Hive Health

I am happy to say that I have completed my first week at Hive, and have survived in tact. I am feeling thoroughly looked after, and already feel like part of the furniture.*

One of the take-home sentiments of the week, for me, is the obvious commitment of the team to a patient-centred approach to healthcare communications.

In my previous role, at a national mental health charity, I had encountered more than my fair share of hollow claims to patient-centredness. This easily-employed jargon masking the fact that the patient was being ignored when developing communications, or that communications were developed on an inaccurate (and invariably patronising) idea of who the patient is, what they need, and what they want. It is for this reason that I breathed a sigh of relief when it became apparent to me that the team’s claim to patient-centredness is genuine – they take time to really understand the patient, and that the patient is built into all that they do.

 For me, this approach is an invaluable tool in reconciling the oft-cited conflict of interests between patients, payers and prescribers, and Pharma. Patient-centredness translates into patient-engagement, which ultimately confers demonstrable benefits to each of these parties. It should be cherished where it occurs, and encouraged where it does not.

* Speaking of furniture, just don’t ask what happened to Debbie’s chair. All I can say is, if you have any office furniture that needs testing to destruction, you should give her a call.