Mash Health’s inaugural round table event

On the evening of the day when thousands of our public servants were striking in response to the Government’s proposed changes to public sector pensions, some of the UK’s leading healthcare experts were discussing some equally controversial issues at Mash Health’s inaugural round table event.

Held at the Royal Society of Medicine, attendees spanning both the private and public sector discussed topics, such as how the current  £20 billion healthcare shortfall can be managed; how  truly to integrate patients into outcomes evaluation and how the Government will determine  the value of a drug, while also endeavouring to create fairness within the provisioning system. With a wide-ranging agenda and an illuminating series of talks from our expert panel, delegates left feeling enlightened and inspired.

Posing the critical question “Who is actually in charge in healthcare?,” Simon Gentry, Managing Director, Campbell Gentry, outlined the complexity of the multiple levels of stakeholders in  UK healthcare at the moment. In broad terms, the big influencers are: ministers, MPs, the media and patient groups. For healthcare to move forward, Simon advised, there is a need to not only engage with these stakeholders but to change current healthcare thinking: focus on solutions and not problems and move from the emphasis on stability to one of positive change.

Dr David Colin Thomé, former National Clinical Director for Primary Care, took up the baton by outlining a vision for NHS commissioning where it truly acts as the “people’s organisation” – ensuring quality of provision and a completely new relationship with providers of care.

Omar Ali, Formulary Development Pharmacist Surrey & Sussex NHS Trust & ERG Panel Member - Cost Impact Modelling for NICE followed with a fascinating and provocative presentation on value-based prescribing. He demystified a complex and nuanced concept and described how NICE will become, in effect, Which? magazine for drugs. In this new world, NICE, rather than saying yes or no to each drug, will have to say yes to all drugs, but stipulate the value of each drug (based on data and Quality Adjusted Life Years) and the price point at which a “yes” for Government funding becomes a “no”.

The consequence of this move will not mean a lowering of drug prices however, it will simply determine the value price the Government is prepared to pay. This price will not be immutable – it will change as and when new data emerge. “There will never be agreement between the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry on the value of a drug because each calculates it differently,” Omar asserted.

Renata Drinkwater, Chief Executive, Expert Patients Programme Community Interest Company (EPPCIC) concluded the series of presentations by outlining EPPCIC’s vision for a truly patient-centred NHS, where patient feedback is rigorously quantified and used to contribute to outcomes evaluation and not just seen as a “tick-box exercise”. One of the key challenges going forward will be convincing commissioners of the value of self-management programmes.

Lively debate and discussions followed, primarily focusing on the struggle of meeting cost-saving targets and the pressing challenges of patient engagement and compliance. It’s clear that the fluctuating nature of the NHS raises some interesting challenges for healthcare professionals and authorities as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing. What is also clear is that it’s time to embrace these changes and recognise the opportunities to change the NHS to be a truly patient-focused organisation.

Our full report on the event will be available from early August, so look out for updates on our website.

Louisa Bassant

Simple and effective patient information is key to the success of any therapy

As we move into an era where, by 2034, 23 per cent of the population is projected to be aged 65 and over compared to 18 per cent aged under 16,¹ more and more people will be living with musculoskeletal diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA).   

Developments in treatment for both OA and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) were showcased at the end of May at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology organised by EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism).

The exhibition and packed scientific programme clearly demonstrated significant advances in the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases. We have come a long way in the last 100 years.  Take RA for example; 100 years ago patients would be facing the prospect of electric convulsion treatment, whereas today there is a variety of options available, with the most advanced being the cutting edge anti-TNF therapy that is changing the lives of RA sufferers.  Increasing advances are also being made in the management of OA, thanks to the ever-evolving use of hyaluronic acid to replace lost synovial fluid in OA-affected joints.

So, as our population ages, can we confidently say that patients and medical professionals now regard common conditions like OA as ones that are being effectively treated and managed with innovative therapies?  The answer is not as straightforward as you may think, despite musculoskeletal problems estimated to cost European healthcare systems around 200 billion Euros per year.  Effective treatment is only half of the story – as a paper published in this month’s Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases demonstrates.²  It sets out recent efforts to translate the international recommendations for treating RA into patient-friendly language. ²

This is a great step forwards and absolutely necessary if physicians are to achieve the best possible outcomes from any prescribed therapy, not just in relation to rheumatology.  The therapy being prescribed may be the most advanced available, but if the patient is not fully engaged and does not entirely understand the potential benefits that can be achieved by adhering to treatment, then the likelihood of failure is greatly increased.  Here at Mash we have seen time and time again the negative impact of overly technical and complicated patient information compared with the positive impact of clear, simple, well illustrated patient literature that can aid treatment adherence. 

Congratulations to the international Steering Group of rheumatologists and patients who have drawn up this set of patient friendly recommendations. 

1. Office for National Statistics National Population Projections

2. de Wit MPT, Smolen JS, Gossec L, et al. Treating rheumatoid arthritis to target: the patient version of the international recommendations. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. June 2011; 70(6): 891-95.

Victoria Harvey, Mash Health.

Three messages and close simply doesn’t cut it any more

The number of pharmaceutical sales reps in the U.S. has declined by 25% in the past five years and a similar trend can be seen across the world. This means sales force effectiveness is a hot topic – how can today’s reps add true value to physicians and their patients?

In May, Team Mash headed to New Brunswick, NJ to attend the Annual US Sales Force Effectiveness (SFE) Conference to find out what leaders in the industry think. 

While it is fair to say that physicians still value sales reps, the traditional sales model of delivering ‘three messages and close’ simply doesn’t work anymore. In order to succeed in today’s selling environment, sales (and marketing) teams must have the capability to develop true, long-lasting partnerships with their customers. So, how does pharma do that?

What came across loud and clear at the conference was that the answer lies in something Mash is hugely passionate about – customer insights! 

It may sound obvious, but pharma needs to back up and re-examine their target audience(s) to really understand what happens in their world. What do they care about? What are their concerns? How can we help them achieve their value proposition? 

A number of models and success stories were presented – ranging from solutions selling to insight selling, but they all had customer-centricity in common.

There’s a quote from Zappo’s Tony Hseih that almost nails it – he says: “Customer service is the new marketing”. It’s pretty close, but I actually think it goes beyond that. What we should be advocating is: “Customer service is the new sales and marketing”. One can’t exist without the other to help them along the way.

Many other exciting subjects were discussed at the SFE conference, ranging from the use of Ipads (do they add value or do busy doctors avoid reps with an Ipad? ) to closed loop marketing. If you would like to see a copy of the Mash Executive Summary of the best bits, please contact gemma@mashhealth.com for more info.

Gemma Mayman