Common Market Research Methodologies in Healthcare

Although healthcare is a unique entity in the consumer market, it relies on market research as much as any other industry. Market research helps connect caregivers to patients and provides crucial insights into each patient’s needs. There are several ways to go about this research, each with its own advantages.

The Most Common Healthcare Research Methodologies

Researchers employ several market research methodologies, depending on their goals and available participant pool.

Quantitative Surveys

Quantitative surveys are a simple way to connect with large numbers of participants. Users are asked to fill out information surveys about their preferences and experiences, generally intended to capture the ‘voice’ of the customer and gain broad insights into issues.

Focus Groups

Conducted in-person or online, this methodology brings small groups of participants together to answer questions in a moderator-led discussion. These responses tend to be more in-depth than survey answers and provide important contextual information on specific user segments.

Online Bulletin Boards

Bulletin board research allows participants to log into a web portal and answer questions in a public forum, usually conducted over a several day period. This strategy is flexible in nature, ideal for reaching participants who can’t attend in-person meetings due to physical restrictions or scheduling conflicts.

Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic studies leverage observational research alongside direct interviews to learn more about how participants use products, services, or technologies. Researchers monitor activities and combine their insights with user-provided data to formulate insights into trends and patterns.

One-on-One Interviews

Ideal for high-value participants who may not participate in group sessions (such as surgeons, C-level executives, or other time-restrained professionals), one-on-one interviews provide the most in-depth information of any methodology. They allow interviewers to probe deeper on issues while protecting each participant’s privacy in a confidential setting.

Data Reviews and Content Analyses

The above methodologies describe different ways to collect user data, but the collection is only the first step. Researchers must be able to review data and determine how to derive meaningful insights from the content.

Brooks Group’s approach to analyzing qualitative data differentiates us in the research market. We apply content analysis techniques and procedures that compress long-form data (as might be taken from a one-on-one interview or detailed survey) and break it up into smaller message categories. By doing so, we’re able to sift through large volumes of interview data quickly and efficiently.

In our experience, this is the best way to understand nuances among user responses, identify trends, and gain an empirical basis for monitoring changes over time.

Tools to Support Your Healthcare Research

The Brooks Group offers three products to help facilitate healthcare market research:

1. Voice of the Customer – Customer-driven feedback process that evaluates account managers on custom metrics relative to their competitors.

2. Equity Scan – Assessment tool designed to benchmark attributes and capabilities in key customer segments.

3. Level III Analysis – Detailed assessment process consisting of account manager skill assessments, gap analyses, and long-term strategies for skill development.

The Brooks Group is a leader in providing training, market research, consulting, and instructional design services to healthcare organizations. Visit our site to learn more about the value of implementing a structured methodology to your healthcare enterprise.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2021/01/common-market-research-methodologies-in-healthcare/

Understanding Managed Care in 2020 and Beyond

The foundation of sales or account management is understanding clients’ needs. Keeping up with managed care trends and knowing where the market is headed, helps with anticipating needs and providing a higher level of service to clients.

Here are the major trends impacting the healthcare landscape in 2020 and beyond.

The Changing Healthcare Landscape

Managed care began with a simple goal: to decrease the cost of healthcare in the United States. But while most managed care plans were focused on cutting costs, they didn’t give much thought to consumers. Managed care became a one-size-fits-all healthcare solution for everyone.

To provide personalized care at an affordable cost, there have been several advancements in the managed care landscape including Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—otherwise known as Obamacare. The ACA offers consumers more options to choose and fine-tune their healthcare coverage, while ACOs allow healthcare providers to focus on the quality of care rather than cost.

This has led to changing the healthcare landscape from cost-based to consumer-based. Plus, as more people are becoming eligible for Medicaid due to its expansion, managed care plans are being forced to change their products, programs, and benefits to be more consumer-centric to keep up with the increased demand.

Looking Beyond 2020

The future of managed care is consumer-focused. Instead of focusing on how to pay for care, most managed care plans are now centered around what consumers need and how to compete in the changing landscape. Here are some of the major trends impacting the future of managed care:

1. Telehealth and Remote Healthcare Options

Telehealth has seen significant adoption in the healthcare industry over the past several years. More and more healthcare providers are choosing to offer remote, virtual care to their patients to help cut costs both on their end and for their patients.

