Placing the Patient at the Heart of Medical Affairs

It can take years for patients and their loved ones to navigate a maze of symptoms and finally receive a rare disease diagnosis. This is often called ‘the diagnostic odyssey’ and causes significant physical and emotional difficulties for patients, inefficiencies for healthcare systems, and delays in the uptake of new innovations that could improve patient outcomes. Streamlining the diagnostic odyssey requires educating medical professionals to recognize “rare encounters” and engage these patients with precision and compassion.

To better understand how we, as Medical Affairs professionals, can educate healthcare professionals (HCPs) and others in the healthcare ecosystem for those rare encounters, Gavin Jones, Global Advisor Rare Disease at OPEN Health spoke with Lucy McKay, Chief Executive Officer of Medics 4 Rare Diseases (M4RD). In this discussion, they outline the following three key areas for educating HCPs to reframe their thinking in this area of medicine, guide them on how to recognize when a patient may have a rare condition, and support them in obtaining the best outcomes for their patients.