ISMPP Annual Meeting 2023: Key Takeaways on Patients First, Transparency, and AI in Scientific Communications

Bioscript Group colleagues were honoured to attend the ISMPP Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. last month. Themed “Patients First,” there was a full agenda and global representation from the scientific communications community. Our key takeaways were:

1. Transparency: The communications community has become more proactive, rather than reactive, building on earlier work and leading the way in the transparent publication of industry-sponsored trial results.
2. Guidelines: Good Publication Practice (GPP) 2022 guidelines are being widely adopted by global publications and medical affairs professionals. They build on earlier iterations in relation to transparency in reporting, patient involvement, and the ethical and compliant use of social media.
3. Patient involvement: Patients increasingly want to be included in the drug development process. The more that patients can inform trial design, the better outcomes will be for patients overall. It follows, therefore, that they also want to be informed in a way that resonates with them, and so the appropriate use of language in communications and the use of plain language in publications are paramount to avoid misinformation.
4. Inclusivity: During the meeting, it was highlighted that we are ALL PATIENTS in some way or another and we should strive to be inclusive in the way we refer to patients.
5. Artificial intelligence: There is no doubt that AI has its place in scientific communications; and we need to harness its positive aspects. As a tool to aid literature searches and generate plain language summaries, it can be invaluable. However, we need to exercise caution against misinformation, and there will be an increasing need for fact checkers and quality control.
6. Publication costs: One research poster of note researched the average time it takes to deliver newer approaches to medical publications. This research concluded that newer publication trends do have an impact on budgets. These are factors to consider when pulling together agreements.

This was a highly engaging event, with a record-breaking attendance of more than 700 delegates. We are proud to be guided by ISMPP as the leading global authority on the ethical and effective communication of medical research to inform treatment decisions.

If you are interested in learning more about emerging trends in publications excellence, please contact us through our website at www.bioscriptgroup.com/contact.