Digital

Intelligence
Briefing

2017
Digital Trends
in Healthcare
and Pharma
in association with
Digital Intelligence
Briefing
2017 Digital Trends
in Healthcare
and Pharma

in association with

Published May 2017 Econsultancy London Econsultancy New York

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Contents

1 Executive summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 A sector ripe for digital disruption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 Shifting control results in a focus on the customer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4 The future looks more promising than ever. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5 Actionable tips to help future-proof your

healthcare/pharma business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

6 Appendix: respondent profiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

 1
The 2017 Digital Trends in
Executive Summary
Healthcare and Pharma report
is based on a sample of almost
500 respondents working in the
healthcare and pharma sector1
who were among more than
14,000 digital professionals taking
part in the annual Digital Trends
survey carried out in November
and December 2016.
The research, conducted by Econsultancy
in partnership with Adobe, reveals a sector
that has just started to embark on its digital
transformation journey, but with a huge
potential for disruption through emerging
digital technologies. After a slow start due
to the complexities of a siloed sector with
legacy infrastructure, alongside heavy
regulation and risks associated with patient
data and care, healthcare and pharma
companies are likely to see exponential
change over the next few years as digital
data storage and sharing becomes the norm.
The key findings from the research are
summarized below.
Healthcare companies are being
pushed to transform as a result of
increased consumer interest and
participation
• The impact of the Internet of Things
and an increase in the availability of
healthcare information have led to a shift
in the control of healthcare and treatment
approaches to the consumer. This means
1
The 497 healthcare and pharma respondents who took part in the 2017 Digital Trends survey were among a total of
more than 14,000 digital marketing and ecommerce professionals from all sectors who participated, from countries
across EMEA, North America and Asia Pacific.
4 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma
that companies are having to work harder
on proving the value of their drugs and
services, and on their customer service, to
retain customers and win their trust.
• But the sector lags behind others in terms
of digital maturity. Strict regulations and
a lack of universal standards mean that
new entrants find it harder to establish
themselves, and levels of risk associated
with human health are greater, which can
limit innovation. Only 6% of companies
describe themselves as digital-first,
compared to an average of 11% across
other sectors.
• Companies in the sector are aware of
the opportunity that digital offers, and
investing in it accordingly. Healthcare
and pharma companies are more likely
than those in other sectors to say they’re
planning to increase their digital marketing
spending in 2017 – 71% say that’s the
case, compared to an average of 64%
across other sectors.
• Riding the digital wave requires training,
which will be a priority for healthcare
and pharma companies over the next
year. Training teams in new techniques,
channels and disciplines is front of mind
for 60% marketers in the sector, up from
46% in 2016.
Organizations are prioritizing the
multichannel customer journey
• The focus on filling digital-related skills
gaps through training will help customer
journey optimization efforts for the majority
of pharma and healthcare marketers.
In association with
 Almost three-quarters say that optimizing
the customer journey across multiple
touchpoints will be very important for their
marketing over the next few years.
• Healthcare and pharma companies are
14% more likely than their peers in other
sectors to consider customer journey
management as a top-three tactical
priority in 2017, with larger organizations
even more likely to prioritize multichannel
campaigns and journeys, and also to join
up online and offline data.
• The industry is using content as a way
of meeting the needs of consumers who
are playing a more active role in their
healthcare choices. Though historically
content has been mainly used by pharma
companies marketing to healthcare
professionals, the next few years will
likely see increased content marketing
to consumers, with 29% of organizations
surveyed prioritizing it over the next year.
• Social media is a powerful communication
tool and content distribution channel, and
healthcare and pharma companies clearly
recognize this, with nearly two-thirds
(63%, compared to an average of 55%
across other sectors) planning to increase
investment in social media marketing in
2017.
The future
• Healthcare and pharma companies,
especially larger ones, will focus on the
customer experience to differentiate
themselves from their competitors.
• The Internet of Things has already created
a wealth of opportunities within the sector,
and there are more ahead. Almost a third
selected IoT as the most exciting prospect
for 2020.
• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality
(AR) are being incorporated into new
healthcare technologies and systems,
with uses ranging from training doctors in
operating techniques to gamifying patient
treatment plans. Over a quarter (26%) of
respondents see the potential in VR and
AR as the most exciting prospect for 2020.
• Digital transformation of the healthcare
industry is essential, as a global ageing
population puts pressure on healthcare
systems worldwide. The shift from
marketing drugs and treatments to
marketing outcome-based approaches
and tools to prevent illness is already
beginning and is likely to have a big
impact on marketing strategies in the
longer-term future.

