The SPA Awards cosponsored by CBI and PharmaVOICE were presented at the 6th Annual Forum on Patient Compliance, Adherence and Persistency. 6th annual Forum on patient compliance, adherence and persistency Informative presentations, executive thought leadership, and a prestigious awards ceremony provided highlights for the two-day event. The Strategic Patient Adherence (SPA) Awards, which were cosponsored by CBI and PharmaVOICE, were presented at a gala dinner hosted by PharmaCentra as part of the 6th Annual Forum on Patient Compliance, Adherence and Persistency. The awards, which provide a great platform to pay tribute to outstanding programs in the areas of compliance adherence and persistency, were presented for two categories: Best Integrated Program and Best Branded Program. n Best Integrated Program — AstraZeneca’s Bipolar Adherence Program for Seroquel, which was produced by the Cadient Group. n Best Branded Program — Amgen and Walgreens received the award for their Persistency Program for Sensipar. The submissions were deemed exceptional by an esteemed group of judges, including Dorothy L. Smith, Pharm.D., President and CEO, Consumer Health Information; John Heilman, Senior Commercial Analytics Manager, AstraZeneca; DeWayne Manning, Senior VP, Chronic Disease Management Group Inc.; Grant Corbett, Founder, Behavior Change Solutions; Robert Nauman, Principal, BioPharma Advisors; and Jack Barrette, CEO, Moving Health (formerly of Yahoo). The pharmaceutical industry continues to face major obstacles in attaining patient persistency and compliance. The related cost is $100 billion, according to PharmaCentra, which also indicates that healthcare management is shifting to more effective delivery models to better manage the problems. During CBI’s two-day conference, thought leaders addressed the topic from many different avenues and provided their insights on ways that key stakeholders can improve compliance, such as designing an efficient total healthcare management program, examining the employer’s role in influencing compliance and adherence, leveraging physician relationships, and making the patients and physicians aware of support programs that are available in particular therapy areas. In his presentation, “It Won’t Help If They Don’t Know About It — Awareness and Utilization Among Patients and Physicians,” John Heilman, senior commercial analytics manager, AstraZeneca, shared survey results that shed light on patients’ and physicians’ attitudes and how to create awareness around available support programs, which will in turn assist with adherence. In addition, providers of adherence and compliance solutions and tools had a chance to showcase their services to attendees in a networking area designated for exhibits. Punctuating the information-packed two days was a celebratory dinner, sponsored by PharmaCentra, to recognize the second annual Strategic Patient Adherence (SPA) awards, which showcases exceptional programs in the areas of integrated compliance and adherence programs and branded adherence programs. “The SPA awards were a success and the winners proved the value, validity, and importance of patient compliance, adherence, and persistency programs,” says Jackie Harrington, team leader, marketing and medical affairs, The Center for Business Intelligence. If you are interested in submitting nominees for the 2008 Awards, e-mail [email protected]. Accepting the award for best Branded Program from PharmaVOICE’s Marah Walsh, Cofounder, New Business Development (center) was Glenn Garry, Senior Marketing Manager, Amgen (left), and Dea Chang, Pharm.D., Walgreens Specialty Pharmacist Lead, UF Clinical Assistant Professor. Accepting the award for Best Integrated Program for AstraZeneca’s Bipolar Adherence campaign for Seroquel were producers Mickey Lynch, Account Director, and Bob Holloway, VP, Marketing Strategy, both from the Cadient Group. Barbara VanCaeseele Amberg, Director, Business Development, The Center for Business Intelligence, kicks off the evening’s award presentation. PharmaCentra receives special recognition from CBI for its outstanding support of the 2007 SPA Awards. Members from the Pleio contingency take a moment, while networking in the exhibition hall, to pose for a photo. More than a dozen exhibitors filled the ballroom at the annual conference held in Philadelphia. June 2007
