In my previous blog and article, I raised concerns about how a lack of compassion negatively impacts patient care. When patients perceive that they’re not being heard or their concerns are not taken seriously by their physicians, it can have deleterious effects on whether they’ll follow “doctor’s orders” for a prescribed treatment. In fact, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows some rather alarming statistics1:
- For patients prescribed medications for chronic diseases, after 6 months, the majority take less medication than prescribed or stop the medication altogether
- 20-30% of new prescriptions are never filled at the pharmacy
- Medication is not taken as prescribed 50% of the time
Prescription medication adherence is a significant challenge not only for healthcare providers (HCPs), but for biotech and pharmaceutical (BioPharma) companies. Imagine what would happen if patients felt heard and understood by their HCP! They would be more engaged in their care and more likely to adhere with their treatment and comply with treatment solutions. That’s why I’m so excited to announce V2V’s November 9 webinar: What Can Pharma Do About the Compassion Crisis in Medicine?
This webinar covered ways to help brand marketers, product managers, and other pharma professionals improve patient adherence to treatment and health outcomes by including compassion in their marketing strategy. Our selected a panel of respected opinion leaders, clinicians, and patients explored the growing reality of the compassion crisis in medicine and discussed why it matters.
Patients Share Their Health Journey Challenges
This topic of compassion has touched my family and me personally. One of the panelists is my brother-in-law, Nick Oprish, who persisted against the possible consequences of a lack of compassion in our healthcare system. This created a personal crisis in my family when Nick (a husband and father to three young children) was told that he only had 6 to 12 months to live after being diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer. Nick will share his story during the webinar, along with Johannah Ruddy, M.Ed, who struggled for years with a misdiagnosed gastrointestinal (GI) problem that severely affected her quality of life. She has now dedicated her career to medical education and serves as an IBS Patient Advocate. Both patients’ experiences underscore the critical need for compassion and how—once they received the right care from compassionate physicians—they were able to overcome the odds.
Medical Experts Explain the Impact of Patient-Provider Relationships
Our panel discussion also featured two renowned clinicians who are role models in their delivery of compassionate care to patients with chronic disease and difficult-to-treat conditions. On this front, I was honored to welcome Douglas A. Drossman, MD, president emeritus and CEO of The Rome Foundation, and president, Center for Education and Practice of Biopsychosocial Care. A board certified gastroenterologist, Dr. Drossman is a national authority on GI disorders and physician-patient communication. Joining Dr. Drossman is Mike AbouAssaly, MD, named Family Physician of the Year in the state of Iowa as well as a top 5 finalist for Physician of the Year by the American Association of Family Practitioners. Dr. AbouAssaly built a world-class obesity center in Burlington, IA, where he has practiced compassion to help patients with obesity successfully achieve their weight loss goals.
Panelists Discuss How Pharma Marketers Can Take Meaningful Steps
You’ll hear how these clinicians have positively guided their patients’ diagnosis, treatment, and healing journeys by delivering compassionate care. The panelists shared best practices for how BioPharma companies can include compassion in their brand market development and peer-to-peer education programs.
They discussed ways to execute a compassion-based brand marketing and educational strategy that can help improve patient-provider relationships and increase patient treatment adherence. For example, compassion can be woven into developing content, hosting advisory boards, conducting speaker training, delivering HCP programs, and even involving the sales organization.
Let’s work together to put compassion back into medical care. You play a critical role in solving the compassion crisis. Watch our webinar and learn more about what you can do to help patients lead healthier lives and achieve better outcomes by adhering to their prescribed medical treatments. A dose of compassion goes a long way!
