Latest WE research : Does corporate reputation influence healthcare professionals to prescribe a therapy?

 19th April 2023    Podcasts 
 Paarul Chand

During the pandemic, pharmaceuticals and biotech firms were the heroes and trust in them skyrocketed. Post the pandemic peak, these firms are now asking themselves how to maintain and in some cases bring back the previous glow around healthcare organisations.

To answer this question, WE Communications n partnership with Sapio Research, surveyed more than 1,000 healthcare professionals in six countries — Australia, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States — to determine which factors influence healthcare professionals perceptions of biotech and pharmaceutical corporate brands and how this perception impacts the products they recommend or prescribe.

Gemma Hudson, executive VP-international health-WE who piloted the study said, “Healthcare professionals expect pharma to not only say they are ‘patient-centric’ but PROVE it too. This is just one area we explored with our new global Brands In Motion: Healthy Reputation study."

The findings clearly indicate that "Outside a medication’s functional characteristics such as efficacy and safety profile, corporate reputation is the No. 1 factor that influences an HCP’s decision to prescribe or recommend therapy. On a scale  of 1 to 10, with 10 being ."the most important, corporate reputation ranked at nearly 9 by Indian HCPs."

In order to share the findings of the report PRmoment and Avian WE conducted a webinar in March 2023. Take a look as Brian Keenan, EVP, APAC Strategy-WE as he walks us through the main findings.

The presentation above touched open the following:

• Outside a medication’s functional characteristics such as efficacy and safety profile, corporate reputation is the No. 1 factor that influences an HCP’s decision to prescribe or recommend therapy. 
• Close to two-thirds of Indian HCPs are reluctant to prescribe or recommend a medication from a biotech/pharmaceutical company that has a legal issue in the past unrelated to the therapy area.
• Eighty-four per cent of Indian healthcare professionals say that biotech and pharmaceutical companies should add value to society beyond providing their goods and services “to a large extent.”
• Nine out of 10 Indian HCPs say biotech and pharmaceutical companies should support improving patient health outcomes in ways beyond high-quality drug therapies.
• Patient centricity is the No. 1 characteristic that Indian HCPs want brands to embody, 72% believe biotech and pharmaceutical companies are delivering this to a “great” or a “large” extent. (Being innovative and progressive ranked second and third.)

To download the full white paper that includes recommendations for better engagement with healthcare professionals click here.

Panel Discussion: The pharma and healthcare professionals' view on reputation and preference for therapies 

In the second part of the webinar Dr Usha Iyer, director-communications, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Dr John Victor, founder of Reevin Mental Health and Dr Ratna Devi, founder and CEO of DakshamA Health & Education discussed the finding of the report and shared their own insights about healthcare professionals and what drives their preference towards therapies.

The following points were outlined during the panel discussion:

1) 1.24: How does patient education matter?

2) 3.19: What do patients mean when they say “We want companies to be more patient-centric"?

3) 12: 13: Understanding patient profiles and real-world evidence before planning communication.

4) 18: 28: Trust between doctors and the clients eroding.

5) 16: 50: How do patients look at pharma firms and medication?

6) 21: 38: What are the challenges in patient advocacy in India? Companies have a bigger responsibility in building an ecosystem.

7) 28: 42: How do you deal with the problem of wellness influencers? Examples from the Australia and China approach.