While many might think of telehealth as a trend born of the COVID-19 pandemic, research shows that remote healthcare is here to stay. Over 83% of patients expect to continue using virtual appointments even after the pandemic is resolved.

2. Medicaid Expansion

In 2018, new legislation was introduced to expand Medicaid coverage to even more Americans. Of course, the wheels of the government move slowly, so many states have yet to adopt the new legislation and referendums.

In the upcoming years, expect states to continue expanding Medicaid coverage. Health systems will need to care for an increased number of patients without sacrificing quality. To support the increased demand, small healthcare organizations and hospitals will need to merge and contract more specialty services with other companies to handle the workload. This means a more collaborative healthcare landscape.

3. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Trillions of dollars have been poured into advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence to create a space where data modelling is readily available to patients, healthcare providers, and industry professionals. 

For managed care providers, this means access to more meaningful data than ever before. It’ll become simpler to research trends and use predictive analyses to anticipate needs, leading to a higher quality of personalized patient care.

4. Consumerism

Patients now have more access to information and managed care choices. People are looking for the lowest cost managed care plans that best suit their unique needs. With this switch to consumerism, government bodies have been pushing healthcare providers to offer transparent pricing and quality scores to simplify choices for consumers.

Stay in the know with our Managed Care Seminars

Account managers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries are expected to have a strong knowledge of the changing trends in the healthcare system and the factors driving it, so that they can anticipate the implications of their customers and address their needs and concerns with competence.

The Brooks Group offers managed care training seminars to get your team to understand and keep up to date with the latest trends in the managed care landscape. 

If you’re interested in learning about our other healthcare executive training programs, contact us. You can also register for classes using our online portal. Custom classes for your team are available upon request.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/12/understanding-managed-care-in-2020-and-beyond/

3 Signs that Your Account Managers Need Training

According to data from Gartner, 80% of future profits come from just 20% of your existing customers. When your pharmaceutical or biotech account managers don’t understand how to work with customers effectively, you'll lose customers and, along with them, potential profits. As a healthcare market research firm, The Brooks Group has collected a lot of data on metrics and KPIs that track the performance of account managers in these organizations. 

To maintain business profitability, here are the telltale signs that your managers are due for account management training courses.

1. Low Customer Retention

Effective account management is all about customer retention. If your account managers do their jobs well, customers will continue doing business. Track the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine customer retention success:

• Customer Churn Rate – the percentage of customers who cancel or fail to renew their contracts. High churn rates could indicate your account managers are handling customer accounts poorly, causing them to do business elsewhere.

• Support Requests – a high number of support requests indicate your account managers aren’t providing customers with the answers they need. Track website, phone, and email support requests.

With 80% of your future profits at stake, ensure your account managers understand best customer retention practices.

2. Failing Revenue Streams

Account Managers are a key liaison with your existing customers. If they are competent and manage these relationships well, they will be able to uncover opportunities for upsells, cross-sells, and execute a high rate of contract extensions. So if your organization as a whole or a particular manager is failing to develop these opportunities as a steady source and a high percentage of total revenue, then it is time to train your account managers and improve their skills.

3. Poor Client Relationships

Negative customer relationships will cause clients to abandon your products/services. To ensure your managers are maintaining positive client relationships and demonstrating their value, track these key indicators:

• Strategic Communications – the number of strategic emails and calls between managers and customers. If your customers aren’t contacting their account managers for strategic advice, your managers aren’t proving their value.

• Referrals – when customers enjoy the product/service they get from a business, they’re more likely to refer their colleagues. A lack of referrals could indicate your account managers aren’t offering the quality service customers need.

• Outreach Engagement – how often do customers respond to calls and emails? If you have trouble reaching customers, it could mean they don’t have a positive relationship with your business.

Account managers are entirely responsible for building positive customer relationships. When customers avoid communicating, it’s likely they don’t trust you or see the value of your business.

Get Your Account Managers the Training They Need

Worsening KPIs are a strong indication that your account managers are in dire need of training. As customer retention, revenue, and client relationships decrease, reach out to a skilled healthcare consulting firm for advice and training to strengthen your team.

