The Power Of Patient Advocacy In Pharmaceutical Development :The Advocate

Patients deserve to have their voices heard by the healthcare industry. Their input can not only improve the quality of their own care, but also that of many others with similar needs. It also sheds light on under-recognized sources of demand in the industry and opens up new opportunities for professionals who have the skills to fill that demand with new solutions.

To this end, our research team at The Brooks Group publishes an annual report on patient advocacy in the healthcare industry. Our pharmaceutical market research publication (The Advocate: Supporting the Patient Voice) has all of the information you need to assess the state of patient advocacy in the healthcare market and determine how to better align your company's offerings with patients' stated needs.

What Is The Advocate?

The Advocate: Supporting the Patient Voice is an annual market research report published by The Brooks Group that first debuted in 2018. It was preceded by our publication STAR: Successfully Targeting Advocacy Relations, which ran from 2010 to 2017.

The Advocate comprises information from 103 healthcare companies and 37 professional organizations spanning over 18 therapeutic areas in total. It includes both quantitative and qualitative data to create a more holistic and compelling picture of patient needs.

To complete our data set, we also conduct 45-minute follow-up interviews with a selection of the top organizations in the healthcare industry. These interviews give these organizations a chance to comment on their patient advocacy efforts in more detail and outline the areas they plan to work on in the near future.

Our Goals for The Advocate

In each edition of The Advocate, we strive to:

• Help the pharmaceutical community better understand patients' needs
• Provide an overview of how each organization is viewed by the patients it serves, facilitating improvement both internally and within the industry as a whole
• Create a set of consistently measured annual benchmarks that can be used to chart progress toward major patient-centered goals

Why It Matters

Patient advocacy is more than a professional courtesy – it is a fundamental duty within the healthcare industry.

The goal of all healthcare is to improve patients' health and quality of life. Providing treatments for disease only accomplishes part of that goal. Patients must have a platform to express their needs and priorities. Patient advocacy gives this vulnerable population a voice and makes it more likely that they will receive treatments that suit their budget, lifestyle, and overall health requirements. Advocacy work may even prompt companies to develop therapies for some conditions that are currently overlooked.

Since patient advocacy information is essentially an expression of demand, it also has significant repercussions for the sales side of healthcare. Major payers often shift their buying habits in response to patient feedback. Top healthcare consulting firms emphasize the importance of this relationship when advising clients on how to navigate changing markets.

Account managers who do not take the time to keep up with the latest patient advocacy reports may suddenly discover that their pitches are no longer resonating with their clients. In contrast, keeping up with this information on a yearly basis allows healthcare sales professionals to make timely propositions that address concrete, documented patient goals.

Bridging the Gap Between Patients and Industry

Investing in patient advocacy research could significantly improve your company's ability to close sales and make meaningful investments with appreciable ROI. The Brooks Group makes it easy to upgrade your workforce's skills with account management training courses, healthcare executive training, market research, and more. Contact us today to learn more about how your organization can receive access to The Advocate or to sign up for our any of our industry-leading healthcare sales training courses.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2022/05/power-of-patient-advocacy-in-pharmaceutical-development-the-advocate/

How is Digital Health Revolutionizing the Healthcare Industry?

Digital technologies have crept into every facet of daily life, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Digital health is the latest trend set to revolutionize the healthcare industry.

This new model of care will change everything from research and development to patient care outcomes – no aspect of the field will be left untouched. Understanding this phenomenon, its benefits, and the opportunities it presents can help healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals adapt their practices to the new digital paradigm.

What is Digital Health?

Digital health is the process of integrating new digital tools into the healthcare industry. Using technologies like wearables, connected devices, and software applications, physicians and other healthcare professionals can collect vast amounts of health data from patients. This allows them to get a more well-rounded, accurate, and timely picture of each patient's health status, sometimes on a real-time basis. They can then offer high-quality care even at long distances.

Benefits of Digital Health

Healthcare providers who adopt the digital health paradigm benefit in many ways, including:

• Better communication. Patients who are treated using digital health technologies can communicate directly with their doctor for most of their treatment, facilitating trust and openness between both parties. Patients do not need to discuss their health information with receptionists, assistants, and other people who may be present in a typical clinic setting.
• Accelerated treatment. Because digital health solutions are usually extremely efficient and require very little human input, patients treated with these technologies can receive treatment much more quickly than someone being treated using conventional methods.
• Lower costs. Digital health technologies make it easier to deliver quality care with fewer resources. This benefits healthcare providers, insurers, and patients alike.
• Increased accessibility. Digital technologies like telemedicine solutions allow more people in need to access healthcare services, even when they live hundreds of miles away from the specialists they need to see.
• Improved knowledge of patient profiles. Digital health allows healthcare providers to access patient health data directly using a single touchpoint, improving their ability to assess each patient's condition and relay accurate information to them.

Digital Health and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Digital health has also made a noticeable impact on the pharmaceutical industry.

Now that electronic health records are more widely used, patients' health information is being recorded in a standardized and easily accessible format for the first time. This shift gives researchers and healthcare providers access to more detailed patient health profiles, including current vitals readings and records of any comorbidities each patient has.

