Maximising impact in medical communications: where are we now and where are we heading?

By Ben Holtom

Advances in digital analytics and audience preferences are transforming the way pharmaceutical companies deliver medical communications.

Each year, the volume of new data published continues to grow, and competition for attention is further challenged by the diversity of communication channels and the expectations of audiences who are used to controlling how they consume information.

In response, medical communications planning has become increasingly integrated, allowing customised user experiences across channels and touchpoints, and the use of digital platforms to collect rich information that can be used to refine and tailor future engagements.

In this article, we explore how medical communications strategy is evolving in response to audience preferences and integrated insights gathering, and what this means for scientific exchange and education moving forwards.

Historically, the impact of publications has been captured by well-established metrics, such as impact factors and citation count; however, digital analytics are now enabling richer insights.

Many journals now provide deep audience usage metrics as part of their offering, providing insights into which specialties and communities engage the most. As scientific discourse continues to expand online, social listening has also enabled additional insights into audience interpretation that can guide future analyses and reporting. Lastly, natural language processing and AI have recently started to streamline share of voice and sentiment analyses across data sources, allowing the spread of published data to be mined for new perspectives that can shape publication plans.

Collectively, these advances in data mining have placed renewed focus on agile publication planning that carefully considers the evolving needs and perspectives of stakeholders, be they multidisciplinary teams or patients themselves. With many journals and congresses offering scope for plain language summaries and multimedia enhancements, there are more opportunities than ever to tailor publication plans to audiences and their needs.

Measuring the impact of medical affairs is a long-standing objective that has gained significant traction in recent years, with the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) publishing standards and guidance on how this can be approached.

Historically, assessments of impact in medical affairs were siloed, focusing on measurements of effort and reach, as opposed to impact. This has changed rapidly in recent years with the adoption of digital platforms that integrate healthcare professional (HCP) engagement planning and insights gathering to assess evolving perspectives and how these impact on patient care.

In this new era of continuously evolving insights, medical science liaisons must contend with the rapid evolution of clinical landscapes in response to new data, and the need to adapt their communications depending on the perspectives and preferences of different HCPs. Achieving this form of responsive multichannel support requires the rapid development of educational resources that are closely aligned with strategic objectives and insights-generation frameworks. Such resources must be available as soon as data is released, alongside timely training on how they can be used in the field.

The need for rapidly available medical resources is driving transformation in both the format and development of materials. Resources are now increasingly ‘bite-sized’ and modular, to enable rapid access to information and tailored use in the field. Advances in medical, legal and regulatory workflows are also streamlining reviews, further enabling the rapid development of resources.

Medical education initiatives have long been guided by structured assessments to measure changes in knowledge; however, the increasing focus on evaluating impact in medical affairs has heightened the need to measure how education can change practice.

Measuring impact on real-life actions can be challenging given the many confounding factors that can influence decision-making. However, formalised audience surveys prior to the initiation of educational activities should be a prerequisite for designing programmes that address knowledge gaps in a way that is relevant for HCPs.

Organised peer-to-peer networks can greatly enhance HCP learning and enable an implementation science approach to medical education, where structured frameworks are used to plan and capture the adoption of evidence-based practice in the real world.  Successful implementation of such programmes requires agility and commitment, with regular touchpoints to both support and assess how programmes are implemented and adapted across settings.

Although digital analytics are transforming communications, the key to maximising impact is, and has always been, strategic planning with a focus on targeted outcomes. What has changed, however, is the need for increased agility and flexibility to ensure communications are always ready to reflect the ever-evolving clinical landscape and perspectives of HCPs.