A more democratized access to information thanks to the Internet also concerns drugs! Thus, healthcare professionals (HCPs), who were already spending less time in medical visits before the COVID-19 crisis, are less and less interested in meetings with medical sales representatives. Perceived as time-consuming and not always informative, these visits no longer seem to meet their expectations. In this context, the main challenge for pharmaceutical companies is to adapt by transforming this function with new complementary skills. Our healthcare team wondered what the prospects were for the development of this function and what role pharmaceutical companies could play in this change.
HCPs’ habits and practices are changing. Yet, the function of medical sales representatives has not evolved to adapt to its target. Let’s discuss the reasons for this growing disinterest in meetings with medical representatives.
Now, HCPs can easily look for different sources of information online. Therefore, the medical sales representative no longer has the “exclusive” right to clinical information, which reduces the perceived value of the promotional visit. Indeed, 70% of HCPs surveyed feel that medical sales representatives do not fully understand their needs and expectations, while 62% say they are overwhelmed by the product-related promotional content they receive from pharmaceutical companies.
HCPs are increasingly limiting or refusing medical visits. This trend is even more important among young doctors, who are more suspicious about pharmaceutical companies. HCPs are also dedicating less and less time to medical visits, while hospitals are limiting these visits and setting their modalities (e.g., visits in group). Indeed, in 2022, 43% of HCPs restricted medical sales representatives’ access to healthcare buildings. Among them, 44% confirmed that they would maintain these restrictions in the near future and 28% would do permanently.
The use of digital technologies by doctors is becoming more and more established. Indeed, 87% of French HCPs have used at least one digital tool in practice since the COVID-19 crisis, compared to 79% before the crisis, which has led to a loss of physical contact with medical sales representatives. In 2021, 68% of HCPs indicated that webinars or webcasts were their preferred channel to receive information, compared to 58% in 2019. However, the same study indicates that 65% of HCPs still preferred to receive information in-person, indicating that this channel will continue, and will likely be integrated into a hybrid engagement model.
These major changes require an evolution of the role of the medical sales representative. This involves the development of new skills, performance assessment systems and a change of position of the medical sales representatives inside pharmaceutical organisations.
In order to adapt to the new hybrid modalities and to the restrictions to reach HCPs, the medical sales representative will have to master new digital tools and embrace a multi-channel engagement strategy, personalized for each individual, to maintain a good customer relationship.
Different models of engagement exist, for example the “medical sales representative orchestrator”. In this model, the medical sales representative is responsible for customer knowledge and is proactive in their engagement. He organizes all interactions with HCPs for whom he is responsible for, and uses the channels and content at his disposal to shape a personalized and consistent customer pathway adapted to their needs.
Therefore, more than before, the medical sales representative will play a central role as responsible for the customer relationship within the pharmaceutical company’s organization. Indeed, the medical sales representative is the main point of contact to support customers in order to strengthen the relationship between the pharmaceutical company and the prescribers.
Learn more about the issues related to the optimization of patient pathway >
On the one hand, in order to restore HCPs’ confidence in the medical sales representative and reaffirm their added value, medical sales representative will have to be able to better frame the promotion of drugs and talk about proper use of medication with a broader vision of the patient pathway and the full therapeutic management ecosystem.
To do so, they are expected to have a thorough knowledge of pathologies and drugs’ mechanisms of action, as well as a deep understanding of the healthcare system. This implies that they need to be trained more, so that they can have a high level of discussion with doctors and thus contribute to a better engagement of HCPs.
Beyond these changes, the role of the medical sales representative is also evolving to support HCPs in the management of projects. For example, projects aiming at improving patient pathways or even organisational or operational projects.
The changes regarding expectations, skills and roles of medical sales representative raise the question of changing financial incentives and performance assessment systems, which are currently quantitative, often based on the number of boxes sold, and which do not always consider the other skills expected from medical sales representatives.
On the other hand, the new expected skills question the medical sales representatives’ profiles to be recruited or the training of those already employed, who will also have to support this change. In France, this evolution can be achieved through three major levers:
Thus, regarding the changes in the medical visit ecosystem and HCPs’ expectations, a deep transformation of pharmaceutical companies’ internal processes is expected. Beyond the strategies aiming at rebuilding teams and creating a new function, existing function can also be transformed and adapted. Such transformation is time-consuming and difficult to implement as it requires a complete overhaul of governance schemes, changes in incentives, objectives and skills of the field forces and the management teams. Alcimed can support you in this transformation and in the implementation of the new vision of the role of medical sales representatives.
About the author,
Salma, Consultant in Alcimed’s Health team in France
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