This information unlocks a whole new realm of possibilities for drug companies. Researchers can use it to develop drugs that are targeted to specific presentations of a particular condition. They can also determine which type of patient responds best to each medication and market their products appropriately. This process can be aided by AI-powered drug discovery methods that can experiment with thousands of chemical combinations to find the formula that produces the desired effects.

Digital Health and Pharma Sales

These opportunities presented by digital health technologies have additional implications for pharmaceutical sales.  Account managers who factor digital health advancements into their services and pitches will be the most successful in this new reality.

To do this, salespeople will need access to specific tools. Pharmaceutical market research is critical to keeping abreast of new developments powered by digital health technologies. Account management training courses can refine professionals' ability to tailor their pitches to customer needs. Pairing the two together gives account managers the skills and knowledge they need to seize the opportunities before them.

Don’t Let Your Company Get Left Behind

As one of the top healthcare consulting firms in operation today, The Brooks Group recognizes the importance of staying up to date with the latest digital health developments. We offer a multitude of services designed to improve market knowledge and sales skills in healthcare professionals, including healthcare executive training and managed care training. Contact us today for more information on any of our world-class training programs or to sign up for an upcoming session.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2022/05/how-is-digital-health-revolutionizing-the-healthcare-industry/

Career Advancement Tips for Pharmaceutical Sales

Working in a pharmaceutical sales role is a challenging task that many professionals find very rewarding. However, most people strive for improvement in status, recognition, and responsibilities, continuing over the course of their careers. Whether you are just starting out in this field or are hoping to make some progress after a few years of stagnation, these five tips will help you set the stage for the career progression you desire in pharmaceutical sales.

1. Set Clear Goals

You know you want to develop your career, but have you given any thought to what that development should look like?

You may want to develop professional renown based on your in-depth knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry. Perhaps you would like to make it into the executive suite one day. You may even want to shift your focus altogether and break into the medical device, or biotechnology space instead. Identify what meaningful career progression looks like to you, then use that information to determine which skills you need to develop through education or practical experience. This will help you chart your course to greater heights.

2. Develop Your Resiliency

Even the best sales representatives will encounter the occasional roadblock during their career. Not all your pitches will be well-received, and you may even lose some long-term clients due to problems like economic downturns or corporate restructuring.

These things are disappointing, but they are also unavoidable at times. A good salesperson views failures as an opportunity to learn and improve. Instead of becoming discouraged over these setbacks, ask yourself what you could do better next time. These reflections will help you identify the weak points in your sales approach and determine what needs to be done to improve your skills in that area.

3. Network Frequently

Finding success in pharmaceutical sales often comes down to relationship-building – not just with your current clients, but also with other contacts within your field. Trade shows are an excellent place to find new prospects with whom you can slowly establish trust. Professional organizations like the National Association of Pharmaceutical Representatives are another good resource.

4. Find a Mentor

There are many things about sales that can only be learned through experience. Finding a mentor allows you to learn from their experience instead of having to find these things out on your own.

Connecting with a more experienced sales professional gives you access to someone who can guide you through the finer points of your role. Your mentor may also have received additional training that you have not. For instance, they may have undergone advanced courses like healthcare executive training to prepare to step up to higher roles. They can impart some of this knowledge to you and let you know which types of training have been most valuable to their career trajectory.

5. Invest in Continuing Education

Finally, be sure to keep up with your professional education over the course of your career. Earning a postgraduate degree is one way to show your customers you have advanced scientific knowledge. This can help you win their trust, but it will not necessarily make you a better salesperson.

A better approach is to invest in individual continuing education courses. Many top healthcare consulting firms offer training specific to the pharmaceutical industry. The knowledge imparted through these courses is immediately applicable to your daily work. You can use this information to generate impressive results and have a tangible impact on your company's bottom line. Proving your value in this way makes you an excellent candidate for the raises, promotions, and other benefits that establish career progression.

Get Ahead with Professional Healthcare Sales Training

Your career will not build itself: it is up to you to take the steps needed to accomplish your goals. Invest in your future potential with professional training from The Brooks Group. Our pharmaceutical market research services and account management training courses have helped many a trainee develop into a leader in the healthcare industry. Contact us for more information on any of our healthcare training courses and begin working toward industry prominence.

This blog was originally posted in https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2022/04/career-advancement-tips-for-pharmaceutical-sales/

A Step by Step Guide to Succeeding at Account Management

Effective account management is a demanding practice that requires a combination of sales skills, interpersonal ability, and industry expertise. To succeed in this role, they need to adopt practices that allow supporting the customers using both technical and relational knowledge. Organizations need to ensure that their AMs onboarding training addresses this important aspect and helps them adopt a methodical approach to account management. The following five tips will help you establish those practices one step at a time. 

1. Take a Proactive Approach  

Proactive account management behaviors not only reduce the number of future problems you must deal with, but also fosters trust and respect between you and your customers. 

• Check-in with each key customer contact on a regular basis. You never know what they might need. 

