It’s all about that Base (Baseline that is)!
The one thing Pharma Teams agree on is that Medical Affairs struggle to
demonstrate their impact and value. But that doesn’t have to be the case.
In this article we outline:
The challenge Medical Affairs is facing around impact measurement
Why having your baseline is essential for measuring impact.
The cost of not having a baseline
The value of the baseline
How to capture that baseline
The importance of capturing the baseline.
The challenge Medical Affairs is facing around impact measurement
If Medical Affairs can’t clearly demonstrate their value or the impact they bring, then that value is not clear to their colleagues. This can result in Medical Affairs activities being deemed less important, the role of Medical Affairs not being clear, reduced budget and resource for Medical Affairs teams. It can in some cases mean that the share of voice that Medical Affairs has in a cross-functional setting is diminished. So the vicious circle continues Med Affairs can’t articulate their/their projects value and as a result others can’t see the value so it loses priority.
The real challenge underpinning this is that the Medical Affairs function as a whole have not yet found a tangible way to measure the impact of their work. While for years Sales and Marketing have used product sales as a measure of success, Medical Affairs as a non-promotional function with a different set of aims and objectives can’t and don’t. In many companies an attempt to measure the impact of Medical Affairs activities has been to look at the number of engagements and activities completed. The challenge here is that this doesn’t actually demonstrate value. Not only that it can drive the wrong behaviour, and engagement metrics don’t give any qualitative feedback on how useful those interactions are.
In our white paper “Metrics that Matter” we proposed that more companies adopted the Objective Key Result (OKR) Method which focuses on clarifying objectives and the key results Medical want to achieve. This holds value on a larger scale but on an individual activity or strategy basis yet still leads to the question how can one measure value of an activity in Medical Affairs?
Why having your baseline is essential for measuring impact
The cost of not having a baseline
Too often I have seen amazing Medical Affairs initiatives – whether they are Medical Education or something else, rolled out and unable to capture the real value of the initiative. Why? Because the most fundamental step in the process has been skipped – capturing of a baseline.
Some years ago I saw colleagues struggling to come up with a study design to capture the value of an incredible patient support programme. The challenge – the programme and interventions had been rolled out already so there was no baseline to show the improvement.
Time and time again I see people rolling out Medical Education campaigns and tracking numbers of attendees. This does not tell you how valuable the education is, although it can indicate the level of interest in the topic.
If we are to take a step back and look at the broader picture, then we can see that the goal or objective of the education or event is to provide information or shift behaviour of the attendees. Valuable information can and should be gathered post the event via feedback and making sure the right questions are asked. Even still this only provides part of the picture.
To truly demonstrate change we need to first capture the baseline. Identify the level of knowledge, understand the current mindset or clinical practice before any initiatives have been rolled out.
The value of the baseline
Having a baseline allows you to measure the changes and improvements brought about by your Medical Affairs initiatives. Skipping this key step means you can’t truly show change. In the same way you wouldn’t run a clinical trial without a control arm you shouldn’t run any Medical Affairs initiatives without first collecting a baseline.
How to capture a baseline
So how can you capture this information and how can you confirm that is accurate?
You can gather the information in a number of ways.
Market Research which is a rather blunt approach, can give you a broad brush stroke picture of current practices and behaviours. It is valuable when starting out looking at nationwide changes.
1:1 insight gathering and advisory boards can give much deeper detailed information, provided you are asking the right questions of the right people.
The importance of capturing the right baseline
Identifying the breadth of knowledge of guidelines within a territory is not valuable if you only talk to the top KOLs who were responsible for formulating the guidelines.
Rather it would be of more benefit to ask clinicians in smaller centres or newer to the therapy area if they are aware of them.
When working as a Medical Manager I was responsible for rolling out countrywide strategy to improve standards of care in my therapy area. Along with Market Research, an advisory board and trojan work by the MSL we had a solid baseline for our activities.
Overtime we were able to demonstrate increases in knowledge on key concepts among Healthcare Professionals, improved access to biomarkers which speeded up clinical decision making, and implementation of Quality of Life discussions for patients which hadn’t previously existed. Without the baseline our impact wouldn’t have been as clear cut. We were able to map the changes over time. We got recognised for best practice globally and locally. Without a baseline it would have made this an awful lot harder.
It's why I always encourage clients to measure a baseline as part of any strategy or activity.
Now you know why – it’s all about that base (line).