A data influx has created a need to

invest in data and analytics training

• The boom in wearables that collect

lifestyle and fitness data is of huge benefit
to an industry whose wealth of existing
data is often locked up by regulation
or in non-digitized formats. Two-thirds
of healthcare and pharma companies
see improving data analysis capabilities
as ‘very important’ for the coming year,
reflecting the need for skilled staff to
collect, distil and analyze this data influx.

• In addition, healthcare and pharma

companies are 9% more likely than their
peers in other sectors to say that data-
driven marketing is a top-three strategic
priority in 2017. Investment in data
capabilities is set to increase for many of
them.

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 5
 2 A sector ripe for
digital disruption
Daniel J. Gandor, US Head of Takeda Digital
Accelerator at Takeda Pharmaceuticals,
aptly summarized the impact of digital in
the sector: “Digital is disrupting healthcare
in general, whether it is the products
themselves or with patients when they look
at what they want from therapy. It is no
longer just a pill – it’s pills with companion
apps and coaching, diagnostics and
personalized medicine all wrapped into
one. Digital has really been the catalyst to
changing the face of healthcare.”2
The healthcare and pharma sector has
the potential to be radically transformed by
digital technology. A truly digital-first industry
could mean a reduction in health problems,
as lifestyle monitoring tools begin to predict
and prevent them before they arise; it could
mean that health is not defined by the
absence of ailments or disease, but by a
person’s wellbeing and lifestyle. Companies
within the sector would be able to shift their
focus to prevention rather than treatment.
In some ways this is already happening,
with the ‘Internet of Healthy Things’ fueling
innovation and wearables becoming a
lifestyle choice for many. A surge in the
popularity of healthy living and exercise
programs has developed alongside
significantly increased amounts of
information available to consumers about
health and wellness. Digital technologies are
making it easy for patients to access and
track their health information, at the same
time facilitating seamless communication
with their providers. As health systems
have become more interoperable and
connected in recent years, the control that
2
https://econsultancy.com/reports/embracing-digital-transformation-in-the-pharma-and-healthcare-sectors/
3
https://www.capgemini.com/resource-file-access/resource/pdf/The_Digital_Advantage__How_Digital_Leaders_
Outperform_their_Peers_in_Every_Industry.pdf
4
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-healthcare-it-start-up-funding-fueling-digital-disruption
5
https://rockhealth.com/reports/2016-year-end-funding-report-a-reality-check-for-digital-health/
6 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma
pharmaceutical and healthcare companies
have over the release of information on
their products and services to the general
consumer has been weakened.
Although these developments have opened
up tremendous opportunities for the
healthcare and pharma industry, progress
is slow because it still lags behind other
sectors on the digital front. According to this
research, only 6% of companies describe
themselves as digital-first, compared to an
average of 11% across other sectors (Figure
1). Strict regulations and a lack of universal
standards mean that new entrants into the
healthcare space find it harder to establish
themselves, and levels of risk associated
with human health are greater, which can
limit innovation.
A report by Capgemini described the
pharmaceutical industry as a whole as a
‘digital beginner’, with many organizations
just on the cusp of initiating their digital
journey. Pioneers, or ‘digirati’, who have
already begun to harvest the benefits
of their digital transformation programs,
are outperforming their industry peers by
an average of at least 26% in terms of
profitability.3
There is no doubt that digital opportunities
abound and are ripe for the picking.
Accenture estimated that funding of digital
startups in the US healthcare market would
reach $6.5 billion in 20174, and over $4
billion were poured into the global digital
health sector in 2016, according to Rock
Health.5
In association with
Arguably the biggest result of this investment
is in the trend towards consumers taking a
more active role in their healthcare, often
called ‘the consumerization of healthcare’;
exploring the options available to them and
collecting and managing their health data
through wearables and tracking tools. This
means that their relationship with doctors
and healthcare professionals has become a
two-way conversation. Greater transparency
in the sector means that companies will need
to work harder to prove the value of their
drugs and services, particularly in markets
where private healthcare is dominant.
Technology impacting the sector ranges
from simple wearables like Fitbit and Apple
Watch to ingestible sensors that continually
feed biometric data back to doctors and
physicians and can be used to manage and
prevent illness. An example is a partnership
between Google and DexCom, Novartis
and Sanofi to treat diabetes. The group has
developed technologies including uploading
glucose and insulin levels to the cloud in real
time through contact lenses that measure
glucose levels in tears. Even the smallest
change in glucose and insulin levels can
be tracked and trigger the attention of the
patient before a problem develops.

