Small Talk

September 21, 2011 »

Maybe it’s Time to be Good Guys

It’s bizarre to think of the pharma industry as un-human, but to me that was the theme of my trip to Philadelphia for the Social Health and e-Patient Connections conferences this week.

It was a really fascinating couple of days for me, and I enjoyed it immensely.  People discussed the FDA and how they prevent marketers from doing what they want, but as Seth Godin put it, “The FDA never said you can’t be human.”  How true, how true.

I heard other things such as:

• “We need to humanize healthcare”
• “The FDA is a scapegoat for lazy marketing”
• “A patient with knowledge is an empowered patient”

So how exactly do we humanize it? The system is made by humans, so where is the disconnect? After years and years of operating in a way that separates the doctor and the patient, is there a way to connect the dots?

What about the FDA? The so-called villains of the pharmaceutical industry have been dragging their feet in developing and providing guidelines for the industry but I think the bigger question is what if they do? Do we want open vague guidelines that allow us to innovate and develop programs that market to humans, or would it be best to see strict guidelines that tell us exactly what we can and cannot do?

What I now need to do is to take the ideas and conversations from the last two days and turn them into action. Let’s rethink the way we do things for the better, forget the IA and user experience, and let’s develop guidelines for the patient experience. We are all guilty, we can’t blame the FDA – they are no longer an excuse. Instead, let’s build tools and content that provide value with the patient always top of mind.
 
After all, aren’t we all patients?

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