European pharma companies have outperformed their American peers in applying remote physician engagement to their multi-channel marketing mix, according to the 2018 Indegene-TEVA survey.
Among popular users, 35% of the customer-facing staff time is dedicated to remote engagement from a remote location. Of this, 7% are regular and frequent users of this channel. However, the picture is not as encouraging in other markets including North America, Asia and Japan.
While physicians are leaning towards on-demand access to clinical and scientific information, life sciences companies have failed to capitalise on this opportunity to put their exclusive MSL teams to effective CRM use. Of the minimal few who have deployed remote engagement channels, the richness of UI and UX is questionable. Most of the respondents cite reasons such as the lack of a clear digital strategy, organisational mindset, regulatory and compliance concerns, and bandwidth limitations at the site of engagement for low opt-ins for remote channels. The survey found that despite investment in remote channels, 80% of respondents confirmed that technology utilisation was limited to emailing attachments and blocking calendars.
A Teva spokesperson said: “The internet has propelled the always-connected trend. It is a great opportunity for patients, physicians and the healthcare industry; however, it also poses significant challenges to the type and quality of reliable content available from these online sources. The healthcare companies are therefore under tremendous pressure to provide credible, unbiased, reliable and high-quality medical information about their products and services and, most importantly, make them available on demand whenever and wherever the customer requires. One emerging ‘on-demand’ trend in engaging with HCPs is connecting remotely to discuss medical content using a dedicated audio-visual and screen-sharing platform. The use of such a platform comes with its own opportunities and challenges.”
Apart from striking a balance of frictionless connectivity and valuable content, global enterprises will be forced to rethink their digital strategy in the wake of increasing scrutiny over data privacy and compliance. Fit-for-purpose medical remote engagement platforms will need to do much more than share a screen. Backed by intelligent content analytics, companies will be able to use their existing IT infrastructure to engage more efficiently with their customers and to build long-term, value-driven engagements.
Gaurav Kapoor, co-founder and EVP, Indegene said: “Content sharing through secure and flexible channels will be the hallmark of digital maturity. The industry needs productivity and communication tools for seamless collaboration between the life sciences companies and physicians in ensuring better patient outcomes.”
Download a copy of the Indegene–Teva survey remote engagement survey here.
About Teva
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) is a leading global pharmaceutical company that delivers high-quality, patient-centric healthcare solutions used by millions of patients every day. Headquartered in Israel, Teva is the world’s largest generic medicines producer, leveraging its portfolio of more than 1,800 molecules to produce a wide range of generic products in nearly every therapeutic area. In specialty medicines, Teva has a world-leading position in innovative treatments for disorders of the central nervous system, including pain, as well as a strong portfolio of respiratory products. Teva integrates its generics and specialty capabilities in its global research and development division to create new ways of addressing unmet patient needs by combining drug development capabilities with devices, services and technologies. Teva’s net revenues in 2017 were $22.4bn. For more information, visit www.tevapharm.com.
About Indegene
Indegene (www.indegene.com) enables global healthcare organisations to address complex challenges by seamlessly integrating analytics, technology, operations and medical expertise, and driving better health and business outcomes. Indegene’s IP-based solutions help clients drive revenues and productivity by making transformational leaps in the digitalisation of customer engagement, health reform, healthcare cost reduction and health outcomes improvement.
Kumaran Krishnan is Head of Medical Digital Transformation and Marco Avila is VP, Medical Affairs, both at Teva Europe