Patient communication ‘key challenge for healthcare marketing’

Pharmaceutical companies are experiencing a number of challenges in communicating clearly with patients through their marketing activities.

This is the conclusion of a new report from Cutting Edge Information, which has suggested that effective patient communication has become a global challenge, with Europe and Canada seen as particularly tricky markets.

A mismatch of perspectives between companies and end users is at the core of these difficulties, as manufacturers focus on medical issues such as diagnoses, while patients tend to be more concerned with the immediate impact of a treatment.

According to the recommendations of the study, patient-centric thinking needs to be embraced as a core strategy in order to improve communications with end users.

Michelle Vitko, senior research analyst at Cutting Edge Information, said: "Traditionally, patient outreach has depended upon the assumption that consumers can comprehend what the industry and healthcare professionals are saying to them. Unfortunately, this is not always the case."

Earlier this month, a report from PMLiVE noted that many healthcare firms are lagging behind other industries in their efforts to optimise websites for mobile devices, creating further consumer communication challenges.