PR's role in driving competitive advantage in healthcare

Public relations is uniquely positioned to help marketers navigate the challenges of the healthcare sector and to create a competitive advantage. But the healthcare PR function is currently under-used, under-represented in the marketing mix and under-appreciated.

However, the forces influencing the healthcare market are creating an environment that is crying out for strategic PR programmes. Clients willing to prioritise PR in their marketing stand to gain a significant competitive advantage.

Looking at the evolving healthcare market, it is clear that a move away from the focus on doctor-only marketing campaigns has to happen. Its also apparent that PR is the discipline that is best placed to engage the changing audiences, utilise the new communication vehicles and drive the behavioural change that the healthcare sector is invariably looking for.

Historically, doctors have held the power over people's health and treatment. They have been revered members of society, never questioned and their word has been final. This has changed, and even in culturally reticent countries, patients armed with new information are starting to ask questions.

Meanwhile, Governments, struggling to manage growing health epidemics and burgeoning budgets, are also beginning to influence treatment choices and direct spending.

As a result, three different and distinct audiences have to be integrated into the marketing plans to achieve success. When one of those audiences is the Government and one is the consumer, both of which pharmaceutical companies can not directly communicate with, it is time to look at a different marketing line-up.

Consumer communication is, without a doubt, an area where PR-professionals can add significant value for healthcare companies. There is now a fusion of lifescience with lifestyle and consumers are increasingly seeking healthcare information from the internet, the media and their friends.

A recent survey by Synovate in Hong Kong revealed that only 39 per cent of people get their health information from a Doctor, while some 29 per cent get health information from chat sites and other people (18 per cent). Given the restrictions on direct-to-consumer promotion, strategically integrated and responsible PR programmes are really the best opportunity that marketers have to try to influence the consumer environment.

By definition, PR uses third-party influence to drive awareness and behavioural change, which means that its a valuable tool for an industry that in many cases cannot reach out directly to its consumers. Where these consumer obtain their information provides a key insight into the range of activities that can be incorporated into a PR plan.

Yes, traditional media is, and will always be, the backbone of any good PR campaign, but there are so many other ways to drive influence. The growing numbers of patient organisations in the region provide excellent opportunities for building strategically important alliances that can shape a market.

The increasing reliance on social media for information and advice raises both challenges and opportunities. Working in the social media space is not straightforward because rules and regulations have not progressed quickly enough to include this phenomenon, but there are activities that can be carried out to leverage the opportunity within both the spirit and the law of ethical codes of conduct.

Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, chat rooms and YouTube are all being used by healthcare companies with varying levels of success to communicate with consumers. The potential power of applications to support behavioural change and compliance is still really just getting started.

While consumers are changing the face-to-face discussions that are taking place in a doctor's surgery or pharmacy store, Governments are managing the big picture. Countries are preparing to balance the challenges of aging populations and non-communicable disease epidemics with treatment access and budgets.

The challenges that Governments are facing are very real and many different strategies are being employed but what it can mean in practical terms is that Governments are shaping how doctors can and should treat patients. This trend is impacting the entire healthcare sector, and particularly the pharmaceutical sector seeking to introduce new products to the market.

Public and Government affairs have to play a central role in bringing products to market. Indeed. market access and reimbursement initiatives that influence Governments are some of the most impactful activities a PR agency can undertake.

Against this backdrop, PR will come of age in the short, medium and long-term as companies embrace the discipline and begin to prioritize its inclusion in the marketing mix. The days when we were just called in to organise a press conference will become a distant memory as the companies leading the way with annual programmes and strategic plans are noticed and copied.

This article was originally published in the 26 August 2010 supplement PR Communicated.