Regions
MAIN/REGIONS
regions/
Regions
  1. Americas
  2. Asia & Oceania
  3. Europe
  4. Middle East & Africa
  1. Solutions
  2. Insights
  3. Contact Us
MAIN/search
MAIN/Solutions
Solutions/
SOLUTIONS
  • Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
  • Hospital and Healthcare Providers
  • Pharmacy
  • Governments
  • Private Payers and Insurers
  • Academics and Researchers
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers

Leveraging the power of the IQVIA CORE, we support Canada’s pharmaceutical manufacturers as they invest in, and advance, human health. We do this via breakthroughs in insights, technology, analytics and human intelligence that bring the progress in data science together with the possibilities of human science.

Learn More
PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS QUICK LINKS
Hospital and Healthcare Providers

Hospitals and healthcare providers are looking for cutting-edge decision support to augment their strategy and performance so they can focus on delivering high quality value to patients. As the Human Data Science Company, IQVIA is uniquely positioned to provide actionable data, innovative technology, and expertise customized to the hospital and provider community.

Learn More
Pharmacy

A specialized division of IQVIA (Canada), Health Industry Information Services (HIIS) serves the precise needs of non-pharmaceutical healthcare stakeholders including Retail Pharmacy, Independent Pharmacy, and Specialty Pharmacy.

Learn More
PHARMACY QUICK LINKS
Governments

Almost everything we do is powered by the IQVIA CORE. This holistic approach allows us to use Human Data Science to create integrated solutions for our customers.

Learn More
Private Payers and Insurers

Health benefit analytics for effective response to market changes.

Learn More
Academics and Researchers

Take your research further. Data assets that allow you to explore new areas in inquiry that can advance public health efforts. IQVIA supports the Canadian research community and has responded to hundreds of requests to support new areas of inquiry.

Learn More
MAIN/Insights
Insights/
INSIGHTS

Explore our library of resources spanning the healthcare ecosystem. Hear from IQVIA data scientists, doctors, researchers, and other experts on the topics, trends, and market developments that matter to you.

Learn More
PHARMACEUTICAL TRENDS

Media representatives and other industry stakeholders can access current and historical top-line Canada and global pharmaceutical trends for use in story development or vital health research.

Learn More

WEBINARS

"View our on-demand and upcoming webinars.

Learn More
MAIN/Contact Us
Contact Us/
Blog
Measuring the Impact of Medical Education with HCPs
Calum Neish, Senior Principal, Business Development, RWS
May 27, 2021

Convenient and timely access to the latest credible scientific information is key to a health care practitioner’s (HCP’s) ability to provide the best care possible to their patients. While pharmaceutical manufacturers conduct numerous medical activities each year to address existing knowledge gaps, how do we know if they meet the needs of HCPs, and thus impact positively on patient care?

In this post, we discuss how to overcome some common challenges faced in developing medical activities and how to ensure investments have maximum impact to improve patient outcomes.

Ensuring the content resonates with each HCP

Prior to engaging with HCPs, it is helpful to establish a baseline assessment of their awareness and perceptions of new medical information, tools, and strategies. At the same time, it is important to recognize that information gaps may not always reflect a lack of knowledge but may be the result of HCP perceptions and attitudes. Topics that lack immediate relevance for a practitioner may not resonate with them. Using standardized questionnaires and leveraging theoretical constructs, detailed insights can be gleaned that help understand physician perceptions.

Determining awareness and attitudes can articulate learning objectives that HCPs are keen to meet. This can lead to the development of a more targeted medical education program that addresses their areas of interest.

Effectively utilizing limited resources to reach the appropriate audiences

There are myriad communication channels available to engage with HCPs such as virtual meetings, small group meetings, continuing education forums, and conferences, among others. However, it can be costly and not always efficient to leverage these channels and meeting formats. It is key to understand how HCPs prefer to engage with the pharmaceutical organization. This can vary by therapy area and the type of information that is to be disseminated. For example, HCPs may prefer to engage in small group sessions to discuss the results of a pivotal trial among peers, but otherwise favour in-person or virtual one-on-one meetings with medical science liaisons (MSLs) for any additional engagements.

In addition to the meeting format, paying attention to details such as the time of day and duration of the meeting can influence how receptive HCPs will be to the information provided to them. Building these details into your organization’s medical education strategies can ensure that the time spent with HCPs is of value to both the HCP and MSL.

Furthermore, even within the same therapeutic area, HCPs are unlikely to be homogenous. There may be nuances in how individuals prefer to engage with a pharmaceutical organization based on demographic factors such as age, gender, and geography; all factors which can impact delivery of medical education.

Through these insights, pharmaceutical manufacturers can align internal resources, develop strategies, and create actionable tactics to ensure all customer engagements drive value and pave the way for continued collaboration between the medical affairs team and HCPs.

Assessing the broader impact and staying relevant

Once a baseline assessment has been established, communication plans developed, and the resultant medical education delivered, it is important to determine whether strategic objectives were met. Were identifiable changes made in how HCPs delivered patient care?

By conducting a follow-up assessment, insights can be obtained to determine what proportion of HCPs felt they received support and information that was pertinent to them. This second phase can evaluate the impact of the medical activities undertaken. It is also possible at this time to identify any external influences that may have shaped receptivity by HCPs, e.g. competitor activities, policy impacts or significant findings in disease management.

Armed with this information, subsequent medical activities and MSL engagements can be tailored to ensure relevance. At its core, the relationship a pharmaceutical organization has with its HCPs is essential to drive positive healthcare outcomes for patients. It is critical to measure the overall satisfaction with an organization’s medical outreach activities. If HCPs do not derive value from these initiatives, it is unlikely that any strategies will be impactful.

Measuring Impact of Medical Education

Establishing a process to measure impact

Developing a streamlined and cost-effective solution to assess the impact of medical activities will address the challenges described. This includes identification of the key questions, questionnaire development, recruitment of respondents, and insight generation. These processes can be efficiently adapted for various therapy areas and HCP types, allowing for short turnaround times for results.

Ultimately, these insights support pharmaceutical organizations in empowering the HCP to enhance patient care through the delivery of relevant and timely medical education and helping achieve the goal of positive patient outcomes.

For more on how to assess the impact of your organization’s medical activities and how IQVIA can help, contact calum.neish@iqvia.com.

Contact Us