The industry knows that today’s discerning health patrons are always right
In the late 19th century, Marshall Field had the disruptive notion that retailers should actually care if their customers walked away happy.
Field, who was born into humble circumstances on a farm in Massachusetts, headed to Chicago as a teenager, on a mission to build his fortune. When later presented with the opportunity to own a wholesale dry goods store, he took it, but Field always had an eye for retail. He soon opened a retail store, which quickly evolved into an upscale department store known as Marshall Field & Company.
Now a staple of Chicago history (despite eventually being bought out by Macy’s), Field’s department stores set new standards in customer service guided by their founder’s now-famously quoted motto, “The customer is always right.” (The slightly less eloquent, “Give the lady what she wants” is also attributed to Field.) An outlier during his time, Field prioritized customer satisfaction, knowing that happy customers were return customers.
It took awhile for the idea of customer-centricity to find its way into the pharmaceutical industry. For good reason, the industry traditionally worried itself with safety, efficacy and compliance — with patients being somewhat of an afterthought. Patient-centered care was coined as a concept in the 1950s by U.S. psychologist Carl Rogers. Later, during the HIV crisis in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the strong patient advocacy movement added even greater visibility into patient considerations in health care.
Today’s pharma manufacturers know that medication non-adherence is a critical barrier to effective treatment. Not only does this lead to poor health outcomes, but it’s also bad for business. In situations where product use is intended to be ongoing, such as with chronic illness or vitamins, unhappy patients tend to not be repeat patients.
In a post-COVID era where patients are taking more active roles in their own health, drugmakers and nutraceutical manufacturers are offering customized options that cater to specific patient needs. Those needs can span from trouble swallowing to high pill burdens to vegetarian diets.
As you will read throughout this issue, advancements in manufacturing techniques and tablet design technology are enabling the pharma and nutra industries to revitalize time-tested dosage forms. By using these new tools to embrace today’s patient-focused reality, smart manufacturers are checking patient happiness off their lists.
Karen Langhauser Editor-in-Chief