From Chaos to Control: Consent Management in Pharma

Looking at the night sky, we see countless stars, bright yet distant, each holding stories we can only guess at. In the same way, the expanding universe of digital channels offers countless opportunities to connect with customers, but without the right data, those audiences remain out of reach.

For companies across industries, mastering how to collect, manage, and use data responsibly has become a decisive advantage. But in pharma, where every interaction must respect strict privacy and regulatory frameworks, the challenge runs deeper. Consent management stands at the center of this universe — the system that brings light to the dark, making connections visible, compliant, and meaningful.

Let’s talk about how technology can address these issues, introducing the secure basis for pharma communication, turning data governance from an obstacle into a source of trust and competitive strength.

What Is Consent Management in Pharma?

Consent management in pharma is the structured process of collecting, recording, updating, and enforcing permissions that define if, how, and through which channels a pharmaceutical company is allowed to communicate with a patient or healthcare professional and process their personal data. It’s all about maintaining control, traceability, and compliance across every interaction, at scale.

In practice, consent management ensures that every interaction, whether an email, a CLM presentation, an event follow-up, or a data-driven campaign, is backed by a valid, documented consent and executed strictly within its limits.

Because pharmaceutical companies handle sensitive personal data by default, consent collection is a mandatory part of everyday operations.

Consent Collection as Part of the Process

Consent collection refers to the process through which a patient or physician grants a pharmaceutical brand permission to collect and use specific personal information, such as professional details, contact data, location, or communication preferences, for clearly defined purposes. In return, the company commits to processing, storing, and using this data responsibly and only within the agreed limits.

This process is governed by data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, alongside local laws that vary by region. While compliance teams define these rules, enforcement depends on how well consent is embedded into systems and workflows. Despite this, violations remain common, and pharma companies continue to face significant fines related to consent and data protection failures.

In real-world pharma operations, consent typically exists in multiple forms:

• Channel-specific communication consent, limited to the channel where it was collected
• Holistic communication consent, allowing engagement across multiple channels
• Consent to process personal data
• Consent to track interactions, such as CLM or account activity

Each type has its own scope and limitations, all of which must be respected at the same time.

As omnichannel engagement expands, managing consent becomes more complex. Permissions must remain consistent across tools, channels, and touchpoints, plus update immediately when consent changes. Without a structured consent management approach, companies may comply in one channel while unintentionally violating consent in another.

Role of Consent Management for the Pharma Industry 

Managing consent matters regardless of your company’s size. Compliant consent management is more than just about adhering to privacy laws; there are many reasons why a consent management platform (CMP) should be a part of any organization’s workflows. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Legal and ethical importance 

Why does consent management play such an essential role in the entire personal data lifecycle? Here are some legal and ethical considerations:

• Data privacy regulations. Pharma companies must comply with all laws and regulations regarding personal data protection, including GDPR and others.
• Avoidance of legal penalties. Data privacy legislation protects not just those who consent but also those who gather it. Proper consent and preference management reduces the risks of fines and sanctions.
• Audit readiness. Maintaining records of informed consent allows for faster passing of audits by regulatory bodies and ethics committees.
• Respect for user autonomy. With user consent preferences appropriately set, individuals can decide how their data is used.
• Protection of sensitive information. Pharma companies have the ethical responsibility to safeguard the data of patients and HCPs from misuse or unauthorized access.
• Informed participation. Organizations obtain permission from patients and HCPs to use their data and provide them with a clear understanding of risks, benefits, and data use.

Companies that deploy responsive consent solutions are one step ahead in many senses, as it is not just about having the best way to process sensitive personal information but also about enabling privacy regulation compliance.

Evolving regulations 

In just 2024, Data Protection Authorities in 27 European countries have issued 237 fines, amounting to roughly EUR 22.8 million, up by EUR 6.3 million from the previous report. These fines were imposed on hospitals, pharmacies, physicians, and medicine suppliers for data protection violations. Even though the number of penalties keeps getting lower every year, too many remain. Non-compliance is not just theoretical; it can result in millions in fines.

This is why regulations continue to improve and evolve. Even though many companies in the pharma and life sciences sectors are finally adapting to the current regulatory environment, many problems still require immediate attention. The industries face a complex web of risks, from data breaches to new types of fraud.

Where Pharma Consent Management Breaks Down

As pharma engagement shifted from primarily in-person interactions to digital channels, companies gained access to a growing volume of data. When used responsibly, this data makes it possible to deliver more relevant, personalized content to HCPs and to reach them through a broader mix of channels.

At the same time, HCPs’ digital consumption habits have carried over from everyday life into their professional routines. Many now move seamlessly between devices throughout the workday.

