Speaking with NutraIngredients-USA at the recent 4th Annual Thought Leaders Consortium hosted by the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI), Bartz told us that the personalization of health is putting more and more pressure on clinicians.
“As an organization that has 60 sales people in the field talking to doctors every day, [we see that] it’s putting more and more pressure on the clinician because patients are coming into the doctor with their information ready. They’re still looking for that guidance but it’s really a more informed patient,” he said.
“I think it [the developments in the personalization of health] is definitely changing the conversation around dietary supplements.”
Bartz added that one of the key changes produced by the proliferation of wearables and genomics and access to data is that there has been a switch in ownership of information from the doctor to the patient.
Ortho Molecular Products operates within the healthcare practitioner channel and awareness of the developments in personalized health is higher for such companies, compared to mass and other channels, said Bartz.
“The ownership [of information] is now with the patient, and I’m sure that patients are going into mass retail channels and try to figure it out for themselves but I think that can be a dangerous thing because I do think the practitioner can provide great guidance.
“In the other channels you have consumers trying to make decisions on their own. Maybe they make some good decisions and maybe they don’t.”