From buzzwords to better outcomes: Takeaways from Fierce Pharma 2026 

Three members of Weber Shandwick’s New York Health team recently attended Fierce Pharma 2026 in Philadelphia and came back with plenty to consider—from the evolving role of AI to the importance of keeping patients and purpose at the center of healthcare communications. 

Here are a few of their key takeaways:

• Kate Rom, Senior Vice President, Social and Influencer Strategy, Health: The priority is to truly know your audience, including where patients are seeking information and how they use tools such as AI. The industry has a responsibility to meet patients in those spaces with accurate, responsible information (even if it’s out of traditional comfort zones). AI can help identify moments of high intent and better prepare patients for conversations with their healthcare providers.
• Becka Woolf, Senior Vice President, Client Experience, Health: The patient voice should be embedded across every function – not just communications. She also reinforced that AI should be treated as a tool, not a replacement for human judgment. Communications teams need a seat at the table from the start, helping organizations connect strategy to patient needs and purpose.
• Cathy Fitzpatrick, Executive Vice President, NY Health Practice Leader: Communicators are increasingly acting as connectors across business units, helping organizations navigate evolving trends, technologies and priorities. And agencies are playing a critical role in ensuring our clients stay ahead of the curve. As AI becomes more widely adopted, the focus must shift toward accuracy, governance and meaningful outcomes – not simply producing more content or data. It’s also important to consider specificity when creating synthetic audiences. New tools are only valuable if they are precise enough to reflect real people rather than suggesting outputs that lean generic.
  
  

Together, these perspectives point to a more mature approach to healthcare communications:

• Know your audiences and meet them where they are (example of this in our research with Reddit into women’s health content discovery that explores how women navigate a changing mix of online communities, expert voices and other sources)
• Keep the patient voice at the center
• Use AI to enhance, not replace, human judgment (example in this client work on how we’re using AI to widen our field of view while still letting the decisions belong to the team who knows the landscape best)
• Understand all parts of our clients’ business and focus efforts on connecting teams across aligned priorities
• Measure what creates meaningful impact

The future of pharma communications will not be defined by technology alone, but by how thoughtfully we combine innovation, insight and human connection to help people move closer to care. Much to think on until next year’s event.