TIPS ON BUILDING A TRAINING BUDGET

It’s that dreaded time of year again to put together the training budget for next year.  It can be hard to project the needs for the following year.  Here are five tips around building a training budget:

1. Understand the budget process to include approval process, submission dates and when budgets are finalized. Reconcile outstanding invoices with vendors, outstanding projects or incomplete projects and what will be billed for the current year. Meet all finance cut-off dates for the current year.
2. Determine operational expenses; travel, new hire training, technology, supplies e.g.
3. Be a part of the development of the marketing brand planning. This will allow you a seat at the table and to get some insights into how training can support the brand.  One organization that I worked with was good at bring the entire matrix team together during the brand planning process.  Everyone had input and was given the opportunity to present portions of their plan for the following year. Because sales and marketing are involved in this process you will usually get to everyone you need to work with.
4. Begin to develop the training plan for the next year:
   1. Meet with your key stake holders discuss needs for the upcoming year to include Marketing, Sales Leadership, Medical, HEOR and other Matrix partners.
   2. Some of the plan will be a continuation from the previous plan.
   3. Internal training department initiatives.
5. Once you have your list of potential items, build your plan and talk to your vendors and get approximate cost for different projects. This can be important because if there are big ticket items you need to know how to find the budget money.  Often for launches the money will come from the brand or in some cases the training team will own the budget.

 

Remember us at The Brooks Group while you put together those 2020 Budgets.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2019/08/tips-on-building-a-training-budget/

3 TIPS FOR BUILDING CURRICULUM

Trainers are aware of the request to bring up-to-date curriculum to ensure advancement in skills of a sales team or the importance of developing curriculums from scratch.  Of late, I have been getting such requests from clients. This can be challenging as almost everybody wants it done within a short time, with the business requirements sometimes challenging. Since most have in mind what they want their curriculum to be, demands can be much on the training team.

Follow a procedure: An easy way to achieve this is through the Addie Model – an instructional design concept that ensures consistency in completion of training projects. The model was created to facilitate effective training with consistency for the military.  There are several variations of the models, nonetheless they all will produce identical results.  The five stages are: Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate. Each process requires some time.

My mantra in curriculum development is to use data which requires rich analysis.  There are a range of methods that can be used to conduct analysis.  A survey with the sales team and management can be simple and effective.  More dynamic approaches include benchmarking, formal needs analysis and others which can consist of Front-End Analysis (FEA), Media Analysis, Learner Analysis, Run-time Analysis – and nowadays, Gamification Analysis and Mobile Analysis. From experience, I would recommend using a vendor to perform them. Most of the time, the client thinks they know what would work for them, but their relationship with the learners and other variables can affect the analysis of the research.

Benchmarking allows insight from your customer base and a comparison with your competitors.  This tool is linked with either organizational competencies and behaviors to provide rich and valuable data. A formal needs analysis allows key stakeholders to be interviewed to determine organizational gaps.    

Identify the key stakeholders: Ordinarily, this should include sales leadership, operations, and marketing along with the end user.  Even though I focus mostly on pharma, you need to identify them in your field of expertise. Stakeholders are very significant if you want the best result. 

There is need to determine the scope of influence of each stakeholder. Also, there should be a communication strategy which can include normal touchpoints as a part of the project plan.

Measure the training:  Measuring training can help quantify the impact of workshops, curriculum or courses. To ensure a good outcome, develop a strategy for measurement while conducting your analysis. The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning by Wick Jefferson, and Pollock describes in detail how to determine measurement in the initial periods of training development.  Using Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation model can help determine the best measurement approach.  I recommend going beyond level one and level two measurements. Agree on the outcome of the training and measure.  

Another measurement model is The Success Case Methodology, created by Robert Brinkerhoff. Interviews are done with participants based on their degree of success using the program.  This enables the training crew to dig into the information about success or non-success.

My focus in this post was the use of the Addie Model to develop a curriculum, the significance of vital stakeholders and creating a measurement approach. There are certainly other elements of curriculum development.

