The transition from the traditional one-way flow of information to a two-way dialogue between stakeholder and provider, will accelerate as the ability to respond and interact with content increases further, driven by the sophistication of downloadable apps, the renaissance of the QR code as a gatekeeper to information and speed of conversation on social media.

Exacerbated by major international media interest and stories around patient data tracking, the issue of ‘who has our data’ is a potential tinderbox. If we are to capitalise on the potential health advances and benefits that this type of data can provide, we need a robust ethical framework and to successfully address patients’ key concerns.

Devices supporting our personal fitness, health and well-being goals proliferate. However, few regulatory guidelines exist on the integration of wearable tech in mainstream medicine. Communication opportunities around this tech are significant, opening up new avenues to tell stories around personalised medicine and offering real-time empowerment to patients.

Digital endpoints offer benefits which address the limitations of more traditional trial outcomes based solely on efficacy and safety endpoints. The potential for continuous monitoring of a disease state is frequently cited as the most exciting area of use by physicians on social media. However, there is a regulatory lag; assessment bodies including the FDA and EMA are not yet widely adopting this pioneering approach. This will change and we need to be ready for the opportunities this opens up.

There is immense media interest in the use of AI across all aspects of healthcare. In particular, AI’s potential to truncate the time-consuming drug development process, bring new levels of precision to investigation efforts, and mitigate the risk of molecular failure. The huge collaborative effort between industry and academia in this area provides incredible opportunities for proactive communication efforts to further highlight the amazing work of the pharmaceutical sector.

Extended reality (XR), is an emerging concept in healthcare integrating virtual reality and augmented reality techniques. Investment in XR is significantly increasing and we are starting to see it create better clinical environments for patients.

Professional societies, their industry sponsors and agencies, will need to embrace this new way of hybrid working and continually innovate to attract stakeholders to events from the comfort of a home desk or work setting, and recreate the experience of networking for a hybrid world.

C-Suite leaders in the pharmaceutical industry believe that communication campaign evaluation should be improved, linking outcomes more directly with commercial and medical affairs strategy. For communications to continue to consolidate its value, and to validate the communicator’s seat at the top table, we need to hear and address these challenges. The increasing sophistication of data analytics can certainly aid us.

Health professionals believe the term ‘personalised medicine’ will displace the term ‘patient-centric’. Creating diagnostics, treatment and follow-up which is unique to the biological profile and needs of the individual, is a major scientific storytelling opportunity for communicators.

Finally, there is one very important evolving movement that should be embedded across everything we do – ensuring all our work reflects the principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – and there will be much more discussion on this topic in my columns to come.

Mike Dixon is CEO of the Healthcare Communications Association (HCA)
and a communications consultant