Independent market analyst Datamonitor’s new report, "Cancer Patient Power," has found that increased access to health information over the Internet and the rising prominence of patient advocacy groups have resulted in a change in attitudes toward healthcare.

Taking Control

According to the report, cancer patients are increasingly taking responsibility for treatment into their own hands and out of those of physicians and pharmaceutical companies.

Historically, patients have had little or no influence over decisions regarding the form of treatment they receive, the structure and quality of the healthcare system within which they are treated, or the way in which drug treatment is regulated, according to Datamonitor officials. However, they noted, access to in-depth treatment information, the advent of personalized treatment profiles and second opinions over the Internet are contributing to a rising level of sophistication in the knowledge of cancer patients.

Datamonitor reported that although physicians remain the gatekeepers to healthcare, patients are increasingly recognized as powerful players in their own right. Patients have the ability to influence not only the commercial performance of an individual brand, but also the speed with which drugs gain approval and, in some cases, their ability to gain reimbursement.

Educated Patients

The report said control over prescribing decisions may not be limited to those patients who are able not only to understand the relevant guidelines, but to convey to physicians their ability to make appropriate treatment choices. As a result, more educated patients are expected to have greater influence over prescribing decisions, as well as access to improved standards of care, than those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds.

Also, according to the report, cultural differences between countries and doctor-to-patient relationships have a critical impact on the power that individual patients are able to exert over healthcare outcomes.

In fact, patients in the United States appear to be more willing to question their physicians and ask for specific drugs to treat their condition than those in Japan, or to a lesser extent, Europe, the report said.

The Foreseeable Future

Pharmaceutical companies can, and increasingly will, seek to recruit individuals directly through the Internet, Datamonitor said. However, officials explained that advocacy groups’ reach and their impact on patient opinion is considerably greater than that of any company-specific Web site. Although working closely with patient groups can be a demanding process requiring a degree of openness about the clinical trial process that few companies are used to, it also can result in faster, more efficient recruitment.

In general, officials added, patient groups are perceived as reliable and trustworthy sources of information. Consequently, they said, their support for a trial can lend it a high level of credibility.

From the patient’s perspective, collaborations with pharmaceutical companies are increasingly seen as a necessary step to getting rapid access to newer, potentially curative therapies, according to Datamonitor.

In fact, officials noted that pharma/patient group collaborations around clinical trials will become an increasingly commonplace feature of the competitive landscape.

Address: Datamonitor, 1 Park Ave., 14th Floor, New York, NY 10016-5802; (212) 686-7400; www.datamonitor.com.

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