Welcome from the Chair
2008 has certainly got off to a flying start, with a wide range of activities happening across the board and many more planned throughout the rest of the year.  Please do look out below for some important upcoming events including a Breakfast Briefing in conjunction with the MHRA on Distribution of Medicines and Anti-Counterfeiting Strategy, and an evening Hot Topics Forum on the new ABPI Code of Practice and the implications for all of us as communications practitioners.

An ever-developing theme for the HCA is one of wider collaboration. In the process of both raising our profile and defining and disseminating best practice, we have been working with a number of other organisations for mutual benefit and we are delighted to bring news of initiatives with ISBA (Incorporated Society of British Advertisers), The Institute of Clinical Research and Medcomms Networking. In addition, we continue to liaise with the ABPI on areas where we can work together.

Finally, we are pleased to announce within this update a whole new range of member benefits.

As always, we are interested to hear your views and if you have any comments or questions on the HCA's offerings, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Do also remember that HCA membership is corporate so please ensure that this update is circulated to as many relevant people as possible within your organisation.

Sarah Matthew, HCA Chair
chair@hca-uk.org
 
HCA Training Update
Julia Harries, Chair, HCA Training Sub-Committee

Nearly 50 delegates have participated in HCA training since the beginning of the year via two Introduction to Healthcare PR and one Media Relations workshops. Delegates have come from 24 different companies (including eight industry member companies and 13 consultancy member companies).  100% of delegates rated the workshop quality and contents as 'good' or 'excellent' and intend to recommend the workshops to colleagues.

Through these full day workshops, the HCA continues to provide access to industry experts and leading practitioners who share their first hand experiences and insights. Contributors so far in 2008 have included: Chris Webber, Brand Manager at Roche; Steve Jones, Senior Brand Manager at Novartis; ITN correspondent Liz Wickham; freelance consumer journalist and former health correspondent for the Mirror Jill Palmer; Sally Irvine, Senior Communications Manager at Novartis; and, Pfizer Communications Manager Andrew Thomas. Consultancy insights have been provided by senior management teams members of Athena, Just, Red Door Communications and Virgo.

“The workshop was excellent.”  “Very good - introduction with enough detail, and fun!” “Covered everything clearly and concisely.”  “Team working with strangers is a great way to learn new ideas.”

Coming up in the next few weeks are the first in our new series of Breakfast Briefings: on 12th June Simon Gregor of the MHRA and Lilly's Customer Focus and Insight Manager, Jeremy Wiles, will address topical issues around managing the impact of counterfeiting and the distribution of medicines.  The latest Hot Topics Evening Discussion Forum on 16th June ABPI Code expert trainers Dr Trish Campbell and Ian Hale will be leading discussion on the soon to be published ABPI Code revisions and key aspects affecting healthcare communications, PR and medical education. (For further details and to register please click here).

If you are interested in registering yourself or a colleague for one of our Introduction to PR or Media Relations workshops, there is no need to wait until the course you are interested in is advertised. To meet members' needs, the HCA training team is happy to take provisional bookings and coordinate a workshop when a sufficient number of delegates are registered. Expressing interest in a future workshop in this way does not oblige you to attend until the date of the workshop is finalised and you have made a formal booking.

We hope to see you at an HCA training event soon. For enquiries on HCA events please contact the HCA events team, either by email training@hca-uk.org or by telephone on 01462 744 044.  We are always keen to hear the suggestions and views of members to ensure we are providing training that is of interest and relevance to you and your colleagues. Do please drop me an email: jharries@rdcomms.com.
 
Benchmarking
Aline Beresford, Chair, HCA Benchmarking Sub-Committee

Following on from the Consultancy or Commodity debate at the end of 2007, a roundtable forum on best practice in the procurement process/consultancy selection was held on 6th March with three consultancy, two in-house communications, two procurement and two marketing attendees.  Whilst it became clear that the needs of different companies and different situations means there can be no prescriptive set of ‘rules' for the optimum procurement process, consensus was reached on six guiding principles that were considered to represent ‘best practice' and that companies and consultancies should therefore be working together to follow. The report is available to all members on this site in the 'Document Archive' (in the members section).  In addition, Julia Cook, HCA Deputy Chair, will be presenting the HCA's work in this area at a special pharma industry procurement group meeting of ISBA (Incorporated Society of British Advertisers) on June 11th and discussing potential areas of collaboration with this group.

The 2007-8 consultancy benchmarking survey was distributed in early May, with a completion deadline of Friday 30th May.  The survey format has been redesigned to make it easier to fill in.  It included questions on some of the issues identified in the roundtable forum, allowing organisations to benchmark their own practices and experiences against the guiding principles identified.

