MEDICAL CODING CAREER

2.01: LEARN MORE ABOUT MEDICAL CODING

Medical coding is a little bit like translation. Coders take medical reports from doctors, which may include a patient’s condition, the doctor’s diagnosis, a prescription, and whatever procedures the doctor or healthcare provider performed on the patient, and turn that into a set of codes, which make up a crucial part of the medical claim.

WHY WE CODE

Let’s start with a simple question about medical coding: Why do we code medical reports? Wouldn’t it be enough to list the symptoms, diagnoses, and procedures, send them to an insurance company, and wait to hear which services will be reimbursed?

To answer that, we have to look at the massive amount of data that every patient visit entails. If you go into the doctor with a sore throat, and present the doctor with symptoms like a fever, sore throat, and enlarged lymph nodes, these will be recorded, along with the procedures the doctor performs and the medicine the doctor prescribes.

In a straightforward case like this, the doctor will only officially report his diagnosis, but that still means the portion of that report that will be coded contains a diagnosis, a procedure, and a prescription.

Take a step back, and this is suddenly a lot of very specific information. And that’s just for a relatively simple doctor’s visit. What happens when a patient comes into the doctor with a complicated injury or sickness, like an ocular impairment related to their Type-2 diabetes? As injuries, conditions, and illnesses get more complex, the amount of data that needs to be conveyed to insurance companies increases significantly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were . That’s a stat that includes visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient facilities and emergency rooms. If there were just five pieces of coded information per visit, which is an almost unrealistically low estimate, that’d be 6 billion individual pieces of information that needs to be transferred every year. In a system loaded with data, medical coding allows for the efficient transfer of huge amounts of information.

Coding also allows for uniform documentation between medical facilities. The code for streptococcal sore throat is the same in Arkansas as it is in Hawaii. Having uniform data allows for efficient research and analysis, which government and health agencies use to track health trends much more efficiently. If the CDC, for example, wants to analyze the prevalence of viral pneumonia, they can search for the number of recent pneumonia diagnoses by looking for the ICD-9-CM code 480.

Finally, coding allows administrations to look at the prevalence and effectiveness of treatment in their facility. This is especially important to large medical facilities like hospitals. Like government agencies tracking, say, the incidence of a certain disease, medical facilities can track the efficiency of their practice by analyzing

Now that we understand the importance of this practice, let’s take a look at the three types of code that you’ll have to become familiar with as a medical coder.

THREE TYPES OF CODE YOU’LL HAVE TO KNOW

There are three sets of code you’ll use on a daily basis as a medical coder.

ICD

These are diagnostic codes that create a uniform vocabulary for describing the causes of injury, illness and death. This code set was established by the  (WHO) in the late 1940s. It’s been updated several times in the 60-plus years since it’s inception. The number following “ICD” represents which revision of the code is in use.

For example, the code that’s currently in use in the United States is ICD-9-CM. This means it’s the ninth revision of the ICD code. That “-CM” at the end stands for “clinical modification.” So the technical name for this code is the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. The clinical modification is a set of revisions put in place by the  (NCHS), which is a division of the (CMS).

The Clinical Modification significantly increases the number of codes for diagnoses. This increased scope gives coders much more flexibility and specificity, which is essential for the profession. To give you an idea of how important the clinical modification is, the ICD-10 code, which we will discuss more thoroughly in Course 2-5, has 14,000 codes. It’s clinical modification, ICD-10-CM, contains over 68,000.

ICD codes are used to represent a doctor’s diagnosis and the patient’s condition. In the billing process, these codes are used to determine medical necessity. Coders must make sure the procedure they are billing for makes sense with the diagnosis given. To return to our strep throat example, if a coder listed a strep throat diagnosis as the medical justification for an x-ray, that claim would likely be rejected.