The Brooks Group offers an Excellence in Account Management training course that’s designed to teach account managers proper customer relationship and retention practices. If you’re interested in learning more about this, or our other training programs for healthcare executives and our employee onboarding solutions, contact us for additional information.

Registration for courses is available on The Brooks Group website (view schedule). Custom courses with your team or organization are also available upon request.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/12/3-signs-that-your-account-managers-need-training/

MANAGED CARE 101: A MUST FOR SALES AND ACCOUNT MANAGERS IN PHARMA

Managed care is a process that gives patients an option to receive care at a reduced cost through their healthcare plans that have specialized contracts with healthcare providers. Managed care’s primary focus is on wellness and prevention, though it also supports better utilization of healthcare services, better healthcare quality, and lower costs.

In other words, managed care can benefit both patients and providers through a coordinated approach; patients get access to lower-cost benefits while providers gain access to an efficient process for acquiring new patients and managing receivables.

Managed care plans come in a variety of options, including Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), Point Of Service (POS) Plans, And Medicaid Managed Care. Population survey data shows that over 70 million Americans have been enrolled in HMOs, and nearly 90 million have been involved with PPOs. It is fair to say that managed markets are a focal point of modern healthcare – and pharmaceutical personnel need to understand how the interplay of various participants in managed care affect their sales and operations.

The Role of Pharmaceutical Sales and Account Managers in Managed Care

Pharmaceutical sales reps bear a heavy burden. As product specialists and provider liaisons, sales reps have more to do than simply memorize spec sheets. Succeeding in managed care requires an understanding of the general market environment, the economics of managed markets, and how to match their products and solutions to the potential buyers based on the critical business issues faced by the key decision makers.

Sales reps need a deeper understanding of influencing factors such as regulations in product pricing, prescribing restrictions, authorizations, copay management, and more. Account Managers on the other hand need to be able to have tremendous insights into the concerns and challenges of the Key Decision Makers, and based on that build and deliver a unique value proposition that speaks undeniable value and long-term engagement.

This is why, in addition to the standard account management training, most pharmaceutical companies require their sales and account reps to go through managed care training seminars to gain a deep understanding of the system.

Managed Care Training Offers a Competitive Edge

In order to be able to deliver the above-mentioned value, pharma sales and account managers must be well versed in the intricacies of the managed market.

This involves-

• Understanding managed healthcare & the different components
• Identifying the providers & how they impact managed healthcare
• Defining quality & identifying quality initiatives in addition to the leading quality organizations
• Understanding the U.S. healthcare market framework

Pharma managers and sales reps are most effective when they are coached by those familiar with the specialized needs of managed markets. As a leading healthcare consulting firm, The Brooks Group has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience in this field.

The Brooks Group offers a dedicated course called “Managed Care 101” – a training course specifically designed for account managers, field sales reps, and senior level sales professionals looking for insight into the various strategies and techniques used to support managed care markets. Registration is available through open-enrollment sessions at The Brooks Group or by a custom course with your team/organization.

If you’re interested in learning more about our managed care training curriculum or about our healthcare executive training programs, contact us today for more information.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/11/managed-care-101-a-must-for-sales-and-account-managers-in-pharma/

5 KEY PRESENTATION SKILLS THAT HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES NEED TO DEVELOP TODAY

At the executive level, success depends a lot on effective communication. This is particularly true for healthcare, where entities frequently rely on one another for insights into healthcare market research, strategic goals and leadership development.

Innovations move fast in healthcare, and executives who want to keep pace will need to relay these insights to key participants within their organization, as well as other entities through presentations, boardroom meetings, or other speaking engagements. To this end, they need a communication strategy that gets the information across in a clear and concise manner, and demonstrates leadership, competence, and confidence.

These are the fundamental traits to have when presenting to strategic-level personnel, and they’re achievable by first nailing down a few essential presentation skills, noted below.