The 2008 Industry Survey will mirror these questions about best practice in the procurement process/consultancy selection. It will take the form of a short telephone questionnaire - developed during May, with fieldwork taking place in June. We hope to include procurement and marketing representatives from each HCA member organisation, in addition to in-house communications. 

For both surveys, an additional section of topical focus The changing face of healthcare communications will look at how environmental and other changes are influencing the types of activities being conducted and the ways in which consultancies work with their industry partners.
 
Standards
Esme Newton-Dunn, Acting Chair, HCA Standards Sub-Committee

There have been a number of additions and changes in the membership of the sub-committee during the first quarter.  Firstly, we were sad to say goodbye to Neil McCrae, who stepped down as chair, and Edel McCaffrey - both stalwart members of the group whose drive and commitment were crucial in the delivery of the Good Practice Guide to Working with the Media. We have also welcomed some new members on to the sub-committee, representing both industry and consultancy: Judith Luker, Pfizer; Susie Hackett, Roche and Jamie Holyer, Advocate. 

The main focus of the group during the first quarter of the year has been to drive forward the development of the HCA Good Practice Guide to Working with Patient Groups.  We are following the same thorough methodology employed by this sub-committee in producing the Good Practice Guide to Working with the Media.  Work undertaken to date to inform the development of this document has involved:

• Preparing a draft framework for the guidance
• Reviewing PMCPA cases from the last three years for any examples of complaints - either up-held or rejected
• Reviewing the newly published EFPIA code on best practice in working with patient organisations 
• Preparing a questionnaire for patient groups to canvass their views and experience of working in partnership with the industry
• Consulting with the ABPI and a variety of patient groups to discuss their thoughts and views
• Production of the text is now underway and HCA members will be updated very soon on the final launch date.

Update on Return on Investment and Evaluation
Carys Thomas Ampofo, Chair, HCA RoIE Sub-Committee

The RoIE Sub-Committee has been consolidating on a productive year in 2007 during Q1 2008, in particular continuing to raise awareness of the importance and methodology for evaluation.

One important focus has been the review of all training course content to ensure that key messages and information about the Interactive Evaluation Toolkit (IET) are incorporated where relevant.  We would still welcome your feedback on the IET and any thoughts you may have about how we can continue to encourage its routine use in healthcare communications planning. If you have ideas on this, please email the sub-committee chair, Carys Thomas Ampofo on carys@ashcommunications.com.

Looking to the future, we have been working with the Benchmarking Sub-Committee to update questions relating to evaluation and return on investment (RoI) in the annual agency and industry surveys, the data from which has traditionally been a useful planning tool for the RoIE Sub-Committee.  Finally, we are expecting to receive analysis from the RoI/cost impact survey work carried out late last year within the next few weeks and will be releasing the findings shortly after.

To view a tutorial about the IET click here.
 
Recruitment
Jennie Talman, Chair, HCA Recruitment Sub-Committee

The Talent Search 2012 is well underway.  The Recruitment Sub-Committee has established contact with 14 universities and are now working with them to ensure that healthcare communications has a profile and that interested graduates are referred to the HCA website.  Graduate information on the website has been updated and currently 12 HCA members are registered as companies who would like to hear from graduates looking for work placements and full-time jobs.  This information will soon be added to the site.

If you are willing to accept such graduate applications and would like to be listed on the HCA website, then please send an e-mail to jo_spadaccino@uk.cohnwolfe.com with the following details:

1. Company name
2. Whether you consider work placement applications: (yes/no) 
3. Whether you accept applications for permanent graduate positions: (yes/no)
4. Any other information that you would like to include to guide applicants - for instance if you only offer minimum or maximum time periods for work experience; if you have specific dates for graduate recruitment applications, etc.
5. Contact details for further information: Name, job title, preferred route for applications (please provide telephone and/or e-mail details)

Planning is also underway for the Valuing People Best Practice Seminar.  We are hoping to run the event in September and are currently contacting a variety of interesting spokespeople.
 
Membership and Marketing
Alexa Forbes, Chair, HCA Membership & Marketing Sub-Committee

Several new members have joined in the first quarter of 2008, including a number of Associate Members.   Total membership now stands at 88 members, including 17 industry and 21 Associate members.

