At last weeks Eyeforpharma European Marketing Strategy meeting the key message was that the current sales and marketing model is dead, so where next for pharma? The challenge that we now have is that prescribers are no longer influenced by the traditional cascade model and whilst payers have held the prescribing purse for a long time, they are not the only group influencing prescribers. Prescribers have access to much more information from on-line sources and social and professional networks. They are also influenced by clinical leads who are looking for improved patient outcomes, patients feedback. In many cases a pharm company may need to talk to 10 different people to support a prescribing decision.
I recently had a conversation about Bloggers with a number of product managers. Whilst they had some concerns about patient Bloggers, most seemed oblivious to healthcare professionals developing Blogs and the potential influence they may have.
How many times have you heard someone tell you that the NHS is in turmoil? Lack of investment, not enough doctors, MSRA and insufficient funding for new treatments, are all things we hear on a daily basis. But there is one area where the NHS has achieved success. Over the years it has successfully managed to eradicate the influence of clinician led prescribing decisions. Clinicians still decide if a drug is suitable for a particular patient but whether that patient, ever gets the particular choice of drug is now made by a completely different set of influencers.