Interview with Mr. Wakasugi, Chairperson of the Study Group for Consultation on Response to Pharmaceutical Drugs (Japanese only)
Interview with Chairman Wakasugi
Pharmaceutical consultation" is indispensable to support the proper use of pharmaceuticals. The environment surrounding the pharmaceutical industry is changing dramatically with the wave of digitization, improved patient literacy, and the emergence of new therapies such as gene therapy and regenerative medicine. At the forefront of these changes, the "Pharmaceutical Counseling Service" of each company plays an important role in providing information, and the "Pharmaceutical Counseling Study Group" is examining how this should be done. How do we confront challenges in a changing environment and how do we contribute to the optimization of medical care for patients? We asked Masahiro Wakasugi, chairperson of the committee, about the mission of the "Study Group on the Response to Pharmaceutical Consultations," the most important theme for fiscal 2025, the complete revision of the "Guidelines for Response to Pharmaceutical Consultations," and the future outlook.
Bringing the Power of Pharmaceutical Consultation to the Future of Healthcare
Providing Information to Support Appropriate Use and Patient Perspective
Challenges faced by the three stakeholders and our efforts
The mission of the Pharmaceutical Consultation Service is to provide drug information "accurately, fairly, and promptly" in response to inquiries from healthcare professionals and patients.
The value of a pharmaceutical product is not determined only by the efficacy and safety of the product itself. Its value can only be comprehensively evaluated when combined with accompanying drug information. We play a role in maintaining and enhancing the intrinsic value of pharmaceuticals as a "last resort" that provides appropriate information based on a deep understanding of the needs of individual healthcare professionals and patients. We are proud that these activities directly contribute to "trust," which is the foundation of the Pharmaceutical Cooperative Industry Vision.
The role of the "Pharmaceutical Consultation Response Study Group" is to identify new issues arising from changes in the environment of society and the industry, and to improve the overall quality of the pharmaceutical consultation services of each company by studying and proposing countermeasures. Currently, there are three major stakeholder groups in the study group: "medical professionals," "patients," and "pharmaceutical companies," each of which has its own issues related to the provision of information and response to such issues.
First, for "medical professionals," there is the issue of new treatment methods such as gene therapy, and the information they require has become dramatically more sophisticated. There is also an urgent need to establish an information provision system that can be accessed 24 hours a day, not only by telephone but also via the Web. Since the progress of digitization varies among companies, we aim to improve the digital literacy of the industry as a whole through surveys of the actual status of each company and information sharing on the latest digital technologies.
Next, for "patients," in addition to the diversification of questions accompanying the improvement of literacy, there is also the major issue of dealing with "customer harassment. We believe that this is not only a problem on the customer side, but can also be solved by "strengthening the skills of medical communicators" who respond to inquiries. By acquiring advanced communication skills, we can prevent harassment from developing into harassment, reduce the burden on communicators, and improve their work productivity.
And in "pharmaceutical companies," there is the issue of accurately utilizing the Voice of Customer (VOC) as a valuable source of information that can lead to product development and improvement, appropriate information provision, and prevention of recurrence of complaints. Simply communicating VOCs to the relevant departments within the company may result in them being passed over. What is important is to identify and extract the essential issues from the VOC and build a system that can propose specific solutions. We share best practices and recommend the creation of organizational structures at each company to make the most of VOC.
Full Revision of the "Guidelines" and Future Prospects
In order to systematically address the issues I just mentioned, we plan to fully revise the "Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Consultation Response" in October 2025 as the culmination of our activities to date.
The first edition of these guidelines was prepared in 1995 and has been revised several times; however, this revision is not a partial revision. This is a major update, a fundamental review of the structure itself to comprehensively reflect the three key issues of digital technology, customer harassment, and the use of VOCs. It is intended to be a bible that communicators in the field can refer to when they encounter problems in their daily work, as well as a practical guideline that can be incorporated into the operational manuals of each company. We believe that these guidelines will help companies maintain and improve the quality of their pharmaceutical consultation services and ultimately contribute to the optimization of healthcare for patients.
Our activities do not end with the revision of these guidelines. As medical practices are required to adapt their systems to include nighttime and holidays, providing information around the clock is becoming an increasingly important issue, and we need to show the industry a feasible future vision, regardless of the size of the company, while taking into account the use of AI.
As chair of the committee, I intend to create an active and open environment in which the study group members can freely discuss the issues, and I hope to identify and resolve potential problems as well. We will continue to support the trust of the pharmaceutical industry as the "last bastion" of information provision with our responsibility as the only contact point that can directly communicate with patients.
The structure and activities of the Pharmaceuticals Consultation Response Study Group are posted on the website of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Japan (PMAJ). Please visit the website.
Pharmaceuticals Consultation Response Study Group website]
Pharmaceuticals Consultation Response Study Group | Information from the Committee | Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Inc.