I've written recently about the need for pharmaceutical companies to institute Customer Experience Centers of Excellence . This was in response to hearing about several other types of "Centers of Excellence" popping up inside pharma companies and my conversation with Dyan Bryson, VP, Patient Enablement Services at Indegene Lifesystems Pvt. Ltd., about "putting the patient at the center" .

Patient-Centricity" seems to be an overused buzzword among pharma marketers these days. So overused that Michael McLinden, chief strategy officer at Mc|K Healthcare, authored an MM&M piece titled "Stop using the term 'patient-centric'—and other rules for the New Pharma Value Proposition".

"It's no coincidence that the rise of the term 'patient-centric' has been paralleled by the decline in public perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry," says McLinden who implies that consumers believe "too many patient-centric programs turn out to be thinly veiled promotional efforts, and that has contributed to their cynicism and disillusion with our business."

"Admit it," says McLinden, "how many of us have been involved in reviewing promotional materials or a planning document where someone says, 'We need to insert the word ‘patient' in here in a few places,' and everyone nods in assent?"

That's not really being "patient-centric," of course. But it is possible to be TOO patient-centric, which I explain below.

Suppose, for example, that a pharmaceutical company has an Rx coupon that reimburses patients for the co-payment made when filling a prescription for their product. This is a common practice. In return, patients provide some personal information -- name, physical address, email address, etc -- when applying for the coupon. With this information -- and permission from the patient -- the pharma company can send the patient notices and further offers via US postal mail or email.

This could be considered patient-centric if it goes above and beyond sending the patient promotional pieces and if social media is brought into the picture.

Read more: http://pharmamkting.blogspot.in/2013/12/being-too-patient-centric-spying-on.html

Via Parag Vora