Ask a healthcare professional (HCP), and chances are good that they’d like an easy way to reach out to biopharma field reps. In-person meetings are still the gold standard, but adding a digital inbound channel—such as compliant chat or text—fits busy schedules and supports HCPs when they need it most.
Veeva Pulse data shows that when HCPs are provided an integrated, inbound channel, they will initiate contact with reps 30% of the time. Biopharmas that make use of an inbound channel also see their overall number of HCP touchpoints increasing, with digital touchpoints doubling while the number of in-person touchpoints remains the same. It’s data worth underlining: It puts to bed the false notion that giving HCPs digital or virtual contact options will erase the need for in-person meetings.
Sync with HCPs’ real-time needs
Recent survey data from the Digital Health Coalition underscores the need to rethink prevailing outbound HCP-rep engagement models where field teams control the timing and frequency of interactions. Two statistics, in particular, reflect a wide disconnect between how HCPs want to engage and how pharma is engaging with them:
● Only 17% of HCPs agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I feel that pharma companies really understand me as a physician.”
● Only 27% of HCPs agreed or strongly agreed that “pharma companies currently communicate with me in a relevant and personalized manner.”
Thomas Bracewell, MD, a general practitioner in the UK, increasingly experiences the need to receive information or material from reps in a critical window of time for his patients. He says current approaches like rep lunches or connecting at live or virtual events often fall short of addressing his needs.
Karin Fuchs, MD, a chief data and analytics officer and OB-GYN in New York, agrees, “Contact should be bidirectional, within specific parameters.” Fuchs says that while she’s open to reps finding her through searches of specialty or treatment areas, cold-calling types of messages should be limited, with the ability for HCPs to manage notifications in a digital channel.
Be the go-to resource on complex therapies
The good news? Most HCPs still identify field reps as a crucial source of treatment information and prescribing support. They simply would like the connection to be more timely and tailored to their availability and preferences.
Giving HCPs a digital inbound channel is a customer-centric approach that flips the traditional sales-driven model. But more importantly, it paves the way for reps to move past transactional relationships in favor of building long-lasting ties. That can only happen when field teams effectively use the right enabling technology to reach HCPs and offer value beyond fulfilling basic informational needs. Biopharmas that fail to open the door for rapid two-way communication miss an opportunity to better support HCPs, build loyalty, and ultimately get treatment to patients more rapidly.
Modernize the channel mix
The majority of HCPs practicing today have increased digital affinity. In work and leisure time, they rely on chat, video, bots, and other on-demand offerings for speed and convenience. Those preferences also translate to their practice habits: 84% of HCPs say they prefer to maintain or increase the share of virtual interactions with biopharmas. While a subset of HCPs prefers to engage only in person, a hybrid approach is increasingly important: 50% of accessible HCPs engage via a mix of in-person and digital channels. The current global channel mix for HCP engagement is roughly 75% in-person to 25% digital channels, according to Veeva Pulse data.
It’s clear that when HCPs want answers in real time, they will reach out to reps proactively — if given the option. John Panozzo, MD, a family medicine physician in the Chicago area, gives the example of what he does when he wants to find out more about a drug’s new indication: “I might text that rep and say, ‘Why don’t you come in, bring the study, and let’s go through it.’ I only have a few reps I engage with at that level, but it's super helpful for me when I do.”
Taking a customer-centric approach by offering multiple communication channels, including inbound, prioritizes HCPs’ needs above the status quo and offers them access to more on- demand and dynamic interactions and services.
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