5 Priorities for Medical Affairs in 2024

Registered clinical trials increased nearly 65% to almost half a million in the past five years. With more molecules in the pipeline – and a large percentage of new products labeled as specialized – HCPs are navigating a more complex clinical landscape. With this comes increased pressure on medical affairs to ensure HCPs get the right information and deliver insights back to the organization.

Medical affairs teams that leverage interconnected data for decision-making engage better with HCPs, make significant contributions to the business, and support strong partnerships with commercial and R&D. Getting this data in order and prioritizing the following areas in 2024 and beyond will help medical continue to develop and strengthen their leadership position.

1. Unlock medical insights across the organization

Medical affairs teams can share vital insights from the field that greatly benefit other business areas. These insights can inform R&D site selection, trial design, publication research, real-world evidence, and investigator identification. Commercial teams can also use this information to determine which key opinion leaders (KOLs) they want to engage with more and identify any gaps in critical scientific messages.

2. Quantify medical’s value for greater visibility

Disease state education by medical science liaisons (MSLs) with key opinion leaders (KOLs) before launch leads to 1.5 times greater treatment adoption. As the clinical landscape becomes more complex, field medical’s engagement with KOLs and other new stakeholders will only grow in importance.

Measuring impact and connecting it to other insights across the organization will help medical affairs demonstrate its value to the business, customers, and patients. This can also ensure medical teams receive adequate budget for areas like headcount and are included in strategic leadership discussions.

3. Reach customers with messages that matter

Consumers are constantly receiving personal and professional content and comparing these customer experiences. HCPs are no different. Medical teams can break through the noise by delivering precise and personalized experiences.

Omnichannel engagement models help medical teams understand customer needs and anticipate them so they can provide the best forms of content – in line with therapeutic areas and interests – at the right time. Connecting data points from customer interactions across the business – medical, R&D, and commercial – also provide insights and create a seamless customer experience.

4. Uncover unmet patient needs through integrated data

During the pandemic, healthcare professionals relied on medical affairs for expert advice on issues ranging from treatment plans to vaccines. As a result, the function became the trusted scientific voice of the industry. Now, medical teams have a continued opportunity to advise, educate, and shape societal issues like health equity.

Data can help identify and quantify the unmet needs of patients and determine which have the most significant risk of poor outcomes and would benefit from novel therapies. Understanding priority geographies allows medical teams to allocate medical resources better, resulting in greater patient impact. This work also requires accessing and integrating the right data sources, such as scientific activity, claims, and even census data.

5. Streamline technology for improved cross-functional collaboration

Medical affairs provides insights and data across the healthcare ecosystem, but for this information to add value to other teams, it needs to be shared. As medical affairs expands its use of applications, it must consider how its systems will connect with those of other stakeholders.

An integrated technology infrastructure with medical as the core link between R&D and commercial provides everyone access to the same information. It can help deliver a connected customer experience for HCPs engaging with multiple stakeholders across the company. Any new technology medical incorporates should also simplify and streamline global and local models to increase efficiency.

Committing to these five key areas and getting the associated data in order will help medical affairs become a future-fit organization and make a significant impact as a partner to internal and external stakeholders.

Learn how Veeva Medical Business Consulting can create a detailed plan to prioritize these areas for your organization’s success.