ICD codes are updated by the NCHS on a regular basis. One of the biggest issues in coding—and, indeed, in the health information business at large—is the upcoming switchover from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM. We’ll cover this in upcoming courses, but the quick summary is that ICD-9-CM has reached its capacity of use as a coding system. ICD-10-CM provides significantly more codes and thus more flexibility and accuracy in the coding process. The entire medical system is set to change over from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM in October of 2015.

Let’s turn our attention now to the two types of procedure codes.

CPT

current procedure terminology CPT, codes, are used to document the majority of the medical procedures performed in a physician’s office. This code set is published and maintained by the american medical association (AMA). These codes are copyrighted by the AMA and are updated annually.

CPT codes are five-digit numeric codes that are divided into three categories. The first category is used most often, and it is divided into six ranges. These ranges correspond to six major medical fields: Evaluation and Management, Anesthesia, Surgery, Radiology, Pathology and Laboratory, and Medicine.

The second category of CPT codes corresponds to performance measurement and, in some cases, laboratory or radiology test results. These five-digit, alphanumeric codes are typically added to the end of a Category I CPT code with a hyphen.

Category II codes are optional, and may not be used in the place of Category I codes. These codes are useful for other physicians and health professionals, and the AMA anticipates that Category II codes will reduce the administrative burden on physicians’ offices by providing them with more, and more accurate, information, specifically related to the performance of health professionals and health facilities.

The third category of CPT codes corresponds to emerging medical technology.

As a coder, you’ll spend the vast majority of your time with the first two categories, though the first will undoubtedly be more common.

CPT codes also have addendums that increase the specificity and accuracy of the code used. Since many medical procedures require a finer level of detail than the basic Category I CPT code offers, the AMA has developed a set of CPT modifiers. These are two-digit numeric or alphanumeric codes that are added to the end of the Category I CPT code. CPT modifiers provide important additional information to the procedure code. For instance, there is a CPT modifier that describes which side of the body a procedure is performed on, and there’s also a code for a discontinued procedure.

HCPCS

healthcare common procedure coding system (HCPCS), commonly pronounced as “hick picks,” are a set of codes based on CPT codes. Developed by the CMS (the same organization that developed CPT), and maintained by the AMA, HCPCS codes primarily correspond to services, procedures, and equipment not covered by CPT codes. This includes durable medical equipment, prosthetics, ambulance rides, and certain drugs and medicines.

HCPCS is also the official code set for outpatient hospital care, chemotherapy drugs, Medicaid, and Medicare, among other services. Since HCPCS codes are involved in Medicaid and Medicare, it’s one of the most important code a medical coder can use.

The HCPCS code set is divided into two levels. The first of these levels is identical to the CPT codes that we covered earlier.

Level II is a set of alphanumeric codes that is divided into 17 sections, each based on an area of specificity, like Medical and Laboratory or Rehabilitative Services.

Like CPT codes, each HCPCS code should correspond with a diagnostic code that justifies the medical procedure. It’s the coders responsibility to make sure whatever outpatient procedure is detailed in the doctor’s report makes sense with the listed diagnosis, typically described via an ICD code.

Now that you’ve got a better idea of what each of these codes is and what they do, let’s start exploring each code set in a little more detail.

2.02: MEDICAL CODING VOCABULARY & KEY TERMS

There are a number of important terms you’ll want to familiarize yourself with as you learn more about coding. Let’s look at some of these now.

CATEGORY (CPT)

The CPT code set is divided into three Categories. Category I, which is the largest and most commonly used, describes medical procedures, technologies and services. Category II is used for performance management and additional data. Category III houses the codes for emerging and experimental medical procedures and services.

CATEGORY (ICD)

In ICD, the category is the first three characters of the code, which describes the basic manifestation of the injury or sickness. In some cases, the category is all that is needed to accurately describe the condition of the patient, but more often than not the coder must list a more detailed description of the injury or illness (see “Subcategory,” and “Subclassification”). In ICD-9-CM, categories are three numbers, except in the case of E- and V-codes, which are alphanumeric. In ICD-10-CM, all categories are alphanumeric.

