Generating Insights Within Medical Information
Insights represent a key opportunity for medical information to expand its internal influence and be seen as a strategic thought partner within medical affairs and across the organization.
With all interactions stemming from unsolicited requests, medical information is in a unique position to surface new learnings from data collected on a daily basis. And technology is enabling new ways of generating insights in a more deliberate and systematic way.
These themes are explored in the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) podcast, “The Role of Medical Information in Generating Medical Insights.” Here are four actions from the discussion that can help med info teams make insights generation a cornerstone of their function.
Start with the end in mind
Before setting up a new database or information management system, think critically about the long-term outcomes and how that will inform implementation. Take a strategic approach and build out a multi-year plan starting with the end in mind. Strategically, what type of data do you want to capture? How do you want to capture it? What do you want to analyze and how do you get what you want out of that?
Figure out if and how you want insights to inform organizational strategy and take a holistic approach to goal setting. While it is important to plan for the things you know, knowledge gaps are filled by having an ear to the ground for what you don’t.
As a best practice, proactively monitor the topics outlined in your medical strategy while ensuring you’re equipped to surface other unidentified topics that are clearly of interest to your customer. That can uncover important learnings your organization may have to take some action on.
Establish a shared lexicon for insights
The working definition of insight differs slightly from one organization to the next. One may define insight as something that has to be explicitly actionable whereas another might simply consider its informative value. A critical step to take in early planning efforts is to establish a shared lexicon for insights and formalize it across the organization.
Ensure there is a concrete definition of “insight” and guidance that draws clear lines between what it is and isn’t, where one might come from, and any other possible inputs unique to your organization that could lead to its formation. Then you can start to identify the operational metrics you need and the kinds of tools that can help make sense of the information surfacing on a daily basis.
Build the technology baseline
From there, determine the baseline components of your technology infrastructure. What systems are already in place? Do you have the ability to capture data in a structured way? What tools do you need to implement as the foundation for deeper analysis and interpretation of that data?
Assess the extent to which you have already embraced technology to capture and manage data and identify any gaps this initiative should immediately fill. Once you understand your baseline needs, you can start building a roadmap for implementing more advanced capabilities (e.g., natural language processing, automation, and AI) that help med info teams access free text in a more streamlined and efficient manner.
Another important consideration are the possible sources of insights, each with its own unique way of tracking activity and managing information. Do you have technology in place to aggregate data from these disparate sources and structure it in a way that creates a universal view?
The term “cross-fertilization” is used to describe this capability. The data sets generated by medical information are sourced in a context unique to their function. How is that data stacking up against what field medical is surfacing from their interactions? Is there a commonality? If so, then you know it’s something important in the medical world and worth putting effort into understanding the context behind it.
Scale value incrementally to secure buy-in
Collective buy-in is critical to generating insights systematically. Technology implementation takes time and ongoing optimization will require budget, resources, and governance to maintain data integrity and compliance.
Scaling your demonstration of value incrementally will leave more space for conversation, allowing you to gauge interest, set clear expectations, and drive alignment around what happens next. Smaller pilot projects are a great way to produce quick wins you can serve up to leadership. This will help them understand the benefit of the efforts you’re putting behind your medical insights initiative and gain confidence in the value it offers to the organization over the long term.
Listen to the full episode of the MAPS podcast series, “Elevate,” to hear more about medical information’s role in generating medical insights.