Presentation Abstract

The coveted manufacturer-patient relationship is becoming critically important as the healthcare environment evolves. Going forward, achieving therapeutic benefits will require communicating to both physicians as well as patients. By the very nature of their offerings, medical device companies have intimate relationships with both of these constituencies. While physicians are part of the equation, patients play an equal – if not a more powerful – role in the successful outcome of treatment choices.

With 50% of pharmaceutical manufacturers anticipated to increase their knowledge of patients, and expand communication efforts toward this stakeholder group over the next two years, there is much to be learned from the experience of medical device manufacturers.

Medical device manufacturers have implemented many research techniques to fully understand the dynamic interactions between patients and physicians, and achieve business goals. While more traditional approaches contribute information, the greatest leaps of knowledge derive from integrating the patient perspective with that of physician-provided patient audit data.

By understanding how both constituencies (physicians and patients) approach therapeutic decision making, we can better appreciate the following: 

• How non-clinical factors meld with clinical features to influence physician selection between therapeutic options 
• How underlying patient motivations affect therapy choices
• How patient compliance and quality-of-life factors influence the success of therapy choices

This session will address the challenge of understanding key stakeholders needs and decision-making processes as well as how this information can be used to develop closer relationships. Through case-studies across multiple disease states, we will illustrate the evolution of relationship building with stakeholders. 

Speaker Biographies

As a Senior Market Research Manager for Medtronic Neuromodulation, Joel Arp leads market research function for research and technology, marketing and business development. The majority of his 15 year research career has been spent in healthcare with a focus on the voice of the patient, from leading service excellence initiatives for large healthcare delivery systems to generating deep understanding of patients for development of cutting edge brain stimulation therapies. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Wheaton College.

Jill Glathar works with clients to solve their complex challenges, thereby propelling growth and profitability. Her experience, ranging from healthcare to engineering to business services, is valued in strategic market planning initiatives. Her areas of expertise include market valuation, target audience identification, development of ‘go-to-market’ strategies based on capitalizing on latent demand and applied pricing analyses. Her strong experience in economic modeling and adept use of advanced statistical methods is highly noted by clients as a valuable resource.