CLINICAL MODIFICATION

This designation, created by the National Center for Health Statistics, is added to the ICD codes sets when they are implemented in the United States. Many countries expand and clarify ICD code sets for their national use; the US, for example, expanded ICD-10 from 14,000 codes to over 68,000 individual codes. This term is abbreviated “-CM” and is added to the end of the ICD code title. For instance, ICD-9-CM can be read “International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification.

CMS

The CENTRE FOR MEDICARE SERVICES. This federal agency updates and maintains the HCPCS code set and is one of the most important organizations in healthcare today.

CPT

CURRENT PROCEDURAL TERMINOLOGY. Published, copyrighted, and maintained by the American Medical Association, CPT is a large set of codes that describe what procedure or service was performed on a patient. This code is divided into three Categories, with the first Category being the most important and widely used. CPT codes are an integral part of the reimbursement process. These codes are five characters long and may be numeric or alphanumeric.

HCPCS

HEALTHCARE COMMON PROCEDURE CODING SYSTEM, pronounced hick-picks. This is main procedural code set for reporting procedures to Medicare, Medicaid, and a large number of other third-party payers. Maintained by CMS (See “CMS”), HCPCS is divided into two levels. Level I is identical to CPT, and is used in the same way. Level II describes the equipment, medication, and out-patient services not included in CPT.

E-CODES

E-codes are a set of ICD-9-CM codes that includes codes for external causes of injury, such as auto accidents, poisoning, and homicide.

EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT (CPT)

Evaluation and Management, or E&M, is a section of CPT codes used to describe the assessment of a patient’s health and the management of their care. The codes for visits to doctor’s office and trips to the emergency room, for instance, are included in E&M. E&M is found at the front of the CPT manual, despite being out of numerical order. The codes for E&M are 99201 – 99499.

ICD

The INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES is a set of medical diagnostic codes established over a hundred years ago. Maintained today by the WHO (See “WHO”), ICD codes create a universal language for reporting diseases and injury. In the United States, we use ICD-9-CM (See “Clinical Modification”), while the rest of the world uses some form of ICD-10. The US is slated to upgrade to ICD-10-CM in 2015. ICD codes are numeric or alphanumeric. They have a three-character category (See “category (ICD)”), which describes the injury or disease, which is typically followed by a decimal point and two-to-four more characters, depending on the code set, which give more information about the manifestation and/or location of the disease.

MODIFIER

A modifier is a two-character code that is added to a procedure code to demonstrate an important variation that does not, by itself, change the definition of the procedure. CPT codes have numeric modifiers, while HCPCS codes have alphanumeric modifiers. These are added at the end of a code with a hyphen, and may provide information about the procedure itself, that’s procedure’s Medicare eligibility, and a host of other important facets. The CPT modifier -51, for example, notifies the payer that this procedure was one of multiple procedures. The HCPCS modifier –LT, on the other hand, describes a bilateral procedure that was performed only on the left side of the body.

MODIFIER EXEMPT (CPT)

Certain codes in CPT cannot have modifiers added to them. This is a fairly short list that can be found in the appendices of the CPT manual.

NCHS

The NATIONAL CENTRE FOR HEALTH STATISTICS. The NCHS is a government agency that tracks health information, and is responsible for creating and publishing both the clinical modifications to ICD codes (See “Clinical Modification”) and their annual updates.

PATHOLOGY

The science of the causes and effects of disease.

SUBCATEGORY

In ICD codes, the subcategory describes the digit that comes after the decimal point. This digit further describes the nature of the illness or injury, and gives additional information as to its location or manifestation.

SUBCLASSIFICATION

The subclassification follows the subcategory (See “Subcategory”) in ICD codes. The subclassification further expands on the subcategory, and gives additional information about the manifestation, severity, or location of the injury or disease. In ICD-10-CM there is also a subclassification that describes which encounter this is for the doctor—whether this is a first treatment for the ailment, a follow-up, or the assessment of a condition that is the result of a previous injury or disease (See “Sequela”). There is one subclassification character in ICD-9-CM; in ICD-10-CM there may be as many as three.