Around half of HCPs say they prefer to receive promotional content on mobile devices or tablets, while clinical and medical information is more often consumed on computers or laptops, with 62% and 57% of HCPs, respectively, favoring these devices for professional content.

This shift creates real challenges for pharmaceutical companies because it disrupts the operating model they were long accustomed to. When engagement with doctors was primarily face-to-face, consent was typically collected in a direct, contextual way and managed within a limited set of channels.

As digital engagement expanded, companies were suddenly required to manage large volumes of personal data across multiple touchpoints. Many organizations still struggle to establish clear, consistent processes for collecting and enforcing consent in digital channels. Meanwhile, the regulatory landscape remains strict and unforgiving, leaving little room for error. Pharma companies must navigate growing data complexity while ensuring full compliance with regulations that cannot be compromised.

How Does the Consent Collection Process Work?

The consent collection process varies depending on how the interaction takes place (face-to-face or virtual) and must always align with customer requirements, local legislation, and applicable regulations. In markets governed by GDPR and related ePrivacy rules, additional confirmation steps are often used to strengthen proof of consent.

For example, an HCP may be asked to confirm consent via email or verify their email address before receiving communications. These double-opt-in–style workflows are not universal, but they are widely used where a strong audit trail is required.

What determines how consent is captured is what the consent covers. Under GDPR-style frameworks, consent must be specific and granular.

• If consent is requested for a single purpose, such as receiving email communications, one opt-in may be sufficient.
• If consent is requested for multiple distinct purposes, such as email, SMS, and postal communication, each purpose typically requires a separate opt-in.

Combining unrelated purposes into a single checkbox is explicitly discouraged. Some organizations also offer channel preferences to support omnichannel engagement, but this is a usability choice rather than a regulatory requirement.

Consent can be captured through several common touchpoints:

• During face-to-face meetings, sales representatives typically use CLM tools connected to CRM systems to present content and document interactions, including consent-related confirmations.
• In virtual journeys, consent may be collected or reinforced through emails, landing pages, webinar registrations, or gated content downloads, where the HCP actively opts in.

Once captured, consent and interaction data are transmitted to the pharma company’s CRM and, where implemented, a dedicated consent management system. Centralizing this information ensures that permissions can be enforced consistently across channels and updated as preferences change.

Common Consent Management Challenges

What challenges does pharmaceutical consent management face? Let’s discuss some of the most recurring obstacles.

Data silos across systems

There is no centralized place for managing consents. The data is gathered through many different systems, significantly complicating the tracking of the consent’s status. 

It is challenging to combine the customers’ data and align different activities and tools. This results in a time-consuming process requiring the intervention of many professionals. According to statistics, about 30% of data loss occurs when connecting the data from one platform to another.

Manual consent tracking risks

When companies rely on manual processes, they risk losing some of the data, even at the initial data collection stage. Even if you are very attentive, it can be difficult to always ensure an error-free process because of human factors. And even though automation does not guarantee a flawless result or zero risks, a consent management platform simplifies the process of obtaining data and makes storing it much safer.

Fragmented customer journeys

Another common issue is having no idea what to introduce to the doctor and lacking content potentially interesting to the HCP. This happens due to fragmented customer journeys, when we don’t have the full picture of the customer’s preferences, needs, and interests, and the data collected comes in chunks from different sources, with barely any connection.

Best Practices for Consent Management

Today, buyers are happy to provide their data in exchange for personalization to the brands they trust. However, in the pursuit of personalization, we should not forget about the importance of following all the rules of customer data management.

According to the GDPR, subscribers must have full control over the information they share and have easily searchable access to documents explaining the purposes for which their data will be used.

• Allow users to be specific in what they consent to

Give people detailed consent options so they may choose the level of personalization they are comfortable with and the marketing messages they wish to receive.

• Ensure the individuals have the right to be forgotten

The main rule of CCPA must be observed, which implies that before users consent to the processing of their data, they have the right to be informed that, at any time, they may refuse to communicate further.

• The process of consent collecting should be transparent

Earlier, in the article Ensuring Data Protection and Pharma Compliance in Digital Transformation, we talked a lot about how to achieve security in personal data management and derived a golden rule for working with customer data:

The customer should always be provided with transparency on what their data is used for, what channels will be engaged, and see what’s behind each tick they put into a checkbox.

• Use the right tools for consent gathering and management

Data collection companies must use reliable platforms and software for storing, analyzing, and managing consent. This is a crucial step, as with a high-quality tool, organizations can ensure the safety of their customers, store their personal information properly, and personalize content to their current needs.

