Research partnerships: Academia, industry, patients, and clinicians

Advances in Wound Care, Jun 1999 by Salcido, Richard

CLINICIANS, RESEARCHERS, PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND health care providers contribute to our knowledge of wound care through research and clinical practice. Translating this knowledge into practice standards, risk assessment tools, outcomes measurements, and the like is an important part of the contribution that these thought leaders make.

Indispensable partners in the effort to advance our understanding of wound care are product manufacturers and the pharmaceutical industry-they are in the business of transferring technology to patient care (ie, moving products from bench to bedside). The cycle is initiated when industry begins to raise capital through investors to fund research and development (R&D). Products are developed, marketed, and delivered to buyers for a profit. The profit is returned, in part, to the investors, but a substantial portion is used to fund continuing R&D.

Marketing for newly developed wound care products is part of the cost of R&D. In the past, most marketing efforts in the wound care arena were aimed at health care professionals and the organizations they worked for. Most of this marketing activity took place at national conferences (ie, on the exhibit floor), through sales force activity at clinical practice sites, and through sponsored activities. The advent of managed care, with its regional and national purchasing groups, has changed marketing targets. Now the marketing bull's-eye has expanded, incorporating new methods and new client bases, including direct marketing to the patient.

New Partnerships

Pharmaceutical and wound care product manufacturers contribute much to our economy, quality of life, and health; patients, clinicians, professional organizations, researchers, and investors benefit from their entrepreneurial activities. Yet wound care professionals have not always been eager to embrace industry, preferring to keep them at arm's length. Industry now wants more substantive relationships. The fact that both clinicians and industry are being held accountable for outcomes of care and use of products based on evidence of efficacy dictates the development of new partnerships and paradigms.

Patient-oriented research is of interest to integrated health care delivery systems, health maintenance organizations, and manufacturers of wound care products. Industry wants partners (researchers) who can understand and meet their needs. The ideal partner for the pharmaceutical industry, for example, will have a track record of research published in peerreviewed journals and an understanding of the basics regarding the regulations and processes of the Food and Drug Administration. In general, it will be in industry's best interest to establish longterm relationships with high-quality academic organizations that have the ability to move programs and projects forward and process data in a manner that is consistent with the pace of the corporate world.

Effective Relationships

Management guru Stephen R. Covey1 has written about the habits of highly effective people. Wound care professionals can take a cue from Covey and develop the following habits that, if applied, could lead to highly effective relationships among clinicians, researchers, and the wound care industry.

1. Make sure there is a significant integrity overlap among researcher, intermediary, and the corporation providing the funding. Agree in advance to report all results, even if they do not favor the product being researched (journals are now publishing negative results).

2. Do what you say you are going to do. We live in a world in which people expect more than they receive and people promise more than they can deliver.

3. Relationships must be goal- and outcome-oriented. Basing the relationship on economic terms first is putting the cart before the horse. The more you accomplish as a team, the stronger the bond, which in turn adds economic value.

4. Assume that the academician and researcher do not have a monopoly on virtue and clinical scientific knowledge. Be humble; industry has more than its share of accomplished scientists.

5. Base your relationships on mutual respect. Find the experts in your area of interest, regardless of institutional affiliations, and work with them. Ego-driven relationships do not often produce clinical products that benefit patients.

6. Be able to communicate; this builds trust. Trust is being able to exchange information.

7. Incorporate consumers, clinicians, and statisticians early on in the process. If it appears that patients will not benefit from the work that is being done, place your efforts elsewhere. As mentioned earlier, be prepared to report all results, even if they do not favor the product you are researching.

Forging partnerships with industry is a win-win situation. For industry, it means an opportunity to work with thought leaders on important product research. For researchers/ clinicians, it means an opportunity for funding for new or continuing research projects. For both, it means another opportunity to publish their findings in a respected, peer-reviewed journal, thus expanding our knowledge of wound care.