The Problem with Patient Centricity

/ Susan Hendrich / Leave a comment

Join me in a conversation with Mark Doyle from The Method, where we discuss the the challenges and opportunities of patent centricity in healthcare.

Is it OK to be patient obsessed? – Supporting pharma to ignite and drive their patient centricity strategies

“

IS IT OK TO BE PATIENT OBSESSED? – SUPPORTING PHARMA TO IGNITE AND DRIVE THEIR PATIENT CENTRICITY STRATEGIES

See the article from The Method website DECEMBER 16, 2021 BY CLAIRE

“WE ALL KNOW THAT PUTTING PATIENTS AT THE HEART OF CARE WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO BETTER OUTCOMES. BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT BECOMING TRULY PATIENT-CENTRIC IS NOT ALWAYS EASY.

THE PROBLEM WITH PATIENT CENTRICITY

Mark Doyle, creator of A Life in a Day, hosted a lively and interactive Zoom webinar with Susan Hendrich, Learning Director for Respiratory, Immunology and Infectious Disease at AstraZeneca, about the problem of patient centricity.

Mark and Susan spoke about the barriers to achieving patient-centric working within the pharma industry. From the danger of sacrificing the patient voice for commercial goals and making it meaningful for each and every person within the sector to the difficulty of measuring patient-centric impact.

As one of our clients, Susan is understandably passionate about putting patients at the centre of everything she does, and shares real insight into what patient centricity means to her and how she approaches it in her work.

A major highlight of the session was Mark’s provocation that the term ‘patient centricity’ may in itself be a barrier to achieving it. He posed the radical question of whether, to achieve real patient centricity, we need to find a new term that inspires and motivates change. Acknowledging that the term is contentious and provocative by design, Mark suggested that perhaps we could achieve the goal of patient centricity if we replace it with ‘patient obsessed’. It certainly led to some interesting and thought-provoking conversation!

WHY WE SHOULD BECOME ‘PATIENT OBSESSED’ INSTEAD OF PATIENT-CENTRIC

During the webinar, Mark presented his concerns about the term ‘patient centricity’. With no universal definition, it can be difficult to associate patient centricity with your own work and risks becoming nothing more than a tick box exercise.

“If everybody was truly obsessed with the patient and helping [the] patient, it has the potential to do what patient centricity says it will do, which is to radically alter the treatments, the clinical trials, the way research is conducted, the way it’s communicated to patients, the way hcps interact with patients. I believe it could radically alter and ultimately improve the lives of patients, which is what patient centricity is supposed to do….I just feel like maybe we need to push it a bit further and reignite the benefit and enthusiasm of it.”Mark Doyle

Susan agreed with the idea of being much more focused on the patient and challenged the audience to look at ways they can push this within their own companies. If a business makes the patient its focus and all activities stems from that, the corporate gains will come.

To unlock the potential of patient centricity the industry must go further. The most successful companies will be those who are able to equally balance patients’ needs with commercial goals and operations, making both a priority.

FALL: Freedom for All to Live and Learn

/ Susan Hendrich / 1 Comment

Simon Sinek talks about the importance of being able to fall.

Thank goodness. Because I fall. I fall a lot.

I fell last week. It was a mistake, but I am responsible for it happening and for the upset that it caused. 

Even though I try my best to be a great leader by lifting others and shining a light on their path so they can succeed, sometimes I end up being an obstacle in their path. It doesn’t feel good to make a mistake or miss a mark or disappoint someone. That’s the first arrow.

But the second arrow is dwelling on that mistake instead of taking accountability, learning from it, dusting yourself off, and moving forward.  Like my mentor once said, “Take the hit, then, bounce.”

Check out this video of Simon sharing his view on “falling.” Simon Sinek on Falling

Did you know that Babe Ruth struck out more than 1300 times? History doesn’t dwell on that fact. History remembers his home runs. And Babe Ruth didn’t dwell on those strikeouts. In fact, his philosophy was that every strikeout brought him closer to his next home run.

The concept of being willing to fall reminds me of the universal celebration that erupts when a staff member drops a glass in a restaurant.

