HBA PATIENT CENTRICITY AFFINITY GROUP AND HBA GLOBAL PRESENT: Mastering Patient Centricity: 3-Part Hands-on Series
Authored by Arlene Marie Karole, Patricia Hanrahan
The HBA Patient Centricity Affinity Group (PCAG) is proud to present highlights from our dynamic 3-part, hands-on series: Mastering Patient Centricity—a powerful exploration of what it truly means to put patients at the center of healthcare. Held on Wednesday, 9 April, Tuesday, 8 May, and Wednesday, 4 June, each session delivered actionable insights, real-world strategies, and interactive learning led by industry experts. Missed it live? No worries—the full series is still available on the HBA website!
Inspired in large part by the paper Measuring and Demonstrating the Value of Patient Engagement Across the Medicines Lifecycle, published in The Patient — Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, the official journal of the International Academy of Health Preference Research. This educational series was developed to support HBA members in deepening their understanding of patient centricity and in applying its principles within their current roles across the healthcare industry.
HBA Patient Centricity Affinity Group Executive Team’s 2025 Vision
HBA Patient Centricity Affinity Group’s Chairperson, Dorothea Sanchez, kicked off the series, sharing the 2025 vision, outlining the group's goals, and commitment to empowering its members by fostering leadership growth through a steadfast focus on the patient experience as a comprehensive and core business model.
Director of Programming and moderator, Trish Hanrahan, addressed the overall series objectives by outlining the importance of advancing patient centricity across the healthcare ecosystem. She emphasized how each session was thoughtfully designed to build participants’ understanding, offer practical tools, and encourage meaningful application of patient engagement strategies within their roles and organizations.
She then welcomed Arlene Marie Karole, Program Committee Member and Tri-State Regional Liaison, who provided a brief orientation for attendees. Arlene reviewed key housekeeping notes to ensure participants could fully engage with the session, outlined the specific learning objectives for the day’s program, and set the stage for the interactive components ahead. To foster meaningful participant engagement throughout the series, she outlined a dynamic format that would include didactic learning, interactive whiteboard activities, live polling, and dedicated time for questions and answers. She then introduced the session’s esteemed presenters, emphasizing their deep expertise and impactful contributions to advancing patient engagement and driving innovation in healthcare.
Featured Speakers
The series was driven by two exceptional leaders in the field. Beyza Klein, Global Patient Advocacy Director at Johnson & Johnson and lead author of the foundational paper, is a passionate, award-winning advocate recognized for her impactful leadership in patient engagement. Joining her was Zoë Healey, PhD, a dynamic strategic expert known for her work in multi-sector behavior change, linkage-to-care initiatives, and patient-centered solutions. Together, they brought unmatched insight, energy, and depth to the program.
Program Overview
Healthcare systems and the biopharmaceutical industry are facing an urgent need for innovation to address health equity and support soaring research and development expenditures. To catalyze this, we must prioritize understanding patients' needs so we can develop novel medicines and effective care. Insights from the patient community enrich every functional role and organization. The 3-part series objective was to empower emerging leaders to drive transformative change. By applying the principles of impactful patient-centricity in their roles through a step-wise process.
With over 300 participants, the series drew an impressive and truly global audience. Attendees joined us from across the world—including Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and beyond—demonstrating the widespread interest and shared commitment to advancing patient centricity in healthcare. This remarkable turnout underscored the relevance and urgency of the conversation, uniting diverse perspectives in pursuit of meaningful change.
Sessions Overview
The series was intentionally designed with each session building upon the last. However, each session also stands on its own, offering valuable insights for those who attended only one or two, or for those now interested in accessing the sessions on demand. *Certificates of completion are provided to participants who attend at least two out of the three sessions.