Figure 1: To what extent does digital permeate your own organization’s marketing
activities?

50%

45% 46% 46%

40%

35%

30%

25%
24%
20%
19%
15%
15%
14%
10% 11%
10%
9%
5% 6%

0%
Digital marketing is Digital permeates Digital permeates all We are a digital-first Don't know
very much separate most of our our marketing organization
marketing activities activities
Healthcare and pharma Other sectors
Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Healthcare and pharma respondents: 349
Other sectors respondents: 4,940

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 7
 This trend impacts pharma and healthcare
companies in how they market to healthcare
professionals and consumers alike. As the
focus leans towards prevention, companies
in the sector will need to advocate a range
of services, caring for a lifestyle and not just
when an illness arises. As a result, some are
partnering with third-party tech companies
to augment their offerings and convey an
increased focus on prevention.
An increased focus on partnerships is
also arising as a result of the need to
demonstrate the value of digital internally
– particularly within the established
large companies that have the hardest
transformation journey ahead due to legacy
infrastructure – and to fill digital skills gaps.
How medical records and patient information
are handled remains a challenge in a sector
comprised of companies with varying levels
of digital maturity, collecting and housing
paper-based and digital data in different
ways. Traditional and non-traditional health
data from a large number of electronic
health records and devices will need to be
combined with historical paper-based data in
a universal format, to enable the industry to
become fully digital.
This is a long way from happening, but
a move towards cloud-based storage
means that far higher quantities of data
can be stored, presenting opportunities to
companies utilizing a wealth of healthcare
data for research and development. An
example is the IBM Watson Health platform,
which was recently at the center of a
partnership with Apple’s HealthKit health
sensor data platform. The collaboration
is using advanced analytics and natural
language processing capabilities to deliver
clinical decision support.
Digitization of the industry, and particularly
of patient health data, is a significant
opportunity and collaborations are helping
established companies to step up their
game. Major tech players such as Google
(in the example above), Apple, IBM and
Qualcomm Technologies are partnering
with established healthcare and pharma
organizations to facilitate data sharing and
unlock insights from the wealth of digital
healthcare data available.