Crash…Hurray!

What happens at a restaurant when a server drops a glass and it shatters on the floor? 

Fellow restaurant staff cheer and clap! Why?  here’s my theory:

  1. Most people are just trying their to do their job to the best of their ability
  2. Everybody makes mistakes
  3. A team is a village that takes care of its own
  4. Take the hit, then bounceWhen we feel safe to FALL—to have the Freedom to Live and Learn without the fear of humiliation or loss of status, the world is a better place.

What would be different if next time you were to celebrate when you FALL?  The moment when something goes awry is a chance for the culture to be tested. Use it as an opportunity to demonstrate grace, invite experimentation, and celebrate the effort it takes to clean up and start again. And remember the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where we can become stronger in the broken places. 

Get a Sponsor – Be a Sponsor

/ Susan Hendrich / 1 Comment

SPONSOR VERSUS MENTOR: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

You might wonder what is the difference between a Mentor and a Sponsor.

MENTOR: A mentor is someone who helps you “in the room” – directly guiding, listening, coaching, and supporting you in your development.

SPONSOR; A sponsor is someone who helps you when you’re not in the room — indirectly championing your reputation, opportunities, and directly saying your name in the right moments to the right people.

So, you want a “Sponsor” to help you succeed in your career?

First, choose someone that you would like to speak on your behalf when you’re not in the room. Then, be courageous to ask them directly to be a sponsor!

Here are three things to request from your Sponsor:

  1. SAY MY NAME: “I would love for you to say my name when you see opportunities to highlight my value in your interactions with others.”
  2. TICKET TO THE GAME: “Would you be willing to bring me to your _____ meeting so I can see how you lead?”
  3. SHARE YOUR FAME: “May I ask you to lend your credibility/relationship with ______ to help me make a connection with him/her?”

Learning: A Strategic Advantage

/ Susan Hendrich / 2 Comments

Learn Your Way to the Top.

two man and two woman standing on green grass field

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Are you looking for a secret sauce to give your organization an advantage in a dynamic marketplace? Look to learning.

The concept of transforming businesses by building a true learning culture is not new. But what is new is the wave of recent examples where companies like  Box, Vanguard, and Getty Images are maximizing productivity and innovation through training by fostering a digital lifelong learning and training ecosystem.

How do great companies drive business growth through learning?

Look out

Study the habits of successful leaders and what the companies they run are doing. You’ll see a theme in their focus on dedicating time and energy to learning as an integral part of doing business, In these spaces, training is not just a compliance-driven, LMS box-checking bolt-on that requires “time out” from work. Learning is a seamless, integrated function that not only supports the business, it IS the business.

For example, Getty Images uses “WeLearn Wednesdays” where their Chief HR Officer shares what he is learning every Wednesday by posting a photo of himself learning at his stand-up desk. He then urges everyone to enroll and spend an hour taking a course and share what they’ve learned.

Lead in

There is magic in the idea of enlisting “internal faculty” to help make innovation a part of how business is done every day. Taking time out to foster learning circles – small, cross-functional groups of business leaders who assemble to learn, grow and problem-solve together – pays for itself in multiple ways: better ideas, better engagement, better solutions.

A learning culture creates a strategic advantage that serves as a force multiplier.

According to ‘Creating a Culture of Innovation’ by ‘entrepreneur.com,’ and ‘Six Ways Leaders can Build a Culture of Innovation’ by ‘talent culture,’ two leading voices for 21st century innovation, creating an innovative culture requires a workplace that allows for the following five conditions:

  1. Dedicating time for creative projects
  2. Rewarding innovation and divergent ideas
  3. Empowering employees to make decisions
  4. Allowing for failure
  5. Measuring what matters most

I would argue that each of these five conditions can be enhanced with a focus on learning —- allowing and encouraging your team to explore and grow through learning.

Want to transform your organization through Learning?

Check out this compelling “open letter to business leaders,” written by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmonson and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative VP of Learning Bror Saxberg. They create a compelling case to make learning a corporate priority:

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/putting-lifelong-learning-on-the-ceo-agenda