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Joint report from Ashfield Event Experiences, part of Inizio Engage XD, and IPCAA provides insights to drive future medical congress and convention success
Joint report from Ashfield Event Experiences, part of Inizio Engage XD, and IPCAA provides insights to drive future medical congress and convention success
Based on a survey of 275 healthcare providers from the US, UK and Western Europe
(London, UK) Ashfield Event Experiences, part of Inizio Engage XD, has teamed up with the IPCAA (International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association) to address how healthcare provider (HCP) behaviours and attitudes towards medical congresses and conventions have been impacted by the return of in-person events. The results of their study are issued in their 2023 HCP Congress Experience Report: “Out with the old, In with the new?” which provides the pharmaceutical industry with a road map to success for future medical congresses and conventions.
The report demonstrates how congresses and conventions can flourish in the future when the industry addresses how and why it invests in different experiences. It provides insights into the key areas of focus for achieving successful international congresses and conventions and compares these findings with earlier survey responses obtained during lockdown, when relevant.
The report answers such vital questions as:
Why HCPs attend international congresses and conventions.
How face-to-face meetings have impacted virtual.
What HCPs think of the virtual experience.
How HCPs view the environmental impact of face-to-face meetings.
How the industry can make the most of the congress and convention journey.
Some important behavioural findings in the report include:
The #1 reason for HCPs to attend a congress or convention is for medical education with the #2 reason being networking.
Going forward, virtual congresses and conventions are projected to get less attendance. In 2023, the average HCP attended two in-person meetings and two virtual. Next year, they expect to attend one less congress or convention virtually.
Most respondents say virtual congresses and conventions have improved, with them considered a convenient option valued for medical education, but not networking.
HCPs plan their congress or convention activities sometimes over two months in advance. Email is the preferred way for HCPs to learn what is happening.
HCPs view the exhibition hall at a meeting as a learning experience. They prefer informal discussions at booths/symposia to pre-arranged meetings.
Post-meeting, HCPs are receptive to follow-up communications.
Three in four HCPs share new information with colleagues and one in two share it with patients.
HCPs are open to adopting sustainable behaviours at in-person congresses.
For the 2023 report, 275 HCPs incorporating equal sample sizes of oncologists, cardiologists, neurologists, primary care physicians and infectious disease specialists from the US, UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy were surveyed. There was a quantitative online survey aimed to address HCP behaviour changes relative to international congress and convention participation in addition to qualitative commentary.
“We found this year’s report particularly telling in how HCPs behaviours were impacted by the pivot to virtual congresses or conventions and our subsequent return to face-to-face,” notes Isabelle Merillet, Head of Congress, Ashfield Event Experiences. “It’s entirely possible that if we ignore the learnings from lockdown, that we will deny valuable opportunities to connect and learn.”
“It’s so important to hear directly from healthcare professionals about what they really want from their medical congresses in the future and understand why some of the changes we predicted have not been as permanent as we first thought,” said Nicky Simpson, Co-President of IPCAA. “How congresses are delivered, and how pharma companies show up, must be built on these preferences.”
This new report is part of ongoing research by Ashfield Event Experiences and IPCAA to assist the pharmaceutical industry with improving the congress experience to best serve the needs of HCPs and their patients. A copy of the full report can be downloaded here -
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About Ashfield Event Experiences
Ashfield Event Experiences (AEE), part of Inizio Engage XD, is an award-winning global events agency, specializing in healthcare, that creates and delivers engaging experiences that inspire lasting change. Applying strategic, end-to-end healthcare event expertise, AEE creates inspirational event experiences across the entire product lifecycle, consistently fusing passion for innovation with deep-rooted know-how gained from 40+ years in the business. AEE is part of Inizio Engage XD, the Experience Design specialist area of Inizio Engage. Inizio Engage XD combines insight, expertise, and creativity to design and deliver world class experiences that engage people, change mindsets and behaviour, enrich cultures, enhance skills, and drive overall business performance. Dedicated to creating experiences that inspire lasting change, it partners with clients to provide employee engagement, learning and training solutions, scientific engagement and capability building, all underpinned by applied behavioural science. It engages internal and external audiences through the creation and delivery of live and virtual experiences, film, branded content, immersive and interactive content. Inizio Engage XD consists of healthcare events specialists Ashfield Event Experiences; experiential specialist WRG; life sciences learning and capability specialist Nazaré; employee experience consultancy Forty1; the Inizio Engage XD Behavioural Science unit; the Inizio Engage XD PX+CX unit; and the Inizio Engage XD Film, Digital and Creative Studios.
About the International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association (IPCAA)
The IPCAA is in regular contact with leading policy-making healthcare organizations and facilitates and organizes platforms for discussion and education of topics amongst relevant meetings industry stakeholders and contributes to improve the understanding of topics such as compliance and transparency. IPCAA is an affiliate member of IFPMA.
About Inizio Engage
Part of the Inizio Group, Inizio Engage is a strategic, commercial, and creative engagement partner that specializes in healthcare. Its global workforce provides bespoke engagement solutions via a unique combination of consultation, creation, and activation expertise - augmenting local expertise and a diverse mix of skills with data, science, and technology, to challenge convention and deliver experiences that create lasting change. It’s how Inizio Engage is reimagining the way its clients engage patients, payers, people, and providers to enhance treatment outcomes and improve lives.
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