The increasing emphasis on scientific credibility and added ‘educational’ value has seen medical education, known as MedComms or MedEd, become a pivotal part of the healthcare communications mix.
MedComms initiatives can provide a credible foundation for other parts of the marketing mix, while also helping to shape markets by creating a receptive environment for a new product.
Pharmaceutical companies now employ specialist medical education agencies at many levels: pre-launch, at launch and post-launch; globally and nationally; strategically and tactically.
Goals and tactics
Medical education has two main goals:
§ To respond to educational needs associated with new products or changes in clinical practice
§ To help improve clinical knowledge, skill and judgement
To achieve this, healthcare communications agencies employ a range of tactics including:
§ Publication planning – for the dissemination of scientific and clinical data from clinical trials (usually at scientific congresses, medical society meetings and in peer-reviewed medical journals) to healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients so they can learn about, and use, a drug in a safe and effective manner
§ Key opinion leader (KOL) programmes – play an important role in the drug development process. KOLs come in various forms including eminent professors, surgeons, teaching hospital lecturers, medical school alumni, registrars, NHS policy-makers and GPs. They are recognised by the industry as people who can influence opinion on how certain types of drugs or disease treatments are perceived. Healthcare communications agencies try to involve KOLs at all stages of a product’s lifecycle so they can advise on early strategy, identify market needs, understand competitor challenges and have input into clinical trial design. Later KOLs can become more of an advocate in terms of authoring publications and becoming a product champion
§ Patient education – a fundamental component of most MedEd campaigns because patients are taking a more active role in their own health. Many patients now view themselves as decision-making partners working with medical staff to ‘agree’ the best management strategy for their condition and lifestyle. This shift means that patients proactively seek reliable information about their medicines. Unfortunately current regulatory systems, which impose restrictive conditions on direct communications with patients, stop many pharmaceutical companies from going down the patient education route
§ Continuing medical education (CME) – a relatively new element to MedEd brought about by an increased focus on non-promotional activities which do not focus on the product, but rather cover areas such as disease awareness and unmet medical needs, although products can still be mentioned as part of an unbiased appraisal of all therapy options. Digital delivery channels, e.g. e-learning, are likely to become the most frequently used and most cost effective options for the delivery of CME programmes in the future.
Other MedEd activities such as symposia, exhibitions and scientific meetings as well as more diverse, highly specialised activities can be chosen to suit individual campaigns.
Getting started
Medical Education Agencies require people who have a passion for finding innovative ways to communicate often complicated information to audiences who don’t have much time to spare:
Writers or designers should preferably have a life-science degree such as pharmacology or biochemistry
If you have a medical sales background and want to get involved with clients then you should consider an Account Handling position – medical sales reps are often welcomed by MedEd agencies at entry level.
MedEd agencies have a similar role to the advertising agencies in that they are both communicating sometimes complex data to their audiences; but it usually requires a different type of person to work in MedEd. Typically the type of person who works in MedEd is more scientifically minded, possibly more of a detailed communicator rather than somebody with a “sales mentality” that often goes hand-in-hand with the advertising business.
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