Figure 2: Proportion of company respondents saying these will be ‘very important’ for
their digital marketing over the next few years

Optimizing the customer journey across multiple 74%

touchpoints 70%

65%
Ensuring consistency of message across channels
66%

Training teams in new techniques, channels and 60%

disciplines 58%

44%
Using online data to optimize the offline experience
47%

Understanding when and where customers use 42%

different devices 45%

Understanding how mobile users research / buy 40%

products 50%

39%
Using offline data to optimize the online experience
39%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Healthcare and pharma Other sectors

Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Healthcare and pharma respondents: 270
Other sectors respondents: 1,993

8 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with
In a paper on the digitization of healthcare6,
McKinsey envisages the impact of the flood
of health data into the industry resulting in
“a world in which most care is ‘protocolized’”
– that is, in which clinical decisions on
the best treatment options are suggested
to physicians by an automated decision
algorithm informed by advanced analytics.
This research shows that although the sector
lags behind others in its assessment of its
own digital maturity, investment in digital
is on the rise. Across all channels and
disciplines that were explored, healthcare
and pharma companies are more likely (or
just as likely, in the case of personalization)
to say they’re going to increase their
budgets.
North American respondents are more than
twice as likely as their peers in Europe and
APAC to say they are digital-first (7% vs.
3%), which is potentially a reflection of the
healthcare market in North America being
dominated by private healthcare providers
and pharma companies which may be
more likely to invest in technology to stay
competitive.
This reflects a recognized business
need for developing digital skills and
understanding. In an Econsultancy report
on digital transformation in the healthcare
and pharmaceutical sector7, Leo Miller of
GSK Consumer Healthcare highlighted
that people are a core pillar of their digital
transformation program and in how they
develop their capabilities. GSK is an
example of a company not only developing
skills internally through an unrelenting focus
on training but also looking to external
collaborations to bring in fresh talent to fill
skills gaps.
Ritesh Patel of OCHWW also acknowledged
that the secret to long-term success
essentially amounts to hiring digitally-minded
people at all levels of the organization
and empowering them. Patel highlighted
the need for a culture that embraces and
encourages innovation, a need generally
accepted in companies striving for digital
change, regardless of sector. These
companies are discussed in more detail in
Section 3.

Increased budgets are a positive sign that

companies in the sector are preparing
themselves to ride the digital wave, and
this research shows that they are making
digital a priority internally as well as in
their products. ‘Training teams in new
techniques, channels and disciplines’, and
‘optimizing the customer journey across
multiple touchpoints’ are the two areas that
healthcare and pharma companies perceive
as more important than their peers in other
sectors (Figure 2).

Additionally, compared to last year,

healthcare and pharma companies are 30%
more likely to see training as ‘very important’
for their digital marketing over the next years
(60% vs. 46%). Over two-thirds (67%) of
large organizations (with annual revenues
exceeding $180 million) perceive training to
be very important.

6
http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/pharmaceuticals-
and-medical-products/our-insights/the-road-to-digital-
success-in-pharma
7
https://econsultancy.com/blog/68221-embracing-digital-
transformation-in-the-pharma-and-healthcare-sectors/

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 9
 3 Shifting control results in
a focus on the customer

The shift of control from healthcare not possible in many enterprise-level

professionals and companies to the
consumer is forcing the industry into a
customer-first mindset. Figure 2 showed
that optimizing the journey across multiple
touchpoints is the most important priority for
75% of healthcare and pharma respondents
over the next year, and it is the experience
that customers have along this journey that
sets the digital leaders apart from the rest.
The pace of change in consumer and
patient expectations has accelerated as
a result of digital, but keeping abreast of
these changes requires a level of agility
healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.
Large organizations are more likely to
have departmental silos and bureaucratic
processes – in many instances a legacy
of a tortuous history of acquisitions and
decentralization – as a barrier to successfully
driving digital transformation. Growth
typically comes with a reduction in agility,
and the challenge will be for the larger
organizations to keep pace with the rest.

Figure 3: Which three digital-related areas are the top priorities for your organization in
2017?

