The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) hosted a webinar on 21 August 2024, which delved into the importance of research in healthcare marketing. 

Titled, ‘Popping the insights pill - how does marketing and research work in the healthcare sector?’ the session was moderated by Sunder Muthuraman, executive vice president, IPSOS MMA.

The speakers at the seminar included Amitabh Mishra, head - insights and analytics, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories; Dr. Sanjoy Mitra, founder and managing director, SMSRC; Praful Akali, founder and managing director, Medulla Communications; and Gauri Pathak, country service line leader, healthcare, IPSOS.

Mitra opened the session by explaining the application of prescription data-based research for the healthcare sector.

He said, “A prescription reflects the mind of the doctor and their aspiration while treating the patients or providing cure to the patients. When we study prescriptions, we get the live reflections of a doctor's behaviour while treating the patient. It is absolutely unbiased and the focus is only to provide the best of healthcare solutions for the patient, to make him disease-free or at least give relief from the disease that the particular patient is suffering from.”

Pathak then went on to talk about how the healthcare industry has undergone a transition and the key trends prevailing in the industry.

She voiced, “Contrary to old times, when healthcare used to be symptom-relief based, it is now increasingly becoming holistic. It has become more integrated. There is a shifting focus from cure to prevention. And you would see a lot of promotion of nutraceutical health supplements and noise around preventive health. There's also a growing role of technology in terms of the way people and doctors manage health. And finally, a lot of focus on self-reliant healthcare. So overall, if you see, there is a higher level of empowerment that the patient currently has in terms of managing his or her own health.”

She emphasised the importance of research done in terms of understanding how patients make decisions about their care and how physicians make decisions about treating their patients.

“Patient journey research and treatment flow research help pharma companies to support HCPs to have more effective conversations with their patients. It helps them to communicate with patients and position their brand in a way that makes interventions are more effective. Essentially, it helps them to get a holistic picture. Rather than simply understanding the doctor, they also understand the patient and their journey,” she added. 

Mishra spotlighted the fact that insights derived through pharma market research can help identify the unmet needs of a patient. 

He explained, “At Dr Reddy’s we follow a ‘Good Health, Can’t Wait,’ patient first philosophy through which we identified an undeserved need in the diabetic management space. We did a Knowledge, Attitude and Practices study (KAP) with over 300 HCPs to understand the connection between pruritus and diabetes.”

Akali concluded the seminar by discussing the crucial role of insights into communication in healthcare.

He said, “Insights are gold in marketing. One of the things that I have learned is when you have a really deep insight, you just know that this is what the complete campaign can rest on. Once you have the insight, the creative and communication write itself.”