TECHNICAL COMPONENT

The portion of a medical procedure that concerns only the technical aspect of the procedure, but not the interpretative, or professional aspect (See “Professional component”). A technical component might include the administration of a chest X-ray, but would not include the assessment of that X-ray for disease or abnormality.

V-CODES

V-codes are a special section of ICD-9-CM that describe patient visits related to circumstances other than disease or injury. This includes live-born infants, people with risk or disease due to family history, people encountering health services for specific or mandated evaluation or aftercare, and a host of other not easily classifiable situations. V-codes have been replaced in ICD-10-CM by Z-codes (See “Z-codes”).

WHO

The WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION

. This international body, which is an agency of the United Nations, oversees the creation of ICD codes and is one of the most important organizations in international health.

Z-CODES

Much like V-codes in ICD-9-CM (See “V-codes”), these codes describe circumstances outside of injury or disease that cause a patient to visit a health professional. This may include a patient visiting a doctor because of family medical history

INDIAN DRUG MAKERS CAN EXPORT PATENTED MEDS FOR APPROVAL:HIGH COURT

Indian drug makers can export patented meds for approval: HC The ruling came as the court allowed state-run pharma company Natco and generic drug maker Alembic Pharmaceuticals to export two patented medicines of German drug major Bayer's for clinical trials and regulatory approvals abroad as allowed under section 107A of the Patents Act.  Indian generic drug makers have the fundamental right to make, sell and export patented medicines for purposes of regulatory approval and clinical trials, the Delhi High Court ruled. "The right of manufacturers/producers of medicines and of fine chemical producers, to make, construct and sell including by way of export, a patented invention, for the purposes prescribed in section 107A (of Patents Act) is a fundamental right protected by Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and the sale cannot be curtailed except by express law," Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said. The ruling came as the court allowed state-run pharma company Natco and generic drug maker Alembic Pharmaceutical s to export two patented medicines of German drug major Bayer's for clinical trials and regulatory approvals abroad as allowed under section 107A of the Patents Act. Natco and Alembic, however, were directed to undertake that during the life of the respective patent, they will not export the respective patented invention for purposes other than those specified in section 107A. Section 107A of the Act explains what will not constitute infringement of a patent and includes selling of a patented invention for the purposes of development. The drugs in question were Bayer's cancer drug Sorafenib marketed under the name of Nexavar, whose generic version Sorefenat was being exported by Natco, and the German company's blood thinning medicine Rivaroxaban, a generic version of which was being exported by Alembic. The court disposed of Bayer's pleas against the two Indian companies, saying that sale by a non-patentee of a pharmaceutical product solely for the purposes prescribed in section 107A would "not be infringement and cannot be prevented". The court noted that section 107A permitted sale of a patented product during the term of the patent but only for the purpose of obtaining regulatory approvals for making and marketing the patented product after the expiry of the patent. 

Pfizer, AstraZeneca outpace Big Pharma in emerging markets as growth ticks upward:

Pfizer, AstraZeneca outpace Big Pharma in emerging markets as growth ticks upward:

A few years ago, emerging markets were souped-up engines heating up pharma growth. Now, with economic slowdowns in key markets such as China, they’ve moved into a lower gear—but in the third quarter, drugmakers saw signs of an upward shift, at least in the short term.

Emerging markets growth for Big Pharma’s top companies ticked upward to 3.6% in Q3, Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson wrote in a Wednesday note to investors. That’s up from 1.8 % in Q2 , if down slightly from the first quarter, when growth amounted to 4.4%. 

This means that emerging markets growth is leading the way again, ahead of U.S. and the rest of the developed world at 2.3% and 0.9% for the group, respectively.

“In our view, drug companies should continue to invest to ensure they capture share in the longer-term, gradual, yet inevitable shift from older off-patent medicines to more lucrative, novel, on-patent medicines,” Anderson noted.

