It is now nearly one year since the PMCPA released Digital Guidelines to go alongside the ABPI Code of Practice. Despite much commentary and repeated requests by many in the pharmaceutical industry it is only the PMCPA in the UK and LIF, the trade association for the research-based pharmaceutical industry in Sweden, that have issued such guidance. It is now over 2 years since the FDA held hearings but have only in December 2011 issued draft guidelines limited to how to respond to unsolicited requests for information about off-label use.
So in the absence of new rules, and even those from the PMCPA do not claim to cover every possible permutation of digital activities, how do pharmaceutical companies and agencies navigate the myriad of possible digital channels to decide which ones are appropriate for their strategy, where they can get the necessary expertise and how do they quickly and compliantly launch these activities.
Often there are not only differences between companies in what they are prepared to do online, with leaders such as GSK, Pfizer, Janssen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche in our opinion opening up a gap from other companies but even within companies with some brands and departments willing and able to innovate in the online space whereas others obstruct or delay often without knowledge of what is permissible and appropriate.
Often one of the main obstacles is the lack of knowledge. Both from a technology point of view; how do I buy ad words (if Google will let you that is), what is a hashtag, an API, what does W3C mean, to non-Code of Practice legal requirements e.g. Data Protection Act, Electronic Communications Directive, the new Cookies law the Equality Act etc
Then there is the lusting after new technologies; we must equip our sales forces with iPads, or the perceived need to be on new platforms; we must have a Facebook page or be on Google+ without really thinking about how these are aligned with strategy and how the organisation will support and run these for the long term.
Still amazingly we hear references to “new media” (despite the internet being more than 22 years old) or to “digital” as a stand-alone channel rather than one channel amongst and integrated with all the other communications and marketing channels.
The customer, the patient, the public, the healthcare professional are at the centre of a multi-channel world in control of what they view or listen to, how, when and via which device, often using many at the same time.
Pharmaceutical Ethics and Bluelight, in collaboration with the PMCPA, have therefore designed a one day digital communication strategy training course on behalf of the HCA specifically for healthcare communication professionals .
This workshop is designed to help participants understand the latest digital channels, Code of Practice and legal rules and in the absence of specific guidelines, equip staff with an ethical framework for decision making. Facilitators will include:
• Representative from PMCPA
• Paul Dixey and Sam Walmsley (Directors of Bluelight digital strategy specialists)
• Nick Broughton and Siân Walker (Directors of Pharmaceuticalethics.com)
Click here to view the agenda
This one-day training course on January 26th 2012 has both plenary and workshop elements – the workshops will be based around a case study of the life-cycle of a hypothetical product and designed to engender creative use of digital channels and test problem solving skills.