasing need for global campaigns to be integrated, impactful and delivered in a medium that is both effective and appropriate for the country.

Such need for diversity may change the current dynamic for global campaigns which are mainly run from the US and Europe. Could the next 15 years see a power shift in which countries drive PR campaigns?

According to the recent Future of Communications survey Ruder Finn conducted, the answer is yes… though eventually and incredibly cautiously.

The ‘cautiously’ part is hardly surprising - in the regulatory environment that surrounds healthcare communications, especially prescription products, caution prevails.  Facilitating greater dialogue around prescription medicines raises a whole host of issues from the interpretation of promotion versus non-promotion through to complications around adverse risk reporting.  This cautious attitude is further amplified by the nature of the regulations surrounding digital communications. Although some regulatory bodies, like the ABPI in the UK, have taken steps to try and set down rules governing digital media, they are still peppered with ‘grey areas’.  Where some industries have already taken the plunge and are happily doing backstroke, the healthcare sector has only just rolled up a trouser leg and dipped a toe in the water.

It is important of course to exercise caution, but the ‘eventually’ bit of my answer is also important.  Not only must healthcare companies start to embrace digital communications in order to stay relevant, but if this does not happen, it will miss out on a consistently growing audience and medium with which to reach them.

Market research tells us that patients, carers and healthcare professionals use the internet more and more for health information.  In fact at a nurse advisory board I recently attended, the majority of the room stated that they often go online during consultations with patients to look up queries.  They of course had some favoured, trusted sources, but they were Googled nonetheless.  I also think of myself and my family - I’ll often consult the internet prior to consulting a GP and older members of my family have carried out extensive research on their conditions to find out more about their treatment options.

Information is out there, whether pharma companies want it to be or not, and people are accessing it.

The healthcare industry is full of intelligent and sophisticated marketeers who recognise this ‘evolution’ is taking place and want to be part of it. Our own experience tells us that some pharma companies are doing great work monitoring social media and reacting to issues. But the key word is ‘reacting’. It is the proactive work that is difficult and the bottom line is nobody wants to be first to run a big digital campaign.  But proactivity doesn’t have to mean taking risks. Healthcare will eventually fully embrace the digital age but it won’t be done in great leaps but small incremental steps.  Only by doing these small steps will regulatory departments, who are key to this change ever occuring, come on board.

So what do we mean by small steps? It’s doing a few simple things well.  Maybe that is sponsored links on google to ensure responsible web sites appear at the top of searchs when people look for counterfeit products. How about non-branded educational videos on Youtube, more of these are starting to appear now. Holding online advisory boards on secure networks, which are far more cost effective and allow flexibility for the participants. We could go on.

The way patients and healthcare professionals search for information and interact with each other has changed.  Therefore it stands to reason that how healthcare companies communicate with these audiences also has to change. This will happen and, to a certain extent, is already happening but it will take time and it will take a lot of small steps.

As a 26 year old woman it’s hard not to feel moved by Jade Goody’s battle with cervical cancer. Not only is Jade having to face leaving her children and partner, but also her own mortality. At an age where Jade should be going out with friends and buying shoes, she is writing her will, settling her affairs and preparing her funeral.

However, Jade’s legacy may extend beyond Big Brother, bad boyfriends and racial slurs. Women across the nation have followed Jade’s story and booked the smear test they’d been putting off for months.  The Daily Mail reported that the number of women having smear tests has gone up by more than 20 per cent as a result of the publicity around her story highlighting the significant role she is playing in increasing awareness of cervical cancer.

Today Sun Woman launched Jade’s Legacy - a campaign with her backing - to raise cervical cancer awareness and to get the screening age in England lowered from 25 back down to 20. Through exploiting the media to ultimately raise money for her children, Jade has caused a ripple of consciousness that may in turn save the lives of hundreds of women across the county.

The Jade Effect doesn’t stop with cervical screening. The subject of palliative care is finally receiving the media attention it deserves with an article in the Sun today dispelling the myths commonly associated with the treatment of terminally ill people.

Although there is no longer hope for Jade, her lifelong courtship with the media has finally paid off.