Should Pharma-Doctor Communication Be Also Gender-Specific?

Should Pharma-Doctor Communication Be Also Gender-Specific?

Regardless of situations, while selecting a suitable doctor for patients, or for that matter, pharma companies engage with them for commercial reasons, their gender doesn’t matter much to many.

What one generally looks for is, whether they are General Practitioners (GPs), General Surgeons (GSs) or Specialists in various disease areas, such as cardiac, metabolic, bones and joints, cancer and so on. This has been happening, despite several research studies pointing out a number of important gender-based behavioral differences between most male and female doctors, often leading to a significant difference in patient outcomes.

Before proceeding further, let me admit up front that there may be some exceptions to this general scenario. For example, certain female patients may prefer being examined by the female doctors only. Similarly, a few drug companies may be tailoring the content and the process of their communication based on the target doctors’ age.

In this article, I shall try to focus on this area based on a number of important research findings. The objective being whether medical communications of pharma players should also factor-in the gender-specific nuances among male and female doctors. This is because, such differences impact clinical outcomes and happens irrespective of whether they are GPs or specialists. Let me kick-start the discussion with the following question:

“Does gender matter when choosing a doctor?”

This interesting point was raised in an article, titled “Should You Choose a Female Doctor?”, appeared in ‘The New York Times (NYT)’ on August 14, 2018. Let me put across the essence of it, quoting from some large research findings.…continue reading…

An Interesting demand: No Price Control For OTC Drugs

An Interesting demand: No Price Control For OTC Drugs

Since over a decade, some pharma trade organizations operating in India, have been advocating for a separate regulatory policy for ‘Over The Counter (OTC)’ drugs, which can be legally sold without any medical prescriptions. Such a new policy initiative, if taken by the Indian Government, would call for inclusion of a separate Rule and a Schedule in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.

In the midst of cacophony related to Intellectual Property (IP) related priority of the industry in multiple areas, OTC drug advocacy took a back-seat, temporarily. Some recent developments indicate, it has again been taken out of the trade associations’ archive, well-dusted, rehashed and re-presented. Today’s key driver is likely to be increasingly stringent drug price control measures of the government. An emphatic demand of the pharma trade associations that OTC drugs should be kept outside drug price control measures, vindicates this point.

In this article, I shall deliberate this issue, especially on raising the same old demand – yet again, and my concerns on the demand of free-pricing for essential OTC drugs, in the Indian context.

OTC drugs – no legal status in India:

Currently, OTC drugs have no legal status in India. However, those drugs which don’t feature under ‘prescription only’ medicines are construed as ‘non-prescription’ drugs and sold over the counter at pharma retail outlets.

Neither is there any concept currently existing in India, which is similar to ‘prescription only to OTC drug switch,’ unlike many developed countries, such as UK, EU and United States. Thus, before proceeding further, let me deliberate on the important point – why is ‘prescription only drug’ to ‘OTC drug’ switch. Let me briefly dwell on this issue, quoting from a neutral source – the World Health Organization (W.H.O).

‘The basic purpose of re-designation of a drug as an OTC product is commercial’:  

The Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal – A World Health Organization resource illustrates the point as: After a new drug has been in use as a prescription-only medicine (POM) for an agreed period after licensing – usually five years – and has proved to be safe and effective during that time, regulatory authorities are prepared to consider submissions for re-designating the product where appropriate so that it becomes available for non-prescription “over the counter” (OTC) use.…continue reading…

Why Many Successful CEOs Don’t Want to Retire – in Pharma Too?

Why Many Successful CEOs Don’t Want to Retire – in Pharma Too?

“On Eve of Retirement, Jack Welch Decides to Stick Around GE a Bit,” reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on October 23, 2000. Nevertheless, even the legendary Jack Welsh was made no exception to GE’s mandatory retirement policy for the CEO at 65. After holding the position of Chairman and CEO of GE for 20 years – with stellar performances, Welsh had to retire on September 07, 2001, as he attained that age.

This happened almost immediately after the US$ 45 billion merger with Honeywell. Welsh spearheaded this initiative, intending to create one of the world’s largest industrial companies, with manufacturing operations in plastics, chemicals and aerospace products, at that time. It’s a different matter altogether that later on, the report onThe Anatomy of the GE-Honeywell Disaster narrated a different reality on the consequences of this acquisition.

The key point to ponder – why many successful CEOs don’t want to easily retire, passing on the baton to a younger generation, unless directly or indirectly compelled by the investors or the regulators. In this article, I shall try to explore this point.

Many older CEOs not eager to head into retirement:

While discussing a similar point, an article titled: “For older CEOs, the issue is knowing when to bow out,” published in the USA Today on April 19, 2016, made some interesting observations. It said: “Just as older employees stay in jobs out of desire or necessity, some of those occupying the C-suite aren’t eager to head into retirement.”

According to a survey done by Korn Ferry among Fortune 500 CEOs, over the past decade:

• The number of CEOs with age between 65 and 60 years, nearly doubled to 36.
• Those with age between 70 and 74 increased from 9 to 13.

Korn Ferry also found in another survey that CEOs are the oldest and longest-tenured individuals compared with other prominent C-suite roles.…continue reading…

‘One Indian, One Health Record’: Is EHR A Tentative Intent?

‘One Indian, One Health Record’: Is EHR A Tentative Intent?

The ongoing march of technology, at a scorching pace, transforming our everyday personal – working and social lives. This is palpable. In tandem, it is also making traditional processes of doing successful business less and less productive, over a period of time. The same is more than visible in the healthcare space too. One such field – although not so widely discussed just yet, is maintaining Electronic Health Record (EHR). This is so important for both patients and healthcare providers to ensure significantly better treatment outcomes at a lesser cost, and reducing disease burden of disease too, in that endeavor.

EHR being a systematic, ongoing process of maintaining health records of every individual, help provide prompt, effective and safe health care for all. It helps immensely whenever the person visits a doctor either in private clinics or in any health center for treatment of any disease condition, or even for preventive measures.

Health profession bodies in various countries have articulated what should get included in the health record of individuals. Let me draw an example from one of the BRICS nations. The Health Profession Council of South Africa (HPCSA) defines health records as “any relevant record made by a health care practitioner at the time of, or subsequent to, a consultation and/or examination or the application of health management”. Since, over any person’s lifetime a massive health data gets generated, the current trend is to capture and store such medical data electronically and is, therefore, called ‘Electronic Health Record’ or EHR.

Laudably, India also formally notified its detail intent to make EHR system work in the country. In this article, I shall deliberate on what is the current status of EHR in India, and the key barriers that need to be overcome to make the process gain momentum, in the days ahead.

What EHR can do:

Before zeroing on to India specific initiative on EHR, let me recapitulate what it entails, quoting from a credible global source. According to Health IT- the official website of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, being real-time- patient-centered records, EHRs make health information available instantly, “whenever and wherever it is needed”. As this process brings together in one place everything about a patient’s health, EHRs can:…continue reading…