And while the emerging markets may not be as hot as they were, they’ll still account for about 25% of global drug spending by 2020, QuintilesIMS said in a report last November. And per-capita script volume and drug spending in all the “pharmerging markets” are expected to grow between now and then, at average rates of 45%-plus. Part of that spending growth, the report noted, will come from broader use of new, on-patent meds that naturally cost more per patient—and deliver more sales per script.

Pfizer tops growth list; GSK trails

Of course, some multinational drugmakers saw higher growth than others, as acquisitions, new products and marketing initiatives paid off. Pfizer, for instance, posted 8% growth over the past four quarters, thanks to its Hospira acquisition and its growth in sterile injectable drugs. More growth could be coming as well; Pfizer recently restored its vaccines unit  in China after authorities finally approved its pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 13, a big seller in other countries. And in June, the pharma giant said it would build a $350 million biosimilars plant in the country.

Pfizer’s fellow Big Pharmas have been pushing for faster approval of their new-to-market drugs, particularly in China, where Gilead Sciences and AstraZeneca have tapped new executives and partners  to push approvals and production on the ground. While it waits for broader approval, Merck & Co.'s immuno-oncology med Keytruda won an import license for China's resort island Hainan under a government program designed to draw medical tourists.

Amgen and Sanofi, meanwhile, suffered setbacks in their attempts to bring new products repatha and Dengvaxia to India; both companies lost their bids for clinical trial waivers that would have allowed them to launch in that country without local clinical trials.

Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline, very active in the developed world, delivered the slowest emerging markets growth among its rivals over the past four quarters, at 0.4%, Anderson calculated. Its China sales outpaced the rest, however, at 24%, partly in thanks to inventory stocking.

GSK’s growth may be impressive of late, but it’s also having trouble with China’s drug gatekeepers, with recent decisions emblematic of pricing challenges  other pharma companies face there, too. In May, China slashed the price of the antiviral drug Viread, marketed by GSK in that country, by two-thirds, and cut AstraZeneca’s lung cancer pill Iressa back by half.

Price caps on older meds

And for off-patent drugs, the cuts could be more severe, in China and beyond, Anderson wrote. Some sources say off-patent meds account for more than 50% of multinational drug company sales in these countries, he noted.

“One risk to appreciate ... is that off-patent drugs are likely to see increased pricing pressure over time as emerging markets healthcare delivery modernizes,” the analyst said.

It’s certainly happening in India, where the government is not only working on revamping its entire pharma regulatory framework, but expanding its list of drugs subject to price caps Last December, the country’s health ministry expanded its list of essential medicines, which are subject to price controls, by adding 100 new drugs.

Sanofi’s managing director in India, for one, has spoken out against India’s pricing policies, which come at a time when the country is tightening up its quality standards. “Any pricing regime must be predictable and transparent,” Shailesh Ayyangar said during the unit’s general meeting in May, “and must take into consideration the stringent requirements on the quality front that the manufacturers have to adhere to for patient safety.”

Rea

JOB VACANCY FOR PRODUCTION IN METRO CITY

Job Description:

Ensures that goods and products are processed efficiently, with respect to quality, quantity, planning, cost, HSE requirements and regulations. Manages the resources, the planning, ensures the coordination and the control of a production department in a site or a production unit . 
To contribute in the definition and execution of the site strategy and is in charge of implementing Operational Excellence standards (e.g : lean program). He plays a critical role in fostering motivation and excellence in his teams.
Central coordination of production activities and staff. Assurance that products are manufactured according to current GMP standards along with SOPs and BMRs. Assurance that documentation is duly executed. Assurance that machines and equipment are qualified and validated and the they remain in a qualified and validated status, including maintenance. Assurance of knowledge and technology transfer. Recruitment and training of staff within his area of responsibility. Responsible for creation and update of SOPs and BMRs. Assurance that all operators are certified for each operation.
Knowledge in sterile liquid injectable formulation activities lines including dispensing, aseptic addition, filtration ,integrity clean in place (CIP),sterilization in place(SIP), Autoclave & Part washer operation.
Should have experience of handling team and train the team for aseptic area behaviors.
Working as per safety guidelines, focus on quality production. Also understand and execute the technology transfer of new solutions and modifications adhering to regulatory compliance requirements.

