Jennifer Spencer is president and CEO of Toronto-based Veritas Communications, an agency specializing in public and government relations for health care clients.
Today’s consumers of health care are very different from their counterparts of a decade ago.
Much of this, of course, has to do with the aging of the baby boomers, who – in typical fashion – are challenging the authority of physicians and institutions, and demanding a say in their own care. But it’s also a byproduct of government cutbacks, which have helped to create an environment in which consumers no longer fully trust the traditional authorities.
Consumers today feel entitled to access to health information. Many, in fact, fear that if they don’t educate themselves, they won’t get the best care.
The obvious place for them to seek information is the Internet. And this has significant implications for pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription products remains illegal in Canada; companies may communicate the product name, price and dosage, but nothing else – not even what the drug does. Some creative public relations programs have employed third-party experts to deliver key messages, but even these efforts have been tightly controlled. Rather than talk about products, campaigns have often focused on raising awareness of specific conditions and diseases.
While the law hasn’t changed in this country, the environment has. With consumers aggressively searching out information online, pharmaceutical companies now can convincingly claim ‘permission’ to communicate with the public. And if online access to information about illnesses and treatments makes patients more likely to visit their physicians to discuss options, manufacturers clearly stand to gain.
The Internet also allows pharmaceutical firms to individualize communications and conduct a dialogue with the end users of their products – the people who are prescribed these medications. The result will be a greater understanding of patients, which in turn will enable companies to reshape their communications programs to serve consumers better.
Armed with proof of the public thirst for information, manufacturers now have the ammunition they need to convince government – and the medical profession – of the value of direct-to-consumer communications. No one, after all, is better positioned to provide accurate information about pharmaceutical products than they are.
The goal here, of course, isn’t just to sell more products – pharmaceutical companies also want to see drugs used properly.
Inappropriate use or noncompliance (which is rampant in Canada) can seriously damage the reputation of a product. A well-designed Web site, however, can help educate consumers about proper use, make them aware of potential risks and even provide reminders to take their medicine.
What’s more, research has clearly shown that patients are more likely to be compliant if they have sought out information themselves, and played an active role in the decision-making about treatments.
The Internet, of course, has brought bad as well as good. There is, obviously, a lot of inaccurate information out there – which only serves to underline just how important it is that pharmaceutical companies have strong Web sites of their own, to ensure that there is at least one place patients can visit for accurate information. Promoting these sites through offline marketing efforts will help to create awareness and encourage patients to use them.
In developing their online initiatives, manufacturers must confront the credibility issue. Because they stand to gain commercially when their products are sold, their information may well be greeted with consumer skepticism.
One way to improve credibility would be to include information about all treatments – not just the company’s own offering – on the Web site. The information will also be more trusted if companies educate health care professionals about their sites. Doctors, after all, are still the most trusted source of health information. The ideal scenario is to have a physician recommend a site that the patient can visit at his or her leisure – after which, the two can have an informed discussion about treatment.
Many doctors actually like this approach: They are well aware that patients can’t always take in everything they are told about treatment – a factor that contributes to noncompliance. If patients have a Web site they can visit after the appointment, it’s easy for them to pick up whatever information they might have missed. And the doctor’s recommendation gives them the reassurance that they can trust whatever they read on that site.
Patient groups such as The Arthritis Society also play an important role when it comes to online health care information. These organizations often accept grants from pharmaceutical companies to create their own Web sites. While such sites are not subject to the control of the manufacturers, most do include information about treatments. The organizations publicize the sites themselves, and doctors sometimes promote them as well. (Pharmaceutical companies can assist this process by having sales reps remind doctors periodically about the sites.)
Consumers, of course, aren’t the only ones turning to the Internet for health care information. Doctors, too, are now using the medium extensively to access information and keep themselves up to date with medical developments. For this reason, most pharmaceutical companies are now learning how to create an online dialogue with physicians.
While the Internet obviously benefits doctors, it creates challenges as well. Some patients, for example, now come to appointments armed with more information about their conditions and treatment options than the doctors themselves have. They may have already decided on a diagnosis – correct or otherwise – and a course of treatment.
Clearly, the Internet is eroding the traditional paternalism of the medical profession. Doctors have long been trained to evaluate treatment options and make the final decisions themselves. But the growing consumer demand for informed discussion is bringing about a shift in the relationship between physician and patient. Some doctors have welcomed this change. But there are many who find the added demands on their time problematic.
The rise of the Internet and the evolution of a more informed consumer have also changed the way pharmaceutical companies communicate with government.
For manufacturers, the key challenge here has always been to ensure that their products are listed on provincial formularies, so that people who rely on the formularies have access to their products. That task has actually become easier in the online era. Why? Because informed consumers are now demanding access to all treatment options – and many are quite willing to go to the government (and the media) with their demands.
In short, the Internet has created the ‘consumer as advocate and activist’ – an extremely potent force.
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