The medical device industry has a "good" or "excellent" reputation according to 52% of patient groups responding to a new PatientView survey, according to which only 40% shares the same opinion about pharmaceutical companies.
This rate of approval of device companies by patients and their associations places them second only to pharmacies, assures the study of 300 patient groups from 42 countries around the world. However, the report, which defines 'corporate reputation' as the extent to which companies are responding to patient expectations, reveals that only 33% of patient groups believe the medical device industry's reputation has improved over the past five years. while 32% says it has declined over the same period. Respondents 64% also said that the level of innovation in the device industry is "good" or "excellent" and 57% believes this improves patient safety.
As for other measures of industry performance, 32% patient organizations practice ethical marketing, 30% are transparent with external healthcare stakeholders, and 22% adopt fair pricing.
The survey also examines which individual companies in the industry have the best corporate reputation from a patient perspective: the winner is Coloplast, followed by Medtronic, Smith & Nephew, Roche Diagnostics, Abbott and Johnson & Johnson.
April 26, 2012 – Barbara Di Chiara – PharmaKronos