Content marketing 29%

29%
Targeting and personalization 25%
25%
Brand building / viral marketing 24%
23%
Customer journey management 24%
21%
Social media engagement 21%
29%
Multichannel campaign management 21%
16%
Video content 21%
21%
Mobile app engagement 15%
12%
Mobile optimization 13%
15%
Search engine marketing 13%
15%
Joining up online and offline data 13%
9%
Customer scoring and predictive marketing 12%
8%
Marketing automation 11%
13%
Social media analytics 10%
10%
Conversion rate optimization 9%
14%
Real-time marketing 6%
6%
Programmatic buying / optimization 3%
5%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Healthcare and pharma Other sectors

Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Healthcare and pharma respondents: 349
Other sectors respondents: 4,929

10 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with
As consumers have taken back the reins
of their own healthcare, preferring more
convenient ways to get medical services
and access healthcare information, it has
become the job of companies within the
sector to optimize their journey to doing so.
In fact, healthcare and pharma companies
are 14% more likely than their peers in
other sectors to see customer journey
management as a top-three tactical priority
in 2017 (24% vs. 21%).
Companies in the sector are also more
likely to prioritize multichannel campaign
management (21% vs. 16%) and joining
up online and offline data (13% vs. 9%),
both essential for facilitating a consistent
journey across channels. It’s apparent that
the larger organizations are especially
committed to being agile and meeting new
challenges, as they’re more likely to prioritize
these three areas than the rest. For over a
third of organizations with annual revenues
exceeding $180 million, customer journey
management and multichannel campaign
management (36% and 34% respectively)
are top-three priorities, while joining up
online and offline data is prioritized by a
quarter (25%).
The desire of consumers to increase their
healthcare knowledge is being met with a
focus on content marketing by healthcare
and pharma companies. Figure 3 shows that
the biggest digital-related priority for 2017
is content marketing, selected by 29% of
respondents. Content is gradually earning
its place in healthcare campaigns, and the
next few years will see content creation and
storytelling emerging as prominent, very
much in-demand skills.
One of the best ways for companies to
appeal to a range of different audiences
is through tailored content, and some big
players are using it to their advantage.
Philips, for example, credits content
marketing with its move from electronics to
healthcare. Through programs like its Future
Health Index thought leadership hub, Philips
is seeing clear gains from quality content
marketing.8 A strong emphasis on targeting
and personalization – the second most cited
priority for 2017 (25%) – will also be key in
developing and distributing tailored content.
8
https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/10/18/how-content-marketing-is-helping-philips-move-into-healthcare/
9
Social media “likes” healthcare’, Health Research Institute / PwC, April 2012
Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma
However, most content in the sector
originates from pharma companies
marketing to healthcare professionals.
Additionally, regulation and the wide
range of patient histories and illnesses
makes personalized content marketing, so
successful in other sectors, much more of a
challenge for this audience.
Social media emerges as a priority in terms
of budgeting, with nearly two-thirds (63%,
compared to an average of 55% across
other sectors) planning to increase their
investment in social media marketing. Many
companies are still cautious with social
content because of the industry’s strict
regulations. In the past, they also feared
that opening up pharma and healthcare
companies to social media would result in a
deluge of negative comments – for instance,
about adverse effects of drugs.
However, studies have found this effect to
be minimal, and improved social analytics
and automation should allow companies
to deal with negative feedback quickly
and effectively. As a result, we are seeing
more brands ensuring that social media is
part of their marketing plan. Ed Bennett,
digital strategy consultant for the healthcare
industry, emphasized the importance of
using social media in the healthcare and
pharma sector: “If you want to connect
with people and be part of their community,
you need to go where the community is.
You need to be connecting before you are
actually needed.”9
The focus on training staff discussed
previously, particularly in skills needed
to create good customer experiences,
is driven by a skills gap that is barely
improving, according to the survey results.
The proportion of those saying they have
the people they need to engineer good
customer experiences has increased only
four percentage points in the last two years
(from 57% to 61%). Healthcare and pharma
companies are also less likely than their
peers in other sectors to have the skills they
need (61% compared to an average of 67%
across other sectors).
In association with 11
 Often, the necessary skills are associated
with analytics and insight. Although good
data management is imperative regardless of
sector, in an industry where digital disruption
is resulting in an influx of data from myriad
sources, the need for skilled staff to collect,
distil and analyze this data is paramount. For
over two-thirds of healthcare and pharma
companies (67%, compared to an average
of 63% across other sectors), improving data
analysis capabilities is perceived to be ‘very
important’ in delivering a great customer
experience over the coming year.
Figure 4 shows mobile is not a priority
for most survey respondents. Though
consumers increasingly use mobile devices
for healthcare purposes, only 40% of
healthcare and pharma companies (down
from 42% in 2016) say that mobile is a
strategic priority (compared to 49% in
other sectors). This is a surprise given
the disruption coming from mobile apps
in the sector, including businesses like
babylon, which allows access to healthcare
professionals via video and messenger, and
utilizes artificial intelligence technology10.

