Increasing Patient Power Could Impact On Pharma Firms' Strategy

An increasing proportion of health care costs is now carried by the private sector in the developed economies. In many markets, patients are bearing a higher burden of the cost of their health care, and this has been one of the drivers of change in power and scope of patient advocacy.

Patient support groups are not new. However, according to Datamonitor's new report, The Age of the Patient (which is available through Marketletter Publications, at a cost of $2,495), the style of the groups is changing.

In the 1970s, their activities were largely directed towards support of sufferers. During the 1980s the influence of both the environmental lobby and the AIDS lobby grew, and patient groups became more vocal. This trend has continued during the 1990s, the report notes.