The forum for the industry executive Volume 13 • Number 4 Publisher Lisa Banket Editor Taren Grom Creative Director Marah Walsh Managing EDitor Denise Myshko Senior EDitor Robin Robinson features EDitor Kim Ribbink design associate Ariel Medel national account managerS Trish Kane Cathy Tracy WEBCAST?NETWORK?PRODUCER Daniel Limbach CIRCULATION Assistant Kathy Deiuliis Copyright 2013 by PharmaLinx LLC, Titusville, NJ Printed in the U.S.A. Volume Thirteen, Number Four PharmaVoice (ISSN: 1932961X) is published monthly except joint issues in July/Aug. and Nov./Dec., by PharmaLinx LLC, P.O.?Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560. Periodicals postage paid at Titusville, NJ 08560 and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to PharmaVoice, P.O. Box 292345, Kettering, OH 45429-0345. PharmaVoice Coverage and Distribution: Domestic subscriptions are available at $190 for one year (10 issues). Foreign subscriptions: 10 issues US$360. Contact PharmaVoice at P.O.?Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560. Call us at 609.730.0196 or FAX your order to 609.730.0197. Contributions: PharmaVoice is not responsible for unsolicited contributions of any type. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, PharmaVoice retains all rights on material published in PharmaVoice for a period of six months after publication and reprint rights after that period expires. E-mail: [email protected]. Change of address: Please allow six weeks for a change of address. Send your new address along with your subscription label to PharmaVoice, P.O. Box 292345, Kettering, OH 45429-0345. Call us at 800.607.4410 or FAX your change to 937.890.0221. E-mail: [email protected]. Important notice: The post office will not forward copies of this magazine. PharmaVoice is not responsible for replacing undelivered copies due to lack of or late notification of address change. Advertising in PharmaVoice: To advertise in PharmaVoice please contact our Advertising Department at P.O.?Box 327, Titusville, NJ 08560, or telephone us at 609.730.0196. E-mail: [email protected]. Super Consumers = Super Patients Empowered patients are shaping the way healthcare — and healthcare information — is delivered and pharma companies can no longer stand idly by. The world has changed. While it may seem as though change has happened at warp speed, there has been a gradual, but steady, increase in the number of patients who are taking the reins of their own healthcare education as they search for information that equips them to make better decisions toward improved healthcare outcomes, as Robin Robinson reports in this month’s Forum: Empowered Patients. Today’s super patients are plugged in. They are advocates. They are early adopters. And they have buying power. However, there are still companies that are hesitant to embrace the growing consumerism of healthcare, which extends far beyond pills and tablets. The super patient is interested in a holistic approach to improving their own health and living a healthier lifestyle. Life-sciences companies that want to be part of the super patient’s healthcare team need to expand their role and provide valuable information and services that enable better health outcomes all along a patient’s journey. Pharma companies can no longer ignore that the majority of patients are connected to information both before and while “in market." According to Mike Solomon of The Search Agents, an online marketing intelligence company, while companies are still great at creating demand and stimulating a desire for products, they fail to realize that the story does not end there; the journey continues into the digital world. He says if companies don’t match their offline presence with a properly executed and fully funded digital one, then they will not capture demand. Empowered patients are logging on to online data sources in ever-increasing numbers. According to a recent Pew Internet Project research report related to health and healthcare, 81% of U.S. adults use the Internet and 72% of Internet users say they looked online for health information within the past year. Furthermore, 77% of online health seekers say they began their last session at a search engine such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Another 13% say they began at a site that specializes in health information, such as WebMD. Just 2% say they started their research at a more general site like Wikipedia and an additional 1% say they started at a social network site like Facebook. There is a huge opportunity here for pharmaceutical companies and their partners to provide the right tools and information to this data-hungry group of consumers and patients. Any online strategy today must include mobile. Pew reports that 31% of cell phone owners and 52% of smartphone owners have used their phone to look up health or medical information. These numbers are only expected to increase. See Denise Myshko’s article this month — Evolving Regulations in mHealth — to read more about how pharma is addressing various challenges. Technology and readily available data via the Internet are changing people’s relationships with health information and with each other. Send your letters to feedback@pharmavoice.com. Please include your name, title, company, and business phone number. Letters chosen for publication may be edited for length and clarity. All submissions become the property of PharmaLinx LLC. Denise Myshko Managing Editor Addressing counterfeit drugs is complex and requires global cooperation between companies, regulators, and law enforcement. Robin Robinson Senior Editor The industry has begun to cater to the super consumer through patient tools and services that meet their demand for information and control over their health. Kim Ribbink Features Editor Singapore provides a supportive, innovative, and highly developed environment for companies to conduct research and manufacture their products. Their Word… Coming in May 2013 > Radical Collaboration > Choosing the Right Social Media Strategy > New Salesforce Technologies > An Update on the FDA’s 2010 Initiative > Bioinformatics > The HBA’s 2013 Rising Stars > C-Suite: Advertising Agencies > Tips &?Techniques — Blogs > Market Focus — South Africa > Showcase Feature — Training
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