Key to Patients as Partners: Design Thinking

Some thoughts from the Patients as Partners conference and other public forums:

Komathi Stem, Senior Director, Product Development and Innovation Lead, Genentech:

• We need to introduce design thinking. We need to think like the patient and define challenges from their perspective.

Thomas Krohn, Director of Clinical Open Innovation, Eli Lilly:

• We need to complement the traditional scientific-centered design with user-centered design. Although a cultural shift, we need to put the patient at the center. [podcast]

Victoria DiBiaso, Head of Investigator and Patient Networks, Sanofi:

• To successfully partner with patients, we need to ask important questions like: “What data can we capture in the patient’s home?” and ‘”How can we make the trial more a part of a patient’s day-to-day life?”

Bray Patrick-Lake, Director of Stakeholder Engagement, Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI):

• We need to approach patient engagement like Apple approaches their innovations.

John Reites, Senior Director, Offer Development, Quintiles:

• A key habit of patient-focused research: Designing the Patient Experience.

Susan Salgado, Managing Director, Hospitality Quotient:

• Remember Maya Angelou’s quote:
  People will forget what you said…
  People will forget what you did…
  But people will never forget the way you made them feel.

Linda Morgan, PD Patient

• Please communicate with us. Please share our data with us. Please involve us.

Medidata Perspective:

Michelle Marlborough, VP Product Strategy, Medidata Solutions:

• Design thinking is the means to effectively leverage technology, and non-traditional settings, to put the patient at the center of clinical development. All stakeholders need to come together to architect a rewarding experience for patients that is commensurate with their contributions, thereby earning continuing contributions and fostering goodwill. “Patients as Partners” in clinical research is within reach.