“Medical Affairs Leadership – Preparing today for the roles and responsibilities of tomorrow”, is the topic being discussed this afternoon during the latest ACMA (Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs) webinar.
Here are the main summary points.
Healthcare is changing rapidly and Medical Affairs professionals will need new ways of thinking and new skills to meet future demands.
Medical Affairs is evolving faster than ever before. Over the years medical affairs has transformed from being operational support for commercial strategies; through to providing medical insights to inform product planning and clinical investments. Moving into the future the Medical Affairs approach will involve being a catalyst for patient-centric multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Medical Affairs has a role as a ‘Bridge Builder’ in that Medical Affairs teams must form the communication bridge between Development and Commercial, while also employing new tools to generate data and medical insights.
Medical Affairs has a changing mandate. In the past the function primarily supported other parts of the organisation, focusing on external KOL engagement. Today, Medical Affairs is deeply involved with clinical development strategy, portfolio management, data analysis, evidence generation, and market access planning; and thereby driving the scientific business forward through a range of strategic partnerships.
Critical skills for Medical Affairs professionals to be successful include:
Understanding of data analytics, AI, and new technologies.
Understanding how the regulatory environment is changing, especially around risk and compliance.
Creativity and flexibility are key to manage complex work teams.
Understanding patient-centric values, rather than only the treatment guidelines.
The ability to build relationships with patient support groups, government, payers and insurers.
The ability to influence the changing of guidelines so as to benefit patients.
Skills with nurturing talent to meet emerging demands
The 6 keys for future success so that Medical Affairs can successfully engage with a more diverse set of stakeholders include:
1. Digital tools
2. Personalised communication
3. Evidence generation
4. Insight generation
5. Scientific and value communication
6. Soft skills
New skills to improve patient outcomes include:
1. Understanding advanced analytics and advanced outcomes research.
2. Using new communication and virtual engagement tools
3. Understanding and magnifying the Patient Voice in medical strategy
4. Developing partnerships for healthcare delivery and integrating different partnerships into a new ecosystem
5. Embracing personalised and data-driven KOL engagement
Thanks to the speakers
Mark Tennyson
Maya Sharma
HPG (Healthcare Professionals Group)
Sydney (02) 8877 8777
Melbourne (03) 9938 7100
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