BERNSTEIN

I agree. You need to manage the outreach, if you will, and really bring it in early to the planning process to make sure that expectations are achieved and that the continuum of education includes the patient through advocacy groups. Timing is critical here, you risk physician backlash if consumers know more about the product than they do at the outset, yet you want consumers to drive demand. It is equally important to not over-promise. If companies are not careful about that, it can come back to bite them.

DUNN

To add to that, sometimes companies find that the groups they think will be difficult to work with can become their best advocates. Working with these groups provides insights you can't obtain elsewhere and they are extremely knowledgeable about the disease. It is also a branding opportunity that rarely comes along. So the whole branding process has to be looked at relative to the consumer issue. Just as there are clinical champions for diagnostic devices, it is important to peg some patient champions, such as the American Cancer Society or the Diabetes Foundation.

CHOW

When we look at the consumer aspect in diagnostics we consider 4 Ps - physicians who order the test; pathologists / laboratorians that perform the test; patients that should be considered since many of today's patients are pretty empowered, especially when it comes to an expensive discretionary test for an hereditary disorder and then there are the payors. All four stakeholders have a role in the success of any diagnostic product. Everything that Kathy and Kathleen have said applies but all of these 4Ps have to be in place. In essence there are four customers.