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    Healthcare & pharma

    How do patients and professionals interpret your message?

    A health-network positioning statement, a pharmaceutical launch, and a healthcare technology brand story raise different questions. Russell studies what the people receiving the communication understand, believe, and find relevant.

    Choose the audience and research format together

    In a published Russell launch study, patients evaluated concepts in a three-day online forum while healthcare professionals took part in individual virtual interviews. Both groups reviewed the communication, using different formats.

    Patients and consumers

    Who to include

    Define the experience with the condition, service, or healthcare choice that participants need to discuss. Establish whether the study needs current users, people considering an option, or both.

    What the research needs to explain

    Which words and ideas are understood? What concerns and personal experiences shape the response? Give participants room to describe the issue in their own terms before asking them to evaluate a message.

    Healthcare professionals

    Who to include

    Specify the relevant specialty, role, and practice or training stage. A study with prescribers, nurses, clinical investigators, or residents may require different recruiting criteria and interview formats.

    What the research needs to explain

    What does the communication mean in a professional context? Examine clarity, credibility, and relevance. Agree a format and schedule that participants can realistically accommodate.

    Local communities

    Who to include

    Define the service area and the familiarity with a network or institution the study requires. Keep community perceptions distinguishable from experiences of receiving care.

    What the research needs to explain

    How is the organization understood, and which positioning is believable and relevant locally? Test the wording people encounter and explore what they think it promises.

    Published healthcare positioning and communication studies

    These four engagements cover a health network, a pharmaceutical launch, oncology communications, and a healthcare data company. Each describes the audience, research approach, and decision that followed.

    A new positioning for a recently merged health network

    Monadic testing and text highlighting showed which parts of three positioning statements were strongest.

    Read the case study

    Choosing a launch message for patients and professionals

    Consumer forums and professional interviews narrowed four launch approaches to one, followed by quantitative validation.

    Read the case study

    Selecting an oncology message across five countries

    Three stages of qualitative and quantitative research compared concepts with oncology professionals and advocates in five countries.

    Read the case study

    Choosing a brand story for a healthcare data company

    A sequential monadic test compared three brand-story directions and measured how each affected perceptions of the company.

    Read the case study
    View Case Studies

    Who needs to understand your message?

    Tell us the communication or positioning decision, the audience, the markets, and when the findings are needed. Include any materials available to test and the qualifications participants must meet.

    Discuss Your Healthcare Study