Industry Feedback . . . via Social Media

While researching this year’s annual Industry Outlook feature, we went to the people. Like many professionals these days, we thought we’d reach out to the industry through social media.

On Linked In, for instance, I posted the following discussion: "Can Packaging Improve Healthcare Quality and Reduce Costs?" Bob Patton, account executive at Innomark Packaging Solutions, posted a response, which I quote here: "As a supplier of paperboard packaging, I have a vested interest in the future of unit-dose packaging. However, I truly believe that improved (often more expensive) packaging can positively affect patient outcomes. Ultimately, if patients get well, expensive procedures are avoided, and the healthcare system benefits from lower costs."

Added Patton: "What is required is a paradigm shift in the way we view the cost of packaging. Currently in the United States, most pharmaceutical companies package tablets in bottles. This is the most cost-efficient way for them to deliver product to market if you measure cost as the unit price for packaging materials. However, if you step back and look at the entire healthcare system, including the total cost to deliver product to a patient, and you consider patient outcomes, it is an antiquated, inefficient system."