Salary:INR 30,00,000 - 40,00,000 P.A.

Industry:Pharma / Biotech / Clinical Research

Functional Area:Production , Manufacturing , Maintenance

Role Category:Senior Management

Role:Head/VP/GM-Production/Manufacturing/Maintenance

Keyskills: dispensing, formulation,maintainance etc.FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT THIS LINK

Desired Candidate Profile

Work experience of sterile injectable liquid formulation preferably with insulin product.
Work experience of support in aseptic filling activities functions.
Work experience as per cGMP& good in documentation.
Should have compounding/formulation knowledge.

Should be working in Sr. Management position. (AGM & above)
Experience in Visual Inspection activities.
Willing to relocate to Hyderabad
Experience: 15 - 25 years Experience

Age: 35 - 45 years

Interested candidates can mail their CV to: rk@idealconsultants.com.

Education-

UG:Any Graduate - Any Specialization

PG:M.Pharma - Pharmacy, MS/M.Sc(Science) - Chemistry

Company Profile:

Ideal Placement and Consultants (P) Ltd.

A pioneering biotech company and a part of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, in the business of develop, produce and market cost effective human health care products that conform to international quality.

ANALTICAL COMPANIES HIRING PHARMA JOBS FOR SAS PROGRAMMING IN INDIA

SAS (Statistical analysis system) is one of the most popular tool for data analysis and statistical modeling. It is one of the world's fastest and powerful software for data management, data mining, report writing, statistical analysis, business modeling, applications development and data warehousing. Knowing SAS is an asset in many job markets as it holds largest market share in terms of jobs in advanced analytics.

·                     Scope of SAS in India

·                     Starting Package of a SAS Analyst in India

·                     Highest Package of a SAS Expert in India

·                     Number of companies using SAS in India

·                     Industries where SAS jobs

·                     Scope of SAS for freshers

·                     Scope of SAS in future

These are the most frequently asked questions about SAS. I have collected some data to answer the questions. I will target location and industries demographics to get better insight about this topic. The data used here were collected from various job consultants, job portals, jobs and career community and research database.

Salary Report:

The median entry-level salary for analytics professionals is Rs 4.5 lakhs; Rs 5.8 lakhs salary for mid-level professionals with 2-5 years of experience in analytics industry; Rs 8.8 lakhs salary for those with 5-10 years of experience and Rs 15 lakhs salary for professionals with more than 10 years of experience.

The chart below shows median and top quartile salary for analytics professional with their years of experience within the analytic industry in India. All the salary figures mentioned are in Indian Rupees (lakhs).

Scope of SAS in India

I searched for jobs related to SAS that were posted on Naukri.com (India's No. 1 Job Search Site). In terms of number of job opportunities by location, Bangalore topped the list with 287 jobs while Mumbai being second in the list with 164 jobs.

SAS Jobs in India

 
In terms of number of job opportunities by functional area, Analytics topped the list with 181 jobs while IT Software being second in the list with 179 jobs.

SAS Jobs by Industry

Scope of SAS in Future:

SAS has over 40,000 customers worldwide and holds largest market share in advanced analytics. It has been tagged 'leader' consistently in advanced analytics platform as per Gartner 2015 and 2016 reports. In finance (BFSI) industry, SAS secured No. 1 spot and used as a primary tool for data analysis. Many financial companies are still reluctant to use R/Python programming language as they have been using SAS for 30 years, and they have automated the whole process of analysis and have written millions of lines of working code. To convert all the stable reporting system from SAS to R/Python, it may cost 50-100 times more. If you think R/Python will overtake SAS in future as SAS is an expensive tool. You might be wrong. The SAS licensing fees is nothing to a bank or a drug company as they can afford it.

INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON PHARMA INDUSTRY

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest and steadily growing industries. Inspite of this growth, the method of traditional pharma marketing has not changed much. It has always focused on promoting their brands and products to the doctor, who is the centre-piece of this industry, through their medical representatives. All marketing efforts including communication channels, strategies, CRMs, policies etc are devised keeping the doctor in mind. However, with changing times of emerging media and technology in people’s life, does this need to change?

Influence of technology on marketing

With the advent of globalisation in the 90’s, the ball of digital revolution set rolling with the Internet boom followed by the entry of mobile phones in the late 90’s. With a population of 1.20 billion people today, India boasts of over 900 million mobile phones in the country.  Smart phones are fast replacing standard mobile phones and every single service provider is offering deals on mobile Internet connectivity with their 3G and 4G offerings. Consumers are thus increasingly exposed to a gigantic pool of information at their fingertips. Social platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp , Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc are playing an important role in how information is consumed. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for any industry to overlook social media as a means of communication with their consumers.

Power of social media

As per a recent report, close to 400 million Indians are active Internet users which is up 20 per cent from previous year. A year back we recorded the highest social networking growth of over 35 per cent. It is also estimated that India will have the highest Facebook population in the world. Interestingly, as one delves deeper into the ocean of social media and specifically in healthcare, there are over thousands of pages dedicated to health on Facebook.

Another report suggests that nearly 16 per cent mobile Internet users in 35 top cities in India closely follow or use health related applications. With this awareness about wellness and lifestyle diseases, people are increasingly seeking more information about health and wellness. According to a study published in Social Marketing Quarterly, people above the age of 18 revealed that Health Pages on Facebook had positive influences on them and motivated them to engage in healthy behaviours. The study concluded that Facebook may be an effective medium to help people live a healthy and adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Evolution of patients and thus, doctors

Decades ago, patients would consult a doctor for their illness and when the doctor prescribed a drug for treatment, they would not doubt it. However, this phenomenon has undergone a massive transformation with the advent of ‘Dr Google. Now before consulting the doctor, most patients would have already made attempts to understand the symptoms by asking Dr Google and landed in a frenzy about its interpretation.

Many patients search the prescribed medicine online to get convinced of its efficacy. Patients also have the weapon to make or break the image of the doctor and hospital with the help of several platforms that offer reviews and feedbacks of doctors. This rise of the e-patient is pushing the doctor ecosystem to understand the power of digital and adapt to it. Moreover, as the doctor-medical representative relationship too is getting digitised, it has opened an opportunity for the industry.

How can pharma industry score a goal here?

The two important aspects of pharma communications are the direct customer i.e. doctor communication, and the end user i.e. the patient communication. Now beyond the medical representative as a channel, newer avenues are opening out such as creating focused groups of doctors on a closed but verified social media platform. Some pharma companies and healthcare start-ups have realised the power of creating their own communities and are working around this framework. Also, standard social media platforms like Facebook connects patients and doctors together, where the pharma industry can take advantage to leverage their image and branding in the minds of both the doctor and patient.

On the other hand, consumers including patients and their caregivers are increasingly talking about various health conditions, exchanging thoughts about a condition and increasingly influencing behaviour by leaving strong digital footprints. Focused groups in various health conditions including woman’s health, diabetes, cardiovascular health and other lifestyle conditions are showing increasing conversations. There are very interesting communication threads of healthcare questions and answers that run in hundreds of forums and discussion groups. Some of them have become referral points on various health conditions. With the newer algorithms on Google search engine crawlers, these are thrown up on top of search results and influence health behaviour as well.

All this offers various opportunities to pharma companies, lets look at some of them:

Social media listening – There are literally millions of health conversations on the web and they are increasing each day. These conversations can give an excellent insight into understanding patient psychology. There are discussions around various categories, pharma brands, their associated conditions, side-effects etc and interpreting this data will give the pharma industry an opportunity to fine tune and customise their brand strategy. Detailed analysis using tools can throw up various trends from various perspectives including geography, age-groups, gender etc. Analysis of this data and drawing insights will be key in the future.

