Did you know that four to five billion people live on less than $2.00 a day?
Is this deterring the worlds banking giants? No!
They are engaging with new Thoughtware and the possibilities created by the mobile telephone digital communications channel to create new business opportunities.
The mobile suppliers and operators would be delighted in their creative Thoughtware potentially generating considerably more traffic and revenue.
Creative Thoughtware, out-of-the box thinking, facilitated by digital communications technology is producing results.
The ubiquitous mobile is not just breeding at rapid rates in the third world but also in the first and second worlds.
mHealth initiatives are also being deployed in the third world utilising mobile technologies.
So, where or what is the mPharma story? ……
The Pharmaceutical Daily utilises the technology but where is the story covering Pharma’s multiple engagement with the mobile platform to achieve similar commercial success to that of the mobile telephone operators?
Where are the alliances or partnerships between Pharma and the mobile operators?
Where is Pharma partnering with PDA, Smart Phones, MP3 players, portable game devices, hand-held and tablets suppliers to create mPharma applications?
mPharma Engagement
Orgware revitalisation through mobile telephony has certainly been on the agenda in Pharma.
A Palatine Group white paper has identified the following areas in which mPharma progress is being made:
- Speed to market—getting new drugs into the hands of physicians fast
- Competing on a global level
- Competing through e-business
- Supervising 21 CFR Part II compliance
- Content management for reach, frequency, and recall
- Dynamic marketing needs
- Individualization—creating information that speaks directly to the client Physician.
- Cost containment
- Maintaining high standards of ethics
And clearly medical education is benefitting the busy, increasingly mobile, physician community.
But, where is Pharma’s thinking outside the box to communicate with its other client groups?
Mobile – A Real Pharma Opportunity
Utilisation of mobile technology is booming around the world.
This growth of mobile technology is also paralleled by mobile access to web pages from smart phones.
The demographics of users of mobile technologies in markets such as the US and UK shows that in the over fifty years of age category penetration is attractive with the over sixty-five’s representing four percent of the market.
Equally the demographics of mobile usage across all age ranges are high and averagely distributed.
mHealth Benefits & Constraints
The use of mobiles in the consulting rooms of primary care physician by both the physician and the health consumer would appear to present few problems and significant benefits.
Benefits, in terms of real-time access to information that contributes to the consultation process for both parties is considerable.
However, in the hospital environment problems of coverage and conflicting equipment signals does appear to still represent a significant issue despite the considerable benefits particularly for patients.
Helping Pharma Seize the mHealth Opportunity
Whether it is Pharma Sales Reps, physicians, the end-recipients of Pharma based treatments or their friends and families the opportunity mobiles present to access information and support is clear.
The opportunity Pharma has to facilitate such access and to provide specialist applications that empower and translate information into knowledge is equally apparent.
So who is driving the development of such applications?
Is it the mobile telephony companies, third-party health consumer or physician information suppliers, or the Pharma companies?
Is Pharma marketing and sales, brand teams or their communications agents actively investigating and seizing the mHealth opportunity?
Is Pharma driving the partnering opportunities?
If not – Why not?
Thinking Pharma needs your HELP?
Send us examples of how Pharma is using mobile telephone initiatives as part of its marketing and sales campaigns and we will publish them in the Thinking Pharma Blog.
Real case examples can only help to acknowledge Pharma’s engagement with mHealth and potentially encourage others to follow.
[Tomorrow’s Blog: Is Pharma Coping with a Changing World?]
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