Maximizing the Value of Pharmaceutical Medical Information Teams

Pharmaceutical companies are in the medical information business. Pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies spend most of their resources on generating, compiling, interpreting, and disseminating medical information. Companies have many challenges in disseminating medical information and engaging customers. Medical information departments can help bridge this gap. Here are some ideas to digest and implement.

Keep medical information responses short. Focus more on answering the question asked and helping customers discover great unbiased content that answer their questions.

Create a long term information sharing relationship with customers. Why stop at the initial inquiry and response? Follow up with customers when new information is available about their previous inquiry (ask for permission).

Survey customers to learn how they are using your product, their successes, and challenges. Use the information to develop customer focused solutions and education programs.

Partner with customers to publish case series online. The medical information website can be used for much more than storing medical information letters. Also consider publishing case series on other platforms that your customers visit. RxEconsult.com can be used for this purpose.

Use video and newer technologies to share information. Your customers love their smart phones and iPads. Give them great content for educating patients and colleagues. Video is more likely to be shared than a 20 page medical information letter.

Use social media platforms to share content, build relationships, and learn from your customers.

Review top online and print medical information resources. Know what authoritative sources are saying about your product, how your product is being used, and correct errors about your company’s products. This should be an ongoing process.

Clarify confusing statements in the prescribing information. Many questions received by medical information teams are because the prescribing information is confusing or the information was not included. Help your regulatory colleagues and other medical groups shape the prescribing information by providing them inquiry trends and suggesting changes that will address customer needs.

Inquiry trends are not just for showing medical information work load. They provide valuable customer insight and can be used to guide product development, content development, training, future research, and much more.

Information developed in medical information should be shared with the entire company, in real time, as company policy allows. Why work in silo and secrecy? The medical information department should be the knowledge hub for the company.

The practice of referring patients to their healthcare provider for answers is not useful. If patients thirst for healthcare knowledge about their disease and a pharmaceutical companies products there should be a way to help without violating regulatory laws or patient safety. Knowledgable patients are more likely to remain compliant.

Build a useful and easily accessible repository of medical information for providers and patients. It should always be available, easy to navigate, contain depth of information and utilize multimedia.

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