• Provide regular updates to your organization to keep both them and yourself in the know

• Implement a customer onboarding process to create a better experience for all parties.

2. Balance Sales and Consulting

The consulting aspects of an account manager’s role distinguish this position from a salesperson. An exemplary account manager makes purchasing effortless by bringing solutions to their customers before those customers ever think to ask for them.  

To do this: 

• Keep up to date on current market trends and new innovations in healthcare. Information provided by pharmaceutical market research companies is invaluable for this purpose.  

• Cultivate a deeper understanding of your customers’ needs. Research how both they and their competitors are currently serving patients, then offer them solutions that either enhance their existing strategies or introduce new ones that are in line with their competition. 

3. Upsell Strategically 

As an account manager, your customers trust you to do what is in their best interest as well as your company's. 

• Never attempt to upsell a customer on a treatment that does not align with their organizational goals. For instance, a mental health treatment facility aiming to specialize in teaching patients to manage anxiety using coping strategies might not be interested in a new, stronger anti-anxiety drug.  

• Do not attempt to upsell a customer until you have had time to build trust. Without that trust, your customer will interpret the action as an attempt to take advantage of them. 

• If you are unsure of how to upsell appropriately, consider investing in some account management training to help you learn new techniques to approach this as delicately as possible. 

4. Implement Key Account Management (KAM) Strategies 

Key account management dictates that account managers should devote most of their time and resources to select accounts that generate the most revenue. This can be an excellent way to maximize the impact of the work you put into your accounts. To make KAM work for you: 

• Choose your key accounts carefully.

• Secure buy-in from your entire company. For KAM to work, key accounts must receive special attention from all parties within your organization. 

• Ensure that you understand the level of service and dedication you will be expected to give to these key clients. Key account management training can help you prepare for this role and hone the skills you need to succeed. 

5. Use CRM Software 

Account management is a demanding field that often requires AMs to juggle many high-value accounts and tasks at once. Using tools like CRM software to automate some of the administrative work allows you to deliver better service in little time. Specifically, you can use a CRM to: 

• Store information on each customer's interests and preferences, past orders, returns or complaints, order dates, which representatives they have worked with in the past, and more. 

• Segment accounts into different categories based on criteria such as location, account age, and account value. 

• Track each customer's current position in the customer life cycle and determine the appropriate strategy to win more of their business. 

A Good Account Manager Never Stops Growing 

Account managers must never become complacent if they are to deliver the level of performance that their customers and their organization expect. With diligence and support from top healthcare consulting firms like The Brooks Group, they can simultaneously increase customer satisfaction, close more sales, and cultivate an exceptional professional reputation.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2021/09/a-step-by-step-guide-to-succeeding-at-account-management/

Syndicated Healthcare Market Research and The Advocate

 

Pharmaceutical companies must always move towards innovation to maintain not only a competitive advantage but also to align with patient and customer needs. However, any strategies that are developed need to be based on sound research that incorporates current market conditions, customer needs, and competitor concerns that could impact outcomes.

While market research is a great way to gather this information, the expense can be a barrier for some organizations. However, syndicated healthcare market research can help reduce that burden while still giving your firm an informed and competitive advantage.

Syndicated vs. Custom Market Research

In general, there are two main types of market research — custom and syndicated. Custom market research is when a company employs a consulting firm to develop a research study exclusively for them. While effective, this method can be expensive since the client must bear the full cost associated with the project.

In contrast, syndicated market research[1] is when a client purchases a market research study conducted independently by a market research or consulting firm. For example, a pharmaceutical firm would purchase a pharmaceutical market research study that investigates the industry, outlines trends, and highlights potential openings that need to be addressed. One of the biggest benefits of syndicated market research is that the associated costs are significantly lower than with a custom option.

Amplifying the Patient Voice

One of the most important ways a pharmaceutical company can build for the future is by centering the patient while crafting strategies. The Brooks Group has created a syndicated pharmaceutical market research tool called The Advocate: Supporting the Patient Voice. This annual report began in 2018 and is targeted around the relationship between pharma and advocacy groups and how this impacts policies developed and programmatic support. More importantly, this critical tool also focuses on:

- Corporate reputation

- Leading manufacturers in advanced patient treatment, programmatic/policy support, and professional relations

- Knowledge of PBMs versus payers

- Awareness of copay accumulator programs

- The impact of non-medical switching

Advancing Patient Advocacy

Along with providing a thorough overview of the market landscape, The Advocate also highlights how various pharmaceutical organizations are viewed by their customers while also providing critical benchmark data that outlines industry growth and track records year over year. But what is most useful is that The Advocate polls respondents from professional associations and advocacy organizations — ensuring that the data collected is directly relevant to patient advocacy in the pharmaceutical industry.

Innovating with Credible Intelligence

Innovation is essential to maintaining relevance, exceeding internal goals, and meeting the needs of patients and customers. But to achieve these benchmarks, organizations need credible intelligence that provides a comprehensive and accurate look at the industry, outlines areas for improvement or synergies, and helps identify a path forward.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2021/04/syndicated-healthcare-market-research-and-the-advocate/