Patient Engagement
Health Information Matters
Our commitment to putting patients first
Central to our work is the patients and communities we serve. From designing diverse and inclusive clinical trials for our medicines, to improving health literacy and overcoming barriers to patient access to services and treatments, we are committed to putting patients first.
“We try to remember that medicine is for the patient. We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.”
– George W Merck CEO 1929 –
In order to better meet the current and future needs of patients, we are evolving our ways of working. We are constantly looking for innovative ways to partner with and amplify our communities’ diverse voices.
Here are some of the ways we are working with the patient:
Patient engagement
We have a long history of embedding patient and public engagement into our research, development, marketing and strategy, to ensure our services and treatments improve healthcare experiences and outcomes for the patients and communities we serve.
We believe that by listening to and partnering with the patients and the public, we can better understand how diseases impact their lives and can better support their needs. For example, involving patients in the development of medical education materials enables us to develop solutions which are genuinely helpful and meets their needs.
Patient advocacy
Our relationships with patient organisations help us to better understand the evolving needs of the patient communities we serve. Our aim is to support access to useful, accurate information and to advocate for improved health and advancements in patient care.
We work with a number of patient organisations on a variety of different projects. These include funding disease awareness campaigns and providing grants for specific projects which tackle health inequalities. You can learn more about our work with patient organisations and our grants & donations.
Patient information and literacy
MSD is proud to be a member of the Patient Information Forum (PIF) and to have been awarded the PIF Trusted Information Creator accreditation scheme (the PIF TICK), which is the UK’s only independently assessed quality mark and gold standard for trusted health information.
MSD was the first pharmaceutical company to complete accreditation to the PIF TICK. Being part of the scheme involves undergoing an independent assessment of our healthcare information processes and we have been successfully reaccredited for the 3rd year running in 2024. This ongoing reaccreditation demonstrates our commitment to achieving excellence in the accuracy and simplicity of the healthcare information we provide to the public and patients in the UK.
We commit that our public-facing materials are produced in line with PIF’s criteria, ensuring that our information is accessible and accurate. This means that our health information is communicated clearly, written by experienced staff and based on up-to date evidence. MSD reviews all materials every 2 years to ensure they remain so.
For more information, visit The PIF TICK | Patient Information Forum (pifonline.org.uk)
Patient Engagement Group
Putting patients at the heart of everything we do is everyone’s responsibility. To empower colleagues across the business to engage in a meaningful way, a group of passionate leaders have come together to form MSD’s UK Patient Engagement Group.
The Patient Engagement Group leads, guides and embeds a broad understanding of patient and community journeys in our strategy and operations to promote a patient-focused and equitable environment across the UK. It ensures that we have robust processes in place to ensure we integrate diverse patient perspectives into our work.
Job code: GB-NON-10207 | Date of preparation: September 2024