Message from the Chair

Dear HCA Member
It's been a very busy Summer for the HCA and within this update we are pleased  to bring some really positive news in terms of new members, free access to the Interactive Evaluation Toolkit as a membership feature, and an update on how well received our Good Practice Guide on Working with the Media has been.

Julia Cook, Chair
 
Membership continues to grow
We are pleased to announce than the HCA's membership is bigger than ever and now comprises a total of 76 member organisations: 16 industry members; 44 agency members and 16 Associate Members.

We are really delighted to welcome the following new members:

• Bayer Schering Pharma
• De Facto Communications
• Joan Barnard (Associate Member)
• Matt Coleman, Marketing Edge Communications (Associate Member)
• Mediapharm
• Medicus International
• MEP
• Merz Pharma UK
• Nick Broughton, Broughton Walker Medical (Associate Member)
• Red Health
• Rene Lei Consultancy (Associate Member)
• Reynolds-McKenzie
• Sanofi Pasteur MSD
• Say
• Steven Gray Consulting (Associate Member)
  

Good Practice Guide update
The HCA Good Practice Guide (GPG) on Working with the Media was launched in July this year and has proven to be a valuable resource for members.  Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or new to working in healthcare communications, the GPG is a good way to address questions and practical issues that arise during everyday media activities in the UK.

All staff within member organisations can freely access the GPG, which covers topics such as:

• Working with patient case studies
• UK and International congresses
• Features for the medical and consumer press
• Advertorials and Supplements
  

Here's what some of the HCA members are saying about the GPG:

“The most valuable HCA offering is the Best Practice Guide - we are in there every day, helping to clarify things for clients.” - Agency member

“The GPG is excellent, particularly from an ABPI point of view.  It really helps with the grey areas and saves a huge amont of time and argument!” - Industry member

“The GPG helps us to do a better job as an agency or at least make a conscious decision to act or not act, as appropriate.” - Agency member

The GPG is continually updated with additional Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) case rulings that relate to working with the media and clearly and simply sets out how members can undertake media activities within the context of The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Code of Practice.

In response to member demands, the Standards Sub-Committee, which developed and continually updates the GPG, is developing a new set of guidance related to working with patient and professional groups.  This new GPG chapter will be available to members mid 2008.

To access, simply log-into the members' section from where you can go directly into the GPG.  For those members not already registered, go the HCA website (www.hca-uk.org) and click on the ‘Register Now' button in the Members Login box.
 
Interactive Evaluation Toolkit - now free to all members
The HCA is very keen to demonstrate good value to all its members.  With this in mind, the Executive Committee recently reviewed and agreed to enhance the package of features available to all its members.  This will be an on-going project, but we are very pleased to announce a new feature, which is live with immediate effect.

The recently launched HCA Interactive Evaluation Toolkit (IET) is now free for members and can be accessed from the HCA website www.hca-uk.org.  Members who have already paid for the IET this year will receive credit on 2008 membership fees.

The IET is an important new tool, which we hope will encourage more and more people to properly evaluate their healthcare communications campaigns.  If widely used, it should promote greater standardisation of the evaluation process across the industry and introduce a common platform recognisable between different agencies, in-house teams and others involved in healthcare communications.

One of the main benefits of the new IET is that all members will have access to their own password-protected, secure area on the IET, which acts as a central storage area for evaluation of all projects.  The IET also allows users to edit and print these evaluation plans and include them within broader programme proposals, pitch documents, and company communication plans.  This is further supported by an on-line tutorial available to users.

Learn more about the IET and how to get started by clicking here.
 
Special members' debate
Plans are underway to hold a special members' debate before Christmas around some of the key implications arising from this year's benchmarking surveys amongst consultancy and pharma industry members, with its special focus on procurement.  A discussion document is currently in preparation, which will draw the various findings together and start to consider some of the potential implications for our industry in the immediate and longer term.

An alert will be issued with the date and further details as there are some potentially controversial issues that will be aired on the evening.