The HCA is delighted to announce that we have added a new Corporate Discounts section to the website. We have negotiated discounts and free trials with suppliers and services that we feel will be of benefit to you.  These discounts are exclusive to our members and can only be accessed through the ‘members' area of the website.  A flavour of the benefits and discounts available is outlined below:

Venues:

• The King's Fund, London - 10% discount on standard room hire rates and 5% discount on daily delegate rate
• The Royal Over-Seas League, London - 15% discount on meeting room hire
• The Royal Society of Medicine (One Wimpole Street), London - 10% discount on standard room hire rates
• The Royal Society of Medicine (Chandos House), London - 10% discount on standard room hire rates

Journals:

• PR Week - 20% discount on annual subscription
• BMJ online - 5% discount on annual subscription
• Communiqué - The definitive guide to using and choosing PR & Medical Education - 40% discount per issue (or on annual subscription)
• Pharmaceutical Marketing - Members may apply for free subscription to the magazine (terms and conditions apply)
• PharmaTimes - Free subscription to the magazine and elerts

Services:

• Daryl Willcox Publishing - 2-week free trial of Response Source Journalist Enquiry Service
• Coachwise Training Courses - 10% discount for new clients on training courses

Other:

• The Royal Society of Medicine - No joining fee (saving of £20) for Associate Individual membership. This offer also includes a £10 voucher towards using Royal Society of Medicine facilities (at One Wimpole Street and Chandos House)
• Portuguese Villa - 10% discount on holiday hire of Portuguese Villa

Further details of these discounts can be found in the members section of this website together with links to the suppliers' websites where you can view their services. To obtain the discounts being offered please ensure that you follow the instructions outlined on our website. We will continually update this section as more offers become available, so please check back regularly to see what's new.

If you have any ideas around new benefits or discounts that you would like us to investigate for HCA members, then please email Gaynor Hayburn at ghayburn@medicomgroup.com.

In terms of wider industry collaborations, Julia Cook gave a presentation on ‘Reputation of the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Role of Communications' at the Institute of Clinical Research (ICR) conference in April.  The proceedings are currently being written up for publication.

In addition, discussions have been taking place with MedComms Networking on mutual areas of collaboration.  Our two organisations are quite complementary and will allow us to provide HCA members with access to useful products of theirs (e.g. the Report on the new EFPIA Code circulated recently) plus potential additional HCA members from the medical education end of the communications spectrum.  Some specific joint projects are also under discussion for the Autumn - watch this space.

During 2008, the Membership & Marketing committee aims to increase awareness amongst both current and prospective members of the benefits of HCA membership and with this in mind, is planning to launch the first ever HCA Awareness Week, w/c 23rd June 2008.  The objectives of the Awareness Week are to raise awareness of the HCA amongst current and potential members of the specific benefits of membership, with a focus on training, the Good Practice Guide and the Interactive Evaluation Toolkit.  Slides are currently being produced, which will be available for the week to encourage members to give brief presentations to their teams outlining the benefits of HCA.  Watch out for the email alerts closer to the Week….and book those presentations now into your teams' diaries during w/c 23rd June!

The HCA website is currently being overhauled to upgrade navigation and to improve access to some of the HCA's key offerings.  If you would like to know more about the services offered by the HCA's Associate Members, please click here to view their new profiles which are now available.

This is the time of the year, when we encourage all members to access their Member Contact details on the HCA website to ensure that all your organisation's details are correct, including, importantly, the details for your chosen Gatekeeper. Log on now and make those corrections.
 
Project Value
Martin Ellis, Team Leader, Project Value

The HCA was founded in 2001 to promote best practice in healthcare communications. Now with almost 90 members the HCA has successfully delivered numerous best practice initiatives, ranging from a wide variety of bespoke healthcare training courses to extensive guides covering RoI, ABPI guidelines and, most recently, procurement practice. Project Value was set up in early 2008 to examine both the current, and help define the future, strategy of the HCA to best ensure its continuing development as the premier communications body for the healthcare industry.
 
The sub-group of eight experienced (some would say old!) individuals have so far met twice this year and have begun to draft a strategy to take the HCA forward. This strategy remains true to the HCA roots of best practice, but further aims to recognise some of the different challenges faced by the two distinct groups of members, namely agency and in-house.
 
The ultimate aim of the HCA is to be acknowledged by all stakeholders as the major communications association tasked with taking healthcare communications into the next decade.
 
The Project Value team leader will present the suggested strategy at the next HCA Executive meeting on Wednesday 18th June after which it will be disseminated wider to all our members for further input.

30-Sep-2008	HCA Newsletter - Issue 10
05-Jun-2008	HCA Newsletter - Issue 9
22-Apr-2008	HCA Social Raises £698 For Charity
14-Jan-2008	HCA 2007 Annual Review
07-Dec-2007	PR Week Article - Pharma Firms Give Comms Bigger Share of Budgets
08-Oct-2007	HCA Newsletter - Issue 8

Please click HERE to go to the news archive, where you can find all past news.