Here at The Brooks Group we have the expertise to develop a curriculum for your customer facing teams.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2019/05/3-tips-for-building-curriculum/

HEALTHCARE CONSOLIDATION

Consolidations continue to be the word in healthcare.  We ended 2018 with Takeda-Shire transaction closing for $62 billion with a primary focus on rare disease.  BMS topped this transaction early in January agreeing to buy Celgene and their Oncology portfolio for $74 Billion. Eli Lilly acquired Lexo Oncology for $8 billion expanding its oncology portfolio.

In late February Roche agreed with U.S.-based gene therapy specialist Spark Therapeutics for $4.3 billion. Basel-based Roche is buying Spark as rivals, including Novartis, also move aggressively into gene therapy, where treatments for rare, inherited diseases command some of the highest prices in medicine. Spark’s blindness therapy Luxturna is approximately $850,000 per patient.

Much of this consolidation has happened because of drug price pressures, looming patent cliff in 2024 with $251 Billion in drugs and the opportunity to strengthen drug pipelines especially in oncology and rare diseases.

Pharma isn’t the only place where consolidation is taking place.  In 2018 there were 90 healthcare system mergers which were close to the 115 transactions that occurred in 2017. Similar themes like the pharmaceutical industry to include financial pressures, value-based reimbursement, shrinking hospital margin and record healthcare spending.

Dignity Healthcare and Catholic Health Initiative finalized their deal early in 2019 with a new name Common Spirit Health. This system will have close to 139 hospitals and 700 sites of care in 28 states with $30 billion in revenue.

Baylor Scott and White called off their merger with Memorial Herman Health systems.  This would have been one of the largest healthcare systems in the country with 68 hospitals and $14 billion in revenue.  The decision to scrap the deal was not because of finances.  Some think it was because of the overlap of services and the mismatch of missions.  Many studies suggest that healthcare consolidation means increased medical cost.

Hackensack Meridian expands its behavioral health capabilities by finalizing its deal with Carrier Health based in Belle Meade, NJ. This will allow the health system to treat mental health and opioid addiction more effectively.

BioScrip, Inc. and Option Care Enterprises, Inc. the nation’s largest independent providers of home and alternate treatment site infusion therapy service are merging. The combination is expected to create a leading independent provider in the $100 billion U.S. infusion market. The home infusion market makes up approximately 12% of this market and is growing 5-7% a year.  Expected benefits include cost efficiencies, improved patient care, and more therapy offerings

A private equity firm will buy GE’s ambulatory care and workforce management software for $1.05 Billion in cash.  Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway & J.P Morgan healthcare venture finally has a name: “Haven.” The company said the name choice of “Haven” lines up with its mission to be a “partner” to care, providers, & to focus on healthcare.

A lot has happened in the 1st quarter of 2019 and expect more.  Follow the Brooks Group to stay up to date on the latest healthcare market trends. In this merger-frenzy era, The Brooks Group ensures your customer-facing team can still gain access to key healthcare stakeholders and proactively engage them in a process to uncover their critical issues business & clinical issues around Quadruple Aim. Armed with these superior insights your Team will be able to build and position the unique value proposition that delivers mutual benefit.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2019/03/healthcare-consolidation/

INTRODUCING THE BROOKS GROUP LEARNING EXPERIENCE

We are excited to announce the launch of our innovative instructional design center of excellence: The Brooks Group Learning eXperience (LX).

The Brooks Group Learning eXperience Team is a new instructional offering that creates high-end learning content for organizations. It’s great for adoption training as well as prerequisite, refresher and certification courses.

Why us? For one, it’s created by experts in instructional design theory. This ensures that all of the team’s courseware is sound. Elevating its products even further, the LX Team relies on a production team including 3D artists and animators with experience supporting major video game studios; graphic artists with background in advertising and marketing; and professional voiceover talent from radio shows.

The E-learning, mobile learning and video learning courses that the LX Team creates are one-of-a-kind. They are not your everyday “page turner” training; these are interactive, immersive modules that learners want to use. Even better: they help to make information sticky, improving organizations’ adherence to business processes while reducing costs associated with poor performance or long-distance in-person training.

In addition to learning products, The Brooks Group LX Team also has an analytics platform to track learners’ progress. The solution also includes a talent asset management capability to quickly capture and visualize workforce strengths, weaknesses and suggested remediation strategies.

For more information and to discuss details for your organization, please contact Dan Donovan at dan.donovan@brooksgroupinc.biz.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2019/05/introducing-the-brooks-group-learning-experience/

WHY DO TEAMS CONDUCT LEADERSHIP RETREATS?

