During this post-pandemic era, medical affairs strives to find innovative solutions for all external stakeholders. Reflecting back on 2022, medical affairs continues to evolve to meet healthcare providers' and patients' needs. During this evolution, 4 key trends emerged in the life sciences industry.

As we move into 2023, we can expect a greater focus on engagement preferences among patients and providers. Managing provider and patient expectations requires a careful evaluation of an organization's strategies and adapting to social trends. Here are 4 trends driving medical affairs strategy in 2023 and beyond.

1. Omnichannel Communication

Medical affairs aims to educate and facilitate a dialogue with both providers and patients. Due to the increased use of multiple digital platforms, medical affairs is diversifying their methods of reaching providers and patients. Medical affairs will increasingly create content with a strategic and customized approach rather than simply increasing the volume of content across multiple platforms.

Personalization distinguishes omnichannel communication from multichannel communication. While the goal of multichannel communication is to reach a wide audience, omnichannel communication focuses on providing quality, personalized messages to the intended audience. This approach prioritizes provider and patient interests over company objectives.

COVID-19 significantly accelerated the use of omnichannel communication. As an example, a recent survey revealed 72% of physicians, formerly not using online learning platforms for continuing medical education (CME) credits, now plan to use digital platforms more frequently for CME.[5] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of webinars by healthcare providers increased between 300 and 3250% in 2020 over 2019.[5]

In addition to webinars, social media has emerged as a vital part of an organization’s digital omnichannel communication strategy. The average physician spends 1.5 hours per day researching online, half of which is spent on social media. Similarly, 80% of patients research medical information online before consulting a doctor.

Increasingly, life sciences organizations will rely on artificial intelligence and social listening tools to ensure the information providers and patients receive across social media platforms is accurate and relevant. Additionally, medical affairs must also ensure that information is easy to find and understand. Due to the emergence of short video content platforms such as TikTok, omnichannel communication strategies will emphasize “bite-sized” learning opportunities rather than long-form content.

Omnichannel communication has undeniable advantages, including improving provider and patient understanding, which in turn enhances medical publications and launch strategies. These insights enable life sciences organizations to ensure their therapies reach the patients who need them most.

2. Patient-Centric Initiatives

Medical affairs has increasingly emphasized patient-centricity, which involves engaging patients, collaborating with them, and creating initiatives to meet the needs of a particular patient population.[3] The patient-centered approach to drug development ensures that patients' concerns are taken into account throughout the entire process from preclinical research to postmarketing clinical trials.

Additionally, patient-centric initiatives can help rebuild trust between pharmaceutical companies and patients. As a result of the opioid addiction crisis and rising prescription drug prices, patients view the pharmaceutical industry as a threat rather than an advocate.[3] Embracing a patient-centered approach and enhancing transparency within a pharmaceutical company can rewrite the narrative and improve society's perception of drug companies.

A key element of patient-centricity is engaging with and listening to patients through support groups. Companies such as MyHealthTeam have created online forums for patients with chronic diseases. Through these online support groups, patients can speak with medical experts as well as learn from other patients' experiences without fear of being misled.

Additionally, the life sciences industry can foster patient-centricity in the following ways:[3]

• Shifting from a brand focus to a patient value focus

• Engage patients in research and development (R&D)

• Standardize patient-reported outcomes (PROs) by understanding the patient experience more thoroughly

• Increase the number of patient experts

• Ensure patients receive easy-to-understand medical information, such as plain language summaries (PLS).

3. Real-World Evidence Generation

Real-world evidence (RWE) generation will also remain a priority within medical affairs to facilitate a patient-centric approach. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are snapshots of time. RCTs do not accurately consider the influence of social determinants of health and other medication adherence factors which can influence patient outcomes.

As a result of RWE, a life science organization gains a greater understanding of the patient journey, which is the organization's guiding principle. Additionally, RWE helps increase clinical trial diversity. A diverse clinical trial population ensures therapies are designed to meet the needs of every patient, promoting health equity.

The U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA) has also created guidance for life sciences organizations to increase clinical trial diversity, including using claims data and electronic health records to facilitate more efficient recruitment of a diverse population. Relocating trial sites to academic institutions near minority patient communities is another strategy. Educating providers on the importance of increasing clinical trial diversity through RWE plays an integral role as well.

4. Personalized Engagement With Providers

Life science organizations are increasingly expected to provide providers with more personalized relevant content.[1] In a McKinsey study, two-thirds of physicians cited generic digital content as irrelevant, preferring personalized digital content such as quick videos. Additionally, medical affairs teams are expected to deliver unbiased digital content more frequently.

Personalized provider content and engagement opportunities will remain a trend within the life sciences industry. Communicating effectively with physicians requires tailoring content and communications to each specialty. Various specialties require different levels of detail, which should be reflected in the content. A neurologist, for example, may need more detailed information on rare diseases than a general practitioner.

A recent Cardinal Health survey highlights the need for more personalized education for each specialty. The survey reveals the gaps in biosimilar knowledge among specialties and provider types.[2] Biosimilars are a relatively new class of drugs, and many specialists are faced with prescribing them for the first time. Healthcare provider characteristics, including geographic and cultural differences, can also influence how providers respond to education.[6]

A record number of biosimilar drugs will enter the market in 2023. Education initiatives have been designed to promote the use of biosimilars among healthcare professionals. Additionally, the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA) developed the first board certification for biologics and biosimilars. The program aims to empower medical affairs to become experts in this emerging market and enhance personalized provider content.

Omnichannel communication, patient-centric initiatives, real-world evidence generation, and customized provider education are the 4 trends projected to continue into 2023. All of these trends have one factor in common: a greater focus on the patient and provider journeys.

To become a biologics and biosimilars expert, register for the new board certification in biologics and biosimilars here.

To learn more about biosimilars and interchangeability, register for the upcoming webinar here.

References

1. Bedenkov, A., Rajadhyaksha, V., Beekman, M., Moreno, C., Fong, P.-C., Agustin, L., Odell, S., 2020. Developing Medical Affairs Leaders Who Create the Future. Pharmaceutical Medicine 34, 301–307.. doi:10.1007/s40290-020-00351-y.

2. Cardinal Health. 2022 Cardinal Health Biosimilars Report: The U.S. Journey and Path Ahead.; 2022.

3. du Plessis D, Sake JK, Halling K, Morgan J, Georgieva A, Bertelsen N. Patient Centricity and Pharmaceutical Companies: Is It Feasible?. Ther Innov Regul Sci. 2017;51(4):460-467. doi:10.1177/2168479017696268.

4. Evers M, Suresh B, Westra A, Zemp A. A vision for medical affairs in 2025. Mckinsey.com. Published June 12, 2019. Accessed November 4, 2022.

5. Furtner D, Shinde SP, Singh M, Wong CH, Setia S. Digital Transformation in Medical Affairs Sparked by the Pandemic: Insights and Learnings from COVID-19 Era and Beyond. Pharmaceut Med. 2022;36(1):1-10. doi:10.1007/s40290-021-00412-w

6. Oskouei ST, Kusmierczyk AR. Biosimilar Uptake: The Importance of Healthcare Provider Education. Pharmaceut Med. 2021;35(4):215-224. doi:10.1007/s40290-021-00396-7.