The Wall Street Journal Experience

A long-standing litmus test guiding ethical behavior is to ask “How would my actions be judged if they appeared as the front page news?” 

Well, that test became very real when our San Diego account team was informed a Wall Street Journal reporter was scheduled to observe our appointments with customers and a regional planning meeting. The new question we faced was “How WILL my actions appear WHEN reported in the WSJ?” 

So much of the current discussion of healthcare at the moment focuses on cost—and we recognize that. But we also must talk about improving care, and the way to do that is by putting the patient at the center of every healthcare decision.

As the US healthcare industry transforms from a volume-based model to one that demands higher quality and lower costs, everyone—from healthcare companies to insurers to health systems and individual practitioners—must adapt. Large integrated delivery networks (IDNs), such as Sharp Healthcare, are redesigning their services. Likewise, we’ve transformed our US commercial model in order deliver medicines in a more values-based way.

So how have the interactions between GSK and Sharp Healthcare changed from the past? That’s what we wanted to share with the WSJ.

It took some time to get comfortable with the idea of meeting with the reporter, Jonathan Rockoff. To be observed by a manager or even Deirdre Connelly is one thing, but to speak with our peers and customers while a journalist writes notes (and a photographer captures random expressions) is quite another.

Ultimately we were excited for others to see firsthand how GSK is now better aligned with our customer’s patient-focused needs than ever before, and how we’re working throughout the Sharp system. 

In particular, we were excited that Jon joined our regional planning meeting which showcased the collaborative approach of our Integrated Customer Team. Our end goal is always a focused strategy on how GSK’s portfolio can help Sharp Healthcare providers to achieve their patient care goals, and this multidisciplinary meeting, spotlighting how to benefit the patient, almost felt like a coordinated clinical team that meets to discuss how to restore a patient to their maximum health.

Our new approach aligns our structure with our customers’ needs and the direction the US healthcare system is moving. The bottom line is there is a better way forward regarding how our industry’s representatives interact with healthcare providers and GSK is leading the way.