Part 1: Wednesday, April 9
Mastering Patient Centricity: How to Use a Patient Outcomes Focused Framework
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate the impact of patient-centered initiatives in your work
- Utilize a logic model approach to drive outcome-focused strategies
- Apply the framework to enhance your career development
This first session introduced participants to a comprehensive patient engagement framework and strategies for measuring outcomes through a patient-centered lens. To help anchor the discussion in best practices and evidence-based insights, participants were encouraged to complete pre-work by reviewing the recommended article, Measuring and Demonstrating the Value of Patient Engagement Across the Medicines Lifecycle, published in the patient-centered outcomes research, the official journal of the International Academy of Health Preference Research.
Part 2: Tuesday, 8 May
Mastering Patient Centricity: Applying Patient-Outcomes' Focused Framework
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate the impact of patient-centered initiatives in your work
- Create a logic model approach to drive outcome-focused strategies
- Apply the framework to enhance your career development
In the second hands-on session, attendees had the opportunity to apply the patient engagement framework in a practical workshop setting, developing strategic and tactical approaches tailored to their work. Each participant was encouraged to bring a current project, and our presenters, Zoë and Beyza, guided them through how to effectively apply the framework while addressing individual questions. The session also included a focused discussion on planning for impactful patient centricity and strategies to measure both outcomes and overall impact.
Part 3: Wednesday, 4 June
Mastering Patient Centricity: Using Women's Health Insights to Improve Healthcare/Innovation
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate the impact of patient-centered initiatives in your work
- Utilize a logic model approach to drive outcome-focused strategies
- Apply the framework to enhance your career development
This session focused on how to use women’s health insights to improve healthcare and drive innovation in medicines. Participants explored opportunities to ideate meaningful changes and propose actionable solutions. As part of the interactive component, participants were introduced to an ‘elevator pitch’ template, which they used to craft and practice how to best communicate the benefits to stakeholders.
Presenters Zoë and Beyza utilized a whiteboard to spark deeper engagement among attendees, inviting them to share their insights using post-it notes. This interactive exercise encouraged thoughtful reflection and meaningful discussion around key aspects of patient experience in women’s health.
Participants were invited to post sticky notes in response to the following thought-provoking questions. Here are a few examples from each category:
- What issues in women’s health do we want to improve?
- How can we better understand the patient experience?
- What insights or learnings from the patient experience would add the most value?
These prompts generated a range of meaningful reflections, highlighting areas for growth, exploration, and innovation in women’s health. This dynamic approach created a collaborative environment and helped surface diverse perspectives and ideas from across our global attendees.
We welcomed attendees from across the globe, and here’s what they had to say:
“It was an absolute pleasure to be part of this event. Both presenters were incredibly knowledgeable, and the thoughtful questions from attendees made the discussion even more engaging. The inspiring energy of the Patient Centricity community truly highlighted how impactful these conversations can be.”
Sultan Gürsoy, PMP, Healthcare Professional, MBA, PMP, ACP, Turkey
"I love how open this discussion is, and empowering us all to put patients at the centre of our roles, regardless of whether that's Clinical Trials, Research & Development, Labelling, Med Affairs, Early Access Programs, and Post Trial Access."
Manijeh Afnan-Murray, Portfolio Director, Early Access Programs, Bionical Emas, United Kingdom
“The recent HBA programming on mastering patient centricity has been relevant, thoughtful, and well-organized. It provided practical insights and a clear, outcomes-focused framework for embedding patients into every stage of decision-making. I’m excited to join this team to help advance truly patient-centered innovation.”
Deepa Dahal Partner, DKI Health, Seattle, Washington, United States
Grateful Acknowledgment
With heartfelt gratitude, we thank our incredible speakers, Beyza Klein and Zoe Healy, for generously dedicating their time and sharing their invaluable expertise. Your contributions transformed this program into a truly dynamic, enriching, and inspiring experience for all.
Great appreciation to our HBA Patient Centricity Affinity Group team who made this event possible, including Dorothea Sanchez, Patricia Hanrahan, Arlene Marie Karole, Clare Carroll, Chiara Castellarin,
Michele Gaudet-Smith, Jenny Sheng, and Janine Welen.
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Meet Our Team: HBA Patient Centricity Affinity Group Directors
