Healthcare Communications Leadership. Now More than Ever
Posted on Tue, May 26, 2009 @ 12:35 PM
Everybody’s got plans…until they get hit.
-- Mike Tyson
Iron Mike was devastating in the ring but wasn’t generally known to be much of a philosopher. But boy did he nail it with the above quote.
Let’s look at Mike’s words of wisdom as they apply to the pharmaceutical industry, 
shall we? The US pharmaceutical market is expected to contract in 2009 according to IMS. For the first time in more than 50 years, a market that regularly produced double-digit growth will shrink due to the economic downturn and other factors affecting its business.
Few could predict the severity of the economic hurricane that’s blowing through this country right now (and hopefully we’re starting to see signs of the storm subsiding). Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies, and the consultants that support them, have historically been fairly recession proof. Not this time unfortunately. Our industry has been hurt just like everybody else, with estimates of pharmaceutical jobs lost to date hovering around 80,000.
As bad as things are, there is still room for optimism. When things are at their worst, leadership is often the difference between survival or the alternative. Smart companies with strong leaders are identifying opportunities and seizing them. Some strategically sound deals are being made. Companies are reading the tea leaves regarding healthcare reform, and some are choosing to position themselves as leaders in the effort to improve access and reduce cost (rather than whining about the inevitable). The recent meeting between representatives of the healthcare industry and President Obama at the White House, at which they promised to slow the growth of health spending by 1.5 percent a year, is evidence of that. And consider GE Healthcare’s healthymagination program. The company is clearly embracing change in ways that few of its competitors have and positioning GE as leading the charge of healthcare reform.
The changes that we’re experiencing have not been easy for any of us. As healthcare communicators, we can help our clients embrace these changes and hopefully benefit from them. Remember, we always have a choice. We can either grow and adapt, or die. The time for leadership is now.
David Avitabile
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