Patient Advocacy 2025-2030: Skate Where The Puck Is Going To Be

Written by Matthew Zachary, Influencer of Things | Award-Winning Cancer Maverick • Keynote Speaker • Pioneering Podcaster • Patient Advocacy Champion • Nonprofit Whisperer • Healthcare Visionary

Wayne Gretzky once said, «Skate to where the puck is going to be.»

While Industry keeps skating in circles, patient advocacy is undergoing a transformation so profound that it’s surprising they haven't industry hasn’t noticed. Or maybe they have, but it’s too bogged down by its love affair with compliance-driven, myopic, risk-averse paranoia. 

But don't hate the players. Hate the game. 

Let me spell out my vision for the next five years: the rules of the game have changed, and so have the players. 

The Precision Patients era is here, and the puck is heading straight for an unguarded net. This isn’t just a patient and/or consumer-driven gentle nudge toward innovation; it’s a warning to evolve or risk irrelevance and lose lots of money.

Why Industry Can’t See the Ice

Spoiler: The healthcare industry’s approach to advocacy hasn’t kept up with the times. 

For decades, the playbook has prioritized safety over substance. Sure, no one wants to mess with FDA rules or face a PR crisis, but here’s the problem: that obsession with playing it safe has turned it into the least relatable player in the room.

This is most glaring in marketing spend—a staggering $26 billion annually—which produces a sea of forgettable TV ads and radio spots, which are illegal in nearly every other country on the planet. You’ve seen them: bathtubs on beaches for rheumatoid arthritis, Backyard BBQs for statins, and happy Stage IV cancer patients dancing around their verandas. All the while, a soothing voiceover lists side effects like «sudden death» in the background. Then, the awards show up while they self-congratulate the ROI of ads that no one watches.

How continually tone deaf and antediluvian.

Meanwhile, patient entrepreneurs (patientrepreneurs?) are out here creating new markets with highly commoditized products and services and the agility of tech startups. They’re wielding AI, grassroots networks, and next-gen customer experiences through their own lived experiences to clap back—and they’re winning. The gap widens daily.

The Rise of the Healthcare Citizen

I've talked about this ad nauseam for over two decades, only to be reinforced by BFF and «big sister BFF» Jane Sarsohn Khan, the leading health economist of our time. Her 2019 book, «HealthConsuming — From Health Consumer to Health Citizen,» is required reading for anyone living in or out of our bubble.

So, let’s discuss who these patient advocates already are (or will rapidly become) because they’re not the passive recipients of care Industry seems to imagine. They’re healthcare citizens, actively shaping the future of advocacy, drug development, and healthcare delivery.

This new ecosystem isn’t just about treatment; it’s about innovation, accountability, and empathy. Patients are demanding more—and they’re not waiting for permission.

They’ve become influencers in their own right, amplifying their voices through platforms that Industry can barely comprehend. Algorithms and TikTok videos are reshaping public opinion on drug efficacy faster than any FDA advisory panel ever could.

The cancer advocate of tomorrow is part journalist, part disruptor, and entirely unapologetic. Imagine a hybrid of 1960s Ralph Nader, Tony Robbins, and Dr. Mike Varshavski with the social media savvy of a Gen Z influencer. These advocates don’t just want change—they’re forcing it. And the healthcare industry? It’s standing on the sidelines, unsure whether to cheer them on or call a time-out.

The «Forever Risk-Aversion» Ouroboros

The fear of risk isn’t just holding everything back—it’s been actively digging its grave for two decades. Refusal to engage with Precision Patients isn’t just a cultural misstep; it’s a strategic disaster. By clinging to outdated compliance fears, Pharmaland is missing an opportunity to align with the very people driving the future of healthcare. Instead of embracing this shift, it remains stuck in a cycle of corporate reorgs that send a clear message: profits matter more than people.

And it’s not just about missing trends—it’s about missing profits. Patients are more than advocates; they’re consumers. Again, we are Healthcare Citizens.

This isn’t just bad optics; it’s eroding what's left of trust. 

We see the disconnect through a lack of empathy, transparency, and action. What they’re getting is lifeless marketing campaigns while complaining that we need to improve our patient-centricity, which is my favorite brain rot jargon.

He Shoots. He misses.

This doesn’t have to be a showdown. 

The Precision Patients era is a massive opportunity—if there is a willingness to acknowledge it in the first place. This is not a challenge. It is an invitation to drop the lawyers off at daycare, welcome us into the house, let marketing, comms, advocacy, and policy sit comfortably in the same boardroom, and leverage our lived experience not only for drug development but for corporate growth, not at the expense of medical bankruptcy.

We are no longer just end-users—we’re partners. We want to be heard, understood, and included in the decision-making processes that shape our lives. This means understanding that we aren't just a nice-to-have; we are a business strategy. 

We are not ICD-10 codes.

We are not data points. 

We are not marketing targets. 

We are not regulatory checkboxes.

Ironically, Industry has the tools—and certainly the money—to make this happen fairly quickly. Channel some of that wasted $26B in actor portrayals of our suffering into an unrestricted investment in the hockey rink.

Skate to Where the Puck Is Going To Be

Wayne Gretzky is unequivocally right.

The healthcare puck is heading toward a future where we are in the driver’s seat. We are shaping policy, influencing public opinion, and driving demand for a new kind of healthcare—one that values empathy, innovation, and accountability without a deleterious attitude toward reasonable quarterly returns. It takes money to make money.

Big Pharma, Small Pharma, Biotech, and the like can keep skating in circles, chasing the outdated strategies that worked in the past, like grant portals written in DOS. Or it can pivot toward the Precision Patient movement and collaborate to foster a new era of healthcare.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. 

This is about trust, relevance, and, ultimately, lives.

We are not a threat, contrary to your lawyer's opinions.

We have been—and always shall be—the greatest potential missed opportunity. And for those bold enough to no longer see it this way, the rewards will be enormous.

So, to the corporate executives reading this: the future is here. 

To the compliance people: Buckle up and grab those Depends.

It’s time to lace up your skates and get moving