This parallels strategy and investment too:
healthcare and pharma companies are 9%
more likely than their peers in other sectors
to say that data-driven marketing is a top-
three strategic priority in 2017 (75% vs.
69%). Correspondingly, the vast majority
plan to increase (53%) or maintain (46%)
their investment in marketing analytics.
This research shows that while mobile
health solutions are increasingly popular
with consumers and the sector is brimming
with opportunity for delivering anytime/
anywhere virtual care, companies in this
sector are underestimating the importance
of this channel. Patient centricity will not
become a reality if healthcare and pharma
organizations are not delivering care, advice
and information via the consumers’ devices
of choice.

Figure 4: Please rank these five areas in order of priority for your organization in 2017.

Customer experience 60% 21% 12% 93%

Data-driven marketing 16% 30% 29% 75%

Cross-channel marketing 13% 21% 27% 61%

Mobile 5% 17% 18% 40%

Programmatic buying / optimization 5% 9% 11% 25%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
First choice Second choice Third choice

Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 328

10
https://www.babylonhealth.com/how-it-works

12 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with
 4 The future looks more
promising than ever

Technologies used by companies like Push
Doctor and the aforementioned babylon are
facilitating a change in the way consumers
approach healthcare. This requires an
adjustment in the way that healthcare
and pharmaceutical companies market
to consumers, healthcare professionals,
and each other. As discussed in Section
2, one of the biggest shifts will be towards
selling products based on patient outcomes.
Novartis, a pharma company with big digital
ambitions, has acknowledged this and is
using it to drive innovation.11
Customer experience is the top strategic
priority for the vast majority of healthcare
and pharma companies surveyed (93%,
compared to an average of 90% across
other sectors) and ‘optimizing the customer
experience’ is perceived to be the most
exciting opportunity by just over a fifth (22%).
As indicated by the level of investment
in customer experience and related
technologies, companies in the sector seek
to use this to differentiate themselves from
competitors over the next five years. Just
under a third (30%) of organizations (and
the highest proportion) said this would be a
key differentiator for them, but when split by

Figure 5: Over the next five years, what is the primary way your organization will seek
to differentiate itself from competitors?

Customer experience – making the experience on our 40%

properties easy / fun / valuable 24%
Customer service – enhancing our reputation for 21%
brilliant service across all touchpoints 22%
18%
Product / service innovation
17%
11%
Product / service quality
20%
Joining up online / offline experiences – ensuring 6%
consistency across virtual and physical worlds 6%
3%
Mobile – catering to mobile shoppers / buyers
4%
Convenience e.g. fast delivery, in-store pickup, buy 1%
online return-to-store etc. 5%
0%
Price
1%
0%
None of the above
1%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Organizations with annual revenues of more than $180m
Organizations with annual revenues of less than $180m

Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 305

11
http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/novartis-on-digitizing-medicine-in-an-aging-world

