Pharmafile Logo

Getting Past the Old-Fashioned View of Patient Advocacy

Patient advocacy organizations today are data-driven, doing amazing work — and have the hard evidence to support their impact on patient care. The challenge is getting past the perception of a group of people “bringing biscuits and cookies to the cancer clinic.”

To read Medscape’s White Paper on patient-centricity in oncology care in collaboration with Lorna Warwick, CEO of the Lymphoma Coalition.

- PMLiVE

“I never had that burning desire to be a CEO,” says Ann-Marie Baird, President of the patient advocacy organization Lung Cancer Europe. It still surprises her sometimes that she has the title, but she says she knows certain things about herself. “I’m a natural leader as in, if there’s a group and we can’t figure out where to go for dinner, I can take it for only so long. And then I’m like, ‘OK, this is what we’re doing!’” Baird naturally steps into that role, and says she’s grown within that framework at the patient organizations she’s worked with. “Each step wasn’t necessarily about a bigger title, but rather, how can I do more? I often struggled in certain roles because I didn’t have the power to make the decisions. So my thought was, ‘How do I change that when I’m looking at my next role?’”

In episode 4 of Medscape Education’s Women in Healthcare Leadership series, Baird is joined by Lorna Warwick, CEO of Lymphoma Coalition, a global network of roughly 90 patient advocacy organizations spanning 55 countries. They talk candidly about their different paths into patient advocacy, how they became healthcare leaders, the challenges they faced along the way, and how they overcame them. And they share advice and a few of the keys to their success. (Such as, never take anything personally, and don’t be afraid to reach out for help.)

Warwick says one of the reasons she’s a good fit for her job is because she “likes to learn,” and there’s been so much activity in the patient advocacy space that it provides her a lot of opportunities to keep exploring. Plus, she says, she’s “really good at looking at the data and having conversations with people and seeing overall what the issues are and how can we address them perhaps in a different way.”

Warwick and Baird both say that much of their work involves looking at data—which surprises most people outside of the advocacy world. One of their biggest leadership challenges is overcoming the lingering old-fashioned perception of patient organizations as a group of people sitting around a kitchen table figuring out how to bring biscuits and cookies into the cancer clinic. (Not that there’s anything wrong with cookies and biscuits, they agree.)

But when you have the data to back up your points, it’s so much easier to convince stakeholders—whether that’s pharma doing their drug development, or doctors treating patients in a clinic— that “this isn’t just something we’ve heard, it’s not just something I feel. But look, I have data, just like you have data on the efficacy of this medication, I have data on what this means to a patient and how they experience it. Let’s figure out how to close those things so we can give the patient the best experience,” Warwick says.

Amplifying the voice of the patient—their personal experiences, the issues they’re facing—and ensuring that their needs are addressed, is the beating heart of both organizations. “My mission is to try and translate that in such a way that it’s going to have the biggest impact,” says Baird. “So whether it’s patient-driven research, or talking to different stakeholders or policymakers, I see my mission, and advocacy, as being that bridge.”

Hosted by Victoria Harvey-Jones, Associate Director of Clinical Strategy at Medscape Oncology Global

You won’t want to miss this conversation. Listen now via Medscape, Apple or Spotify.

Follow us for updates on upcoming podcasts and more insightful conversations. For more information, please contact Jelena Spyropoulos (Global) or Piyali Shin (US).

About Medscape Education Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free accredited CME and CE courses for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

This content was provided by Medscape Education

Company Details

 Latest Content from  Medscape Education 

The Pulse of AI Innovation: From More Data to Better Care

At the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress, two of cardiology’s most influential voices sat down to talk about artificial intelligence at Medscape’s ‘The Pulse of AI Innovation’ event: Professor…

Next-Level Clinical Practice, Real-World Impact: Evolving Patient Simulation with the Clinical Readiness Studio

Healthcare is changing rapidly, bringing unprecedented data and complex treatment pathways to the point of care. Clinical mastery requires active experience, the confidence to make decisions when real patient outcomes…

Medscape Sponsors The John Ritter Foundation’s “Evening From the Heart”

When independent, evidence-based education directly connects with clinicians at the point of care, clinical practice changes. Driven by this vital mission, Medscape Education was proud to sponsor The John Ritter…

From Booth to Bavaria: A Recap of Impact at ESC 2026

We have officially wrapped up another year at ESC. For Medscape Education, 4 days on the ground confirmed what 3 decades of cardiovascular education have already shown: when independent, evidence-based…

Why Modern Dermatology Demands Curiosity Over Precision

In the high-stakes world of healthcare research and product development, success has long been measured by rigid definitions of precision and predictable trajectories. However, as Dr. Hawa Dumbuya, Director of…

The Heart of the Matter: Medscape Education’s Cardiology Footprint at ESC 2026

For more than 30 years, Medscape Education has built independent, accredited cardiovascular education designed around one goal: improved patient outcomes. This year at the European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC…

More Than Pink Walls: What Women-Centric Care Actually Requires

The phrase “patient-centered care” is tossed around freely in healthcare corporate boardrooms. Yet, for more than half the population, that promise routinely fractures. In the latest episode of the Hear…

Women in Healthcare Leadership Have a Lot to Say. Medscape’s Hear From Her Wins an APEX Grand Award.

Medscape Education has been honoured with the prestigious APEX Grand Award for Publication Excellence at…

Moving Beyond the 10%: A New Era in Preterm Birth Prevention

For decades, the rate of spontaneous preterm birth in the United States has hovered stubbornly around 10%. Despite advancements in other areas of medicine, prematurity remains the second leading cause…

Medscape Education to Showcase the Impact of Neurology CME at EAN 2026

Medscape Education, the leading global provider of continuing medical education (CME), has announced its agenda for the upcoming 12th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) 2026 in Geneva,…