1. Develop the Right Content Structure for Effective Presentations

Presentations given to healthcare personnel must be well-designed, and logical. They need to speak to the benefits of new healthcare methodologies and get clinicians on board. For these audiences, content should be created with the following elements in mind:

• Clear objective setting
• Strategic focus of the content
• Logical structuring of material
• Establishing relevance to the audience’s area of work

In other words, it all starts with the content and how well it is structured.

2. Manage Distractions During Presentations

Technical problems. Memory lapses. Co-presenters going off-script. Distractions are inevitable. It’s how the presenter deals with them that matters.

Managing distraction is a function of experience and deliberate application of personal skills around voice and body language. Healthcare executives don’t need to be clever or quick on their feet to manage distractions; they just need to apply the same skills-based approach to distractions as they do to their other presentation goals. With the right healthcare executive training, presenters will have all the tools they need to stay one step ahead of such disruptions.

3. Leverage Media Tools to Support Verbal Messages

Slideshows and handouts are old favorites, but to be effective in today’s world of short attention spans, executives need to take things one step further. These days, interactive multimedia presentations are the easiest way to keep audiences engaged.

Modern digital media like 3D modeling and simulations, infographics, gamification, can all be leveraged to create interactive learning experiences for audiences. After all, the best healthcare presentations don’t simply speak to audiences. They’re customized with specific audiences in mind and built to facilitate participation and thoughtful dialogue.

The idea here is to determine the best combination of technologies to engage each audience and leave them with a “wow” factor that makes them eager to hear more!

4. Identify & Manage Varying Types of Audience Participants

It’s common to feel alone up there on the platform. But presenters aren’t alone – not when they’re familiar with their audience and how they can help reinforce the presenter’s goals. Some audience members may be supporters an executive can turn to for validation; others may be detractors, or “fence-sitters” that jam up a group consensus.

Learning to identify and manage these participants helps healthcare executives retain control during presentations and create better engagement among attendees.

5. Create Purposeful Audience Interaction

Healthcare is a dynamic industry, and healthcare presentations need to follow suit by engaging audience members and driving purposeful results from their participation.

But it isn’t easy to shake attendees out of apathy and get them involved in the discussion, which is why it helps to have dedicated training from healthcare consulting firms on the best way to create purpose-driven interactions in each presentation.

Healthcare Executive Training Begins With Communication

The above are just a few essential presentation skills that effective healthcare executives should know, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s possible. The Brooks Group provides detailed presentation training through our Carpei Audientiam program, specifically designed to enhance executive presentation skills and the way they connect with their audience. Registration is available through open enrollment sessions here, or by custom course with your organization.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/11/5-key-presentation-skills-that-healthcare-executives-need-to-develop-today/

BROOKS GROUP UNIVERSITY

The Brooks Group University (BGU) is your one-stop shop for healthcare information geared toward customer-facing team members in commercial and medical roles.

Learn the latest insights, build marketplace acumen, and further develop your skills to be relevant and ahead of the curve with your internal and external customers.

Our instructional designers and healthcare subject matter experts have created a library of engaging learning solutions that will get you up to speed quickly so you can tackle the healthcare market, project competence, and instill confidence in your customers that you are their trusted advisor.

Best of all, the learning solutions housed on BGU have been developed for immediate use. They can be hosted within your LMS or ours, including full metrics and analytics, so you can get to learning faster and be certified as an expert in your topic of choice!

Visit Brooks Group University Here

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/09/brooks-group-university/

WELCOME WILL BROWN TO THE BROOKS GROUP TEAM!

The Brooks Group is pleased to announce that Will Brown has joined our team as Vice President.

Will brings more than 20 years of pharmaceutical and life science commercial experience to the team, including senior level marketing and commercial operations leadership roles. Will’s new product planning and product launch experience spans numerous therapeutic areas, including oncology, acute care, and rare/orphan diseases.

In addition to working with The Brooks Group, Will is an adjunct professor of business with the University of Arizona Global Campus, and is utilizing his combined life science and education experience to work with clients in developing successful strategic commercial plans, and learning and development programs that will help his clients achieve their business objectives. Please join us in welcoming Will Brown to The Brooks Group team, and if you would like to discuss more about how he can help your team, please reach out directly by email at will.brown@brooksgroupinc.biz.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2020/09/welcome-will-brown-to-the-brooks-group-team/