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 13
 Customer experience is the top strategic
priority for 93% of companies

revenue, the larger organizations (such as
Novartis) emerge as nearly twice as likely as
smaller organizations to say so (Figure 5).
This is likely as a result of higher budgets
allocated to innovation and digital initiatives.
Pfizer is an example of a large pharma
business that is planning for the future
through experimentation at grassroots
level. The company’s mantra is to fail
inexpensively until success is found, and
execute it through its ‘Dare to Try’ program.12
This aimed to change the culture of the
organization to enable agility and change,
and the program is now a branded feature of
the company.
Figure 6 shows the areas that pharma
companies are seeing as the most
exciting prospect over the next few years.
The Internet of Things and connected
devices are the most exciting for a third of
respondents, probably as a result of them
currently being the most tangible product
of digital disruption, with concrete and
successful examples of use cases. By 2025,
Intel predicts that the global worth of IoT
technology from healthcare devices will
amount to $2.5 trillion, and by 2020, it will
add $285 billion of healthcare provider value
to the global economy.13

Figure 6: Looking ahead, which of these do you regard as the most exciting prospect
for 2020?

Internet of Things / connected devices e.g. wearables,

31%
audience tracking

Engaging audiences through virtual or augmented

26%
reality

Utilizing artificial intelligence / bots to drive campaigns

23%
and experiences

Enhanced payment technologies e.g. mobile wallets, e-

9%
receipts

Voice interfaces e.g. Amazon Echo, Google Home 6%

Other 5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 352

12
https://econsultancy.com/blog/68861-digital-transformation-in-pharma-pfizer-s-dare-to-try-project/
13
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/healthcare-it/solutions/documents/iot-healthcare-policy-principles-paper.html

14 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with
Over time, the rise of telemedicine and
diagnostics using artificial intelligence
technology will see AI moving to front of
mind for healthcare organizations. These
technologies have the potential to disrupt
businesses that are based heavily on
physical facilities and staff.
Virtual and augmented reality are the second
most exciting prospect for 2020, selected
by 26% of respondents. Just one example
of virtual reality (VR) being applied in the
healthcare and pharma sector is the training
of junior doctors, who would otherwise find
it difficult to gain experience of operating
on patients. VR is being used to create
numerous life-like, pre-programmed training
situations that allow doctors to respond and
practice on robots rather than humans. In the
future, planned partnerships of the VR and
robotic technologies with Oculus Rift could
see this type of training taken even further.14
It has taken some time for the healthcare
and pharmaceutical sector to get moving
with digital, but as paper documentation
gives way to cloud-based data collection,
and businesses capitalize on the data that
consumers are providing through the Internet
of Things, we could see rapid transformation
in the sector in the next few years.
The value in this is enormous – not just
monetarily but in terms of health to the
millions of patients whose treatment may
be improved or even made unnecessary
through earlier diagnosis and preventative
actions. This could be vital to ensure the
sector does not collapse under the weight of
a global ageing population, which is already
putting enormous pressure on healthcare
systems worldwide.

Virtual and augmented reality are also

being used to gamify treatment that would
otherwise become mundane, in an aim to
increase adherence to treatment; again in
keeping with an outcome-based focus. For
instance, physiotherapists are beginning
to use VR to make repetitious movements
into a game offering tracking and feedback,
benefiting both the patient and the physician
in terms of the data collected, which can
be used to improve the current patient’s
outcome, and to guide future treatments.

14
https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2016/oct/19/virtual-reality-game-healthcare-hospitals-simulation

