TV in hospital: what place for pharma companies?

In France, the Diabetology Department of the Simone Veil Hospital (Eaubonne, Val d’Oise), has launched, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary medical team, a new medical information TV channel intended for diabetic patients: Diab TV.

What is better than using TV as a tool for patient’s therapeutic education on topics such as glycemia monitoring, insulin injection or diabetes complications ?

Hospital TV channels already exist in France like in Marseille with APHM Télévision, created in 2005, or Campus Santé of the St Louis Hospital.  Not only these channels provide therapeutic education, but they also help to understand better how Hospital Departments are organized and work.  Not really involved yet, will pharma companies seek to use this communication media through corporate communication or patient education on public health topics?
France is currently still very far from the U.S. model illustrated by the channel Patient Channel broadcasted to nearly 17 million patients per year through 1.600 hospitals. Programs interrupted by commercials for Pampers or Plavix are directly broadcasted in the patients’ rooms. It’s not always easy for the patients to know the difference between reportage and advertisement.
Another U.S. offer aimed at relaxing patients is the CARE Channel (for Continuous, Ambient, Relaxation, Environment Channel), a program that broadcasts a 70-hours loop of relaxing images of varied landscapes.

The Life Sciences Team