Commercialization trends are challenging how companies go to market as well as how they innovate “every aspect of the customer experience,” Leigh Householder, managing director of innovation, inVentiv Health Communications told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
In navigating these developments, Householder explained there are four overarching trends that will drive 2018 priorities for strategists:
1. The influencers are changing
Integrated delivery networks (IDNs) now own more than 60% of physician group practices, according to a Datamonitor Healthcare report.
“Those delivery networks, as well as advocacy groups, third-party value frameworks, and an ever-smaller circle of payers are all playing a part in a greater shift centered on how value is being defined, delivered and measured in healthcare organizations today,” said Householder.
“Each of these critical influencers is using distinct metrics, optimizing health and healthcare in ways we’ve never seen before, with new tools that let them predict longevity, price-compare treatments and connect with providers in nearly any medium.”
2. New voices are being heard
“A whole range of new voices are being elevated as influencers seek partners who can tell a unique value story,” said Householder.
Pharmaceutical medical teams are also quickly becoming an important interface with payers and advocates – and everyone in between.
“A new generation of sales team is using advanced analytics to focus general sales reps on broad territories of promotionally-sensitive practices,” she added.
Additionally, both clinical and commercial teams are engaging patients and advocates “to co-create nearly every aspect of the experience from clinical trial design to personalized patient support to real-world evidence collection,” Householder said.
3. Points of influence are rapidly evolving
Householder explained that the average patient journey diagram used to resemble a baseball diamond – with four or five “predictable” steps representing a real-life journey, which she said “is anything but.”
In 2018, Householder said the industry’s understanding of the patient experience will be “radically updated” to reflect “new points of interaction” with healthcare and a better understanding of behavioral science.
As a result, the industry will gain better direction on how to reach patients more personally and directly, she explained.
4. The commercial outlook is shifting
In 2018, commercial teams will be involved earlier, and will be “hyper-focused and crisis-readied,” said Householder, as the silos that have historically divided clinical and commercial teams break down.
Commercial and market insights are also being used to improve clinical trial design and focus on end points.
“In large pharma, high profile failures in the pipeline are leading to increased pressure to maximize every launch, driving teams to use new approaches to forecasting to better size markets and focusing on more specialized therapeutic areas,” she added.
What are your predictions for the New Year? Email me at Melissa.Fassbender@wrbm.com.