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 15
 5
Actionable tips to
help future-proof your
healthcare/pharma
business
1. Allow the customer to take control
and accept a shift to an outcome-
based approach in order to keep
up
The wealth of information now available
to consumers on the healthcare options
available to them means that their ability to
shop around has increased. They are taking
control of their own healthcare and driving
change, opting for more convenient ways to
get medical services and access healthcare
information.
Companies that adopt an approach of
assisting consumers with their health over
the long term, both in the treatment and
prevention of illness, will win their trust.
It’s not about relinquishing control, but
about acknowledging the fact that the way
healthcare services are accessed and used
is changing, and flexibility in your approach
is required in order to keep up with these
changes.
2. Cater for the consumer desire for
information through all channels
Effective marketing now requires
communication across all channels, with
consistent messaging and a smooth journey
across channels and devices. Consumers
are increasingly expecting the same level
of experience from the brands they interact
with, whether they’re incumbent players in
the B2C sector or healthcare providers.
16 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma
Being able to deliver marketing messages
in whichever format your customer wishes
to consume them will result in higher
engagement and advocacy. Those who give
consumers the choice will win the race in this
new transparent environment.
3. Invest in digital skills that can
make use of an influx of data in the
sector
The healthcare and pharma sector is data
rich, and only getting richer. Consumers
are generating vast amounts of data in
their everyday lives, but these sources
of information often remain untapped.
This pool of (increasingly real-time)
healthcare intelligence can help provide a
care continuum for patients at a personal
level. Ensure your business has the right
technology and data skills to take advantage,
as digitization of health records creates
opportunities for both healthcare and pharma
companies and their customers.
Though strict regulations still represent one
of the most difficult barriers to overcome,
startups specializing in data collection and
analysis are beginning to emerge. Partnering
with these startups might be an easier route
for those struggling to be agile and nimble
with the data they have access to, or bolster
the internal data they have.
In association with
 The healthcare and pharma sector
is data rich, and only getting richer

4. Facilitate internal change through a

culture of encouraging innovation
that can be scaled up if successful

Healthcare and pharma organizations need

to adopt a startup approach and create
a culture that encourages and embraces
innovation, supporting the ability to fail by
enabling experimentation in an agile fashion,
but without compromising compliance. These
experiments, controlled in scope and size,
can be run on a smaller scale and used to
prove or disprove hypotheses. There’s also
an added benefit: the insights can be shared
across the organization, helping to develop
skills and creating the right environment to
facilitate a focus on innovation in the future.

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 17
 6 Appendix: respondent
profiles

Figure 7: In which region are you based?

60%

57%

50%

40%

30%

20% 22%

10%
10%
8%
1% 1% 1%
0%
North America Europe Asia Australia / New Middle East Africa Other
Zealand

Econsultancy / Adobe Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 497

18 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with
Respondents based in Europe
Figure 8: In which of the following countries are you based?

UK 20%

Germany 14%

France 11%

Sweden 10%

Denmark 8%

Switzerland 6%

Italy 5%

Belgium 5%

Spain 5%

Netherlands 4%

Norway 1%

Finland 1%

Austria 1%

Other 9%

0% 10% 20% 30%

Econsultancy / Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 108

Respondents based in Asia Pacific

Figure 9: In which of the following countries are you based?

Australia / New Zealand 45%

India 28%

Thailand 6%

Malaysia 5%

Singapore 5%

Philippines 3%

China 3%

Taiwan 2%

Indonesia 1%

Other 2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Econsultancy / Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 87

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 19
 Figure 10: What best describes your job role?

Manager 35%

Junior executive / associate 18%

Director / senior director 16%

C-level / general manager 2%

Board level 2%

VP / SVP / EVP 2%

Other 25%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Econsultancy / Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 497

Figure 11: Are you more focused on B2B or B2C as a business?

40%

37%
35%

33%
30%
30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
B2C B2B B2B and B2C (equally)

Econsultancy / Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 496

20 Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with
Figure 12: What is your annual company revenue?

30%

27%
25%

20%
19%
17%
15%

13% 13%

10% 11%

5%

0%
<$1.2 million $1.2 – $12 million $12 – $60 million $60 – $180 $180 million – More than $1.2
million $1.2 billion billion

Econsultancy / Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing Respondents: 271

Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2017 Digital Trends in Healthcare and Pharma In association with 21
Digital
Intelligence
Briefing
2017 Digital Trends
in Healthcare
and Pharma

in association with

Published April 2017 Econsultancy London Econsultancy New York

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