Executive Director, Norman Scherzer participated in a panel discussion as part of the Executive Vision Forum Series hosted by Quintiles Advisory Services on Friday, November 6 in the Alexandria Center, NYC.

The panel, entitled “Working within a patient-centered environment: Aligning perspectives and systems to deliver value” presented views from the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare and patient advocacy. The panel included Marc Boutin, JD, CEO, National Health Council, Lorraine Marchand, Director of Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program, Columbia Business School, and Norman Scherzer. Norman represented the patient view, sharing the story of the Life Raft Group, and helping the audience, which was heavily attended by pharmaceutical and healthcare industry representatives, to understand several of the key issues involved in creating more patient-centered care.

To quote Norman, “We are on the forefront of a revolution in targeted medicine, where many of the new treatments are oral drugs, versus IV chemotherapy. Compliance will play a major role in evaluating the efficacy of treatments, as it is vital to know whether or not the product is working or if the patient is not taking the medication.”

Another key point made by Scherzer was that the LRG has a model for tracking patient data and the patient perspective. The LRG Patient Registry and Tissue Bank provide a blueprint for patient-centered care, and an ideal environment to recruit patients for clinical trials.

He also suggested that pharmaceutical companies take a lesson from the playbook of other industries and go directly to the consumer for feedback. Traditionally, input from medical professionals has taken precedence over the valuable knowledge the patient can provide.

“The patient perspective doesn’t conflict with the process. It can enhance it,” Scherzer added.

Follow-up meetings to share the LRG model will be forthcoming.