MedComms Day 2024

Accurate and clear medical information helps patients better manage their health, improves treatment adherence, and reduces healthcare costs, all of which help improve quality of life. Medical communication is the provision of information about disease prevention, diagnosis, and management, including the risks and benefits of treatment and nontreatment. While medical communication has historically referred to verbal or written communication between a clinician and patient, communication through other sources, such as social media channels and video sharing, have expanded the message format and the audience.

This type of work is done by medical communications agencies, (‘MedComms’ agencies). Medical communications is unique as it translates evidence-based science into educational content. MedComms is relevant to medical professionals and decision-makers (doctors, clinicians, nurses, pharmacists and healthcare buyers) as well as other stakeholders such as patient advocacy groups, academic circles and the industry’s media. Scientific research is made easier to understand and more relatable. Services include the delivering of information and raising awareness on disease through interpretation of clinical data. This may include publication of clinical trial results, creation of educational webinars for HCPs or apps and websites for patients.?

To produce a successful communication strategy, it is important to define your audience, establish the key message that you want to communicate and decipher which outcomes you want to achieve. Next steps involve choosing the format and channels that you want to deliver these messages on. Continuous development of content is required to ensure that the messaging is always relevant and appropriate to your audience. Selecting the most appropriate and impactful communication channels is important for successful medical communications. This is because format and channel can influence the way someone absorbs information and learns.?

Medical communications not only provide a way of connecting with healthcare professionals and patients, they also provide education and help audiences translate science into practice.?A large part of medical communications is the promotion and distribution of outcome results and research data in order to gain authority in a particular space and also comply with regulatory requirements around the sharing of information. Conferences play a key role in this, as new research findings will be submitted as abstracts (for display as posters) and as manuscripts forming the basis of physical presentations or talks.

To gain further credibility across the sector, MedComms companies will work with clients to determine a number of known experts in the relevant field whose insights and voice will resonate with the wider peer group and add to the program around their treatment.?

Medical Education

Educational content is a very large part of MedComms. Leveraging research, evidence and a strictly scientific approach, all content will be designed to spread knowledge amongst stakeholders about a particular topic or condition. Companies specializing in medical education can provide logistical support for conferences, symposia and advisory or steering committee meetings.

Medical communications is about raising awareness of therapies and medical devices that could transform or, in many cases, save people’s lives.?The impact of the work in this space is incredibly rewarding as you can see positive changes in health outcomes. I have travelled to annual conferences across disease states for 25 years to help disseminate new clinical trial data to physicians educating about new treatments coming to market. It is a very dynamic and exciting environment being able to witness novel discoveries and constantly being updated on new progress in different disease areas.

Wishing all my fellow MedComms colleagues a wonderful day today! Your work is essential and very valuable.