Closed loop marketing – Another excellent way to engage the doctors and patients is with the help of closed loop marketing (CLM) which is slowly gathering speed within the industry. Here, the company can engage the end users as well as doctor with customised information and if planned and strategised well and integrated with the field force efforts, closed loop marketing can deliver impressive results.

Digital marketing – This actually means marketing in the digital world. Right from mobile phone applications to right usage of digital tools, digital marketing can integrate well with the existing marketing efforts. From tools that help in counting calories to keeping a track on the amount of steps taken in a day, from being the first in providing doctors personalised information of their interest areas like the latest articles online to their smartphone to creating an active group, there is a lot that pharma companies can do get in close touch with their customers and consumers. If pharma can give a helping hand to the doctors by partnering with them in providing customised information to patients, it can help save doctor-patient interaction time. Understanding the space and creating solutions around it is an opportunity.

Social media community building – With the increasing online users, pharma can partner to build and own a community around their interest health condition. So, all the patient education initiatives can turn social. If the effort is taken with empathy to give real world solutions, the engaged community itself can help grow the community and take it to the next level. Also running campaigns on social media platforms to increase awareness about a particular disease or illness is an opportunity to drive traffic to doctors and expand the market. Various category leaders need to look at this opportunity to bring in patient-centricity in its true essence. By celebrating health days such as World Cancer Day, World Diabetes Day etc, pharma companies can help spread information about wellness to consumers with subtle branding.

With help from domain experts in the field of social media marketing, pharma companies can easily take their brand strategy to the next level with excellent ROI.

A social media campaign that made an impact –

#Finding60inIndia is a good example of using social media to convey information about Progeria – a ultra-rare pre-mature ageing disease. The campaign, in association with the Progeria Research Foundation was aimed to build awareness about Progeria, as well as identifying the 60 estimated kids throughout India. A digital platform was created with the help of the hashtag #Finding60inIndia. Simultaneous Twitter and Facebook campaigns with Progeria survivor and fighter Nihal Bitla gave headway to bring this campaign in public attention. Nihal became the face of the campaign as Team Nihal and was backed by social media initiatives. From print to radio to online portals, all came together to spread the word about the campaign and this fatal disease. This led to a solid penetration of the campaign in people’s mind so much that five more kids suffering from Progeria were located from remote places of India. This campaign not only helped find several kids suffering from Progeria, but also gave a sense of security to the parents of these kids that they are not alone. This campaign has undoubtedly been a success and recently the Delhi Government announced to form a sub-committee to develop policy to tackle rare genetic diseases such as Progeria. If an ultra-rare disease can have this impact, imagine what opportunity lies in managing lifestyle diseases.

Making healthcare exciting with digital support –

Social media cannot be looked into isolation. A complete e-Marketing initiative with a strong digital strategy needs to be drafted. At the same time, it is very critical to understand the regulatory framework and work within the defined protocol and social media guidelines. Working with ‘Responsibility’ and ‘Care’ is critical while defining digital strategies that can oversee regulatory issues like Adverse Event Reporting etc.

Moving ahead, further penetration of smart phones and Internet and increased focus of pharma companies on social media, will lead to more interactive platforms coming up in this space. Companies like Abbott, Boehringer, J&J, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, etc have taken the initial lead and there will be a lot to watch out for in the near future.

Social media is here to stay and has just gone through its infancy stage and will grow in the next few years. How pharma marketers decide to take advantage of it, is for them to decide. Clarity of objective with a clearly defined ROI, will help shape up the future of pharma marketing in digital as well as social media. While the younger marketers may want to adopt for the glamour in it, if that is supported with the marketing experience of the grey hairs, pharma marketing will undergo a paradigm shift in the time to come.