It’s been nearly 10 years since I made the move from charity sector communications to pharma comms. It wasn’t long before it became clear to me just how different these sectors were as places to work, but also how working together they could achieve so much more for patients.
My experience working with pharma until that point had been variable. I’d been part of great partnerships where it was clear how insights from real patients had shaped an industry campaign. But I’d also experienced some not-so-great attempts at partnerships where commercial interests were clear but little consideration was given to the charity’s priorities and areas of expertise.
It is that frustration with this variability that inspired us at OVID Health to set up the Patient Partnership Index with PharmaTimes. The Index shares best practice in patient partnerships and focusses on how things are done, and the impact made, making this information freely available to companies and charities to inspire their next joint projects.
I’m pleased to say that things have come a long way over the past decade. So much so that patient centricity, and phrases like “putting the patient first” are commonplace and almost cliché in pharma. But the fact that so many companies now consider patient advocacy and have the patient voice represented at senior levels shows that it is being taken seriously.
It’s a real pleasure being part of the Patient Partnership Index team. The Index gives companies a chance to showcase their best examples of working with patient organisations. Projects are assessed against six key themes of company-wide engagement with the patient partnership, co-creation at all stages of the project, transparency, empowerment, innovation, and measurement of the impact on patients. Each submission that demonstrates these themes shows just how much patient partnerships have moved on.
We see so many great examples of equal and respectful partnerships, and where considerate relationships lead to projects that make a real impact on patients.
There’s just over a month left to submit your entry for 2022, so join us in setting the standards for patient partnerships by clicking here.