Joel Gascoigne, CEO of software application company Buffer, says “I see our retreats as an essential part of the work we do together. I firmly believe that if we operated the company without these regular face-to-face gatherings, we would be less effective and feel less connected.” While you might not have a remote team or be the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company and voted by INC one of the best workplaces for 2018, a leadership retreat can act as a catalyst for bonding, learning, training and a change in perspective for the leadership team. A few strategies for retreats include determining what you want to achieve, what would people be doing differently after the retreat, who should be involved in the planning and should there be a facilitator.

What are you trying to achieve? The best retreats have a clearly stated purpose which you can work with the team to determine. What are the outcomes and what do you want people to do differently after the retreat? Is the purpose for team building, training, assessing progress or strategic direction?

Often having someone facilitate the retreat can be beneficial. There are several occasions when it’s best for you to consider outside help. A facilitator can act as a catalyst for stimulating and assessing progress with follow-up activities and can be an objective observer. It also allows the leader to be an active participant. The facilitator is there to help the business achieve their wanted results.

Here at The Brooks Group we offer Revolutionize Your Business: The Lessons of George Washington & The Largest Battle of the American Revolution. A flexible curriculum to building on the skills identified for business leadership, The Brooks Group has designed a two-day skill enhancement program that enables participants to understand their individual leadership strengths and weaknesses, assess their ability to forge and utilize a team to achieve their business objectives, establish performance expectations of themselves as well as their team, and practice these skills in a customized business simulation (that the participants actually build) which encourages them to think at the next level of management.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2019/02/why-do-teams-conduct-leadership-retreats/

COMMERCIAL HEALTH PLANS PRIMER

Commercial health plan lives represent just over half of the US population, making this channel critical for account managers to understand. Most commercial insurers use pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate with drug manufacturers and to determine cost containment measures in drug benefit design such as prior authorizations and step therapy. This means the key decision makers affecting coverage and contracts span beyond the walls of the insurer even within a single channel.

In addition there are moving parts both in and outside the plan. Just take a look at the recent acquisition of Aetna by CVS to see how this supply chain is being disrupted. The deal gives consumers a one-stop shop of integrated benefits management and distribution; however it also gives the organization more leverage at the negotiation table with drug manufacturers.

To understand the decision making tree behind commercial health plan contracts and benefit design, an account manager needs to understand the landscape at the time, all the organizations that touch drug benefit design and contracts, and the key players within an organization that play a role. Consider The Brooks Group’s Commercial Health Plan Primer to support your account strategy in this channel. In this primer you will learn:

• Organizational dynamics within commercial health plans and the key players that directly and indirectly affect prescription utilization
• The key performance indicators utilized by health plans and the key attributes of the largest plans
• How market consolidation impacts health plans, as well as the current and future trends impacting key decision makers within commercial health plans

This resource will help you see through all the moving parts on a shifting landscape. Contact us to learn more and improve your performance with this overview of commercial health plans.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2018/02/commercial-health-plans-primer/

MANAGED MARKETS PRIMER

Managed Markets account managers continue to face huge competition in an ever-evolving market. Whereas understanding preferred status and step therapy concepts were once mission critical, now account managers also need to acquire a deep understanding of value-based contracting strategy and be able to navigate large health systems, integrated delivery networks and accountable care organizations and identify key decision makers.

Due to payer and provider consolidation, evolving channels and federal policy shifts, deep managed care knowledge is increasingly essential to the account manager’s professional growth and success.

Meanwhile the nature of contracts is changing, too, with more pressure on pharmaceutical manufacturers to take on risk, a topic we explore in our recent Value Based Contracting blog.

Consolidation and risk-based contracting are just a couple of the trends The Brooks Group’s Managed Markets Primer explores. Other trends we explain and analyze are:

• Understanding organizations such as ACOs
• Evaluating the newest cost lever trends used by managed care organizations such as step therapy, tiers and preferred status, and more
• Quality metrics
• Stakeholders involved, including role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)

As the proportion of pharmaceuticals purchased through managed markets continues to rise, all account managers are on the hook for deep insights on managed care. Contact us to learn more about this resource.

This blog was originally posted at https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2017/12/managed-markets-primer/