Omnichannel consent journey

Earlier, pharma companies relied mostly on in-person communication. As digital activity surged, engagement shifted to digital channels, and that approach has stuck, becoming a preferred mode for both sides. Pharma has seen higher engagement, while HCPs can connect without wrecking their schedules. The numbers reflect that: half of HCPs want to engage digitally and remotely.

But getting consent is still a long road. For many reps, the biggest hurdle isn’t the form itself, but reaching the doctor, fitting into their day, and convincing them to opt in (often with little enthusiasm). That’s why collecting consent across several channels is the most practical approach.

The easiest way to reach HCPs is through their daily habits. The channels they already use create multiple chances to appear on their radar, if the content is strong and placed where it makes sense.

This is where pharma omnichannel engagement thrives. A mapped customer journey helps capture interactions and consent consistently, and deliver the right information through the right channel.

For pharma companies, this typically means investing in change management and involving experts who understand regulated consent processes. A million-dollar issue? Not really, especially when annual non-compliance fines can reach $9.6 million.

What an Ideal Consent Management Solution Looks Like

In many cases, consent boils down to a simple checkbox. However, consent management plays a much bigger role in the pharma world. It’s not just important to gather consent preferences and adhere to them; consent is a foundation for patient and HCP trust, ethical research, and operational efficiency. This is why every consent management software should be able to offer a lot more than just a simple “Yes” or “No” feature. Here is a checklist for a perfect consent and privacy management platform.

End-to-end regulatory compliance

The right consent management platform adheres to all necessary privacy regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and local laws. Your solution should allow region-specific content flows that allow you to comply with data privacy laws in any region.

Granular consent options

Managing user consent means not only gathering it but also providing those whose consent is gathered with an opportunity to choose how their personal data will be used. A consent management platform should gather consent preferences and allow HCPs or patients to choose specific data uses, such as research or analytics.

Unified data visibility

A consent management process should be transparent and accessible to everyone working with it. If anyone withdraws consent, it should be immediately available in the system. Moreover, a good consent management platform should also serve as a centralized hub for consent records. If full centralization isn’t possible, it should offer alternative options, such as integrations with other platforms where user consent can be stored.

Built-in analytics and reporting

A reliable consent management platform helps adhere to data protection laws and helps the company better understand those who consented to it. A CMP should offer opportunities for monitoring consent, tracking interactions, and analyzing all of this information to turn it into insight-driven improvements.

Security by design

A CMP should adhere to consent requirements and protect personal data using encryption, role-based access control, and other methods. Regarding data privacy compliance, it’s crucial to store data properly and ensure that it’s protected, making unauthorized access and data leaks impossible.

How Viseven Supports Pharma with Consent Solutions

For long, pharma marketers, field force workers, sales and medical teams, event managers, and other experts have been dealing with a lot of stress regarding events. Instead of working toward creating a long-lasting impression, they had to focus on other tasks that required juggling numerous apps and platforms to ensure a smooth event experience.

Built for pharma and life sciences teams, Lexi, an AI-powered event coordinator created by Viseven, helps connect multiple touchpoints before, after, and during the event. With Lexi, you can turn missed opportunities into strong connections while ensuring compliance and consent at all HCP communication stages. Here are its main features:

• Consent collection and management. You can instantly identify attendees and track their consent with AI-powered badge scanning, reducing manual workload while always being aware of the number of attendees and their consent preferences.
• Automated data collection. Lexi automatically captures all types of data during the event. Every interaction is tracked in real time, allowing you to easily collect information such as surveys, customer consent, badge scans, and more.
• Personalization opportunities. Since each data point is linked to every attendee, Lexi enables much deeper personalization both during and after the event. You can quickly obtain user consent and, by understanding HCPs’ preferred activities throughout the event, create more personalized content.
• Full compliance with GDPR and data protection laws. Lexi fully complies with all data privacy regulations and security standards. And it’s not just about storing and obtaining explicit consent securely, but also about ensuring complete data protection for everyone using the consent management platform.
• Seamless CRM integration. Lexi can be a standalone solution that is fully integrated into your chosen CRM. Upon request, the app can be easily adjusted to your existing ecosystem, enhancing your marketing efforts, strengthening data accuracy, and streamlining consent management.

Summing Up

There are not many consent management tools that truly cater to the needs of modern organizations in pharma and life sciences. Maintaining compliance and following the best data protection practices is not enough; it’s also important to be able to analyze data provided by HCPs and use it to create content that’s more tailored to their goals. Here at Viseven, we believe that it’s important to ensure that all modern consent management practices are followed, regardless of how big the company is.