Kamp to HMCC: Pharma firms must be bolder when conveying their vision

JOHN KAMP, headline speaker at the Healthcare Marketing and Communications Council morning seminar and luncheon in March, told attendees that healthcare marketers must be more assertive in projecting a positive vision of the industry on Washington, the press and the public. "We must tell our story

Kamp's lively address touched on the impact marketers are having on the pending revision of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education guidelines.

"The good news is that there were a lot of good comments made in the ACCME's comment period," said Kamp. "The bad news is that the enemy is us. ACCME's basic premise is not asking the right question - it's not structured around outcome measures, around how best to educate doctors and other healthcare professionals in the CME program in order to best improve patient care."

What's needed, said Kamp, is a sea change in attitudes toward CME and drug promotion generally. "Inside the beltway, the best defense we have against ugly policy changes is to do our jobs," said Kamp. "Members of Congress don't want to fix something that isn't broken. They don't go around fixing industries that the American public loves because they provide good services."

Kamp, a counsel at Washington law firm Wiley Rein & Fielding, worked for 10 years with the American Association of Advertising Agencies, where he served as senior vice president and headed advocacy on FDA marketing policies. -Matthew Arnold