The lowdown

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a rare condition that causes progressive scarring of the lungs. Over time, the buildup of scar tissue (fibrosis) causes the lungs to become thick and hard, which ultimately results in the lungs losing their elasticity and an irreversible loss of the tissue’s ability to transfer oxygen to the bloodstream. Unfortunately, IPF is a chronic disease that sees lung function progressively declining over time before failing completely.

When it comes to conducting a successful medical market research study, there’s a lot to get your head around, from assessing how achievable your project is to recruiting participants that fit the necessary criteria. And all that’s before you even begin to tackle the healthcare jargon out there or try to make sense of who does what in the NHS.

Recruiting the right participants for medical market research is notoriously tricky. The criteria in healthcare market research tends to be very strict – and when you add specialist therapy areas, time-pushed HCPs and low incidence rate diseases into the mix, things become even harder. If your client has very specific criteria such as physicians using a specific device or hospitals prescribing a certain type of medication, you might be asked to use list recruitment to ensure you are targeting the right respondents. Read on to find out how it works;

The Lowdown

The majority of cuts and grazes are minor and start to heal within a few days. In fact, 60% of all wounds heal with minimum intervention – however 20% will require some kind of specialist intervention and a further 20% will never heal and need ongoing palliative care.

A wound is considered chronic when it doesn’t heal in the expected time frame – and the correct treatment of these wounds is critical, as improper or lack of wound care can result in amputation or even death. Different types of wounds often require very specific and specialised management for the best chance to heal, with wound care specialists treating a number of different type of wounds such as inflammation, superficial and deep abrasions, pressure sores, burns and leg ulcers.

Like all branches of medicine, wound care is constantly evolving and pharmaceutical companies are always developing new drugs and dressings to help improve healing processes, making wound care an important area for healthcare market research.

You’ve found your participants, conducted a feasibility test and chosen your methodology – so next on the list is arranging where on earth your medical market research is going to take place. When it comes to organising healthcare market research, one of the most important things to consider is the venue. From choosing the right location to making sure it’s suitable for your your participants and offering enough time slots to keep even the most time-pushed healthcare professional happy, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to deciding on your venue. Here’s some tips to consider to make sure you get it right every time;

Sourcing the right participants is tricky for even the most generic of target groups – but add the strict criteria of healthcare market research into the mix and it can be even harder. From patients with low incidence rate diseases to geographical limitations, there’s no denying that patient recruitment can cause a headache for even the most experienced researchers.