AVITA Medical Uses Real-Time Intelligence to Expand KOL Engagement

After spending over 25 years as a bedside nurse in a burn unit, Brad Wiggins left patient care to take on a new challenge. He joined AVITA Medical, a cutting-edge global medtech company, as its director of professional relations. Since the company’s founding in 1993, AVITA has specialized in wound care management and skin restoration devices – a very specific market centered around a single device and indication. However, with a recent FDA approval for another indication and an application for a third, its market was expanding quickly.

With this expansion, Wiggins was tasked with widening AVITA’s key opinion leader (KOL) universe beyond those the company had previously worked with. “Seventy-five percent of our targeted procedures were within this burn community,” says Wiggins. “Now, we’re chasing something completely different.”

Finding a KOL engagement solution

As Wiggins started working, he realized that his physician space was growing dramatically—from 300 in the original indication to almost 2,400 surgeons for the newly approved FDA indication. Furthermore, these surgeons were not working in the burn units where the company typically focused. As a new person in the industry, Wiggins’ number one question was, “Where do I get the data?”

He began using Google, National Centers for Medicare, and other searches, which weren’t effective or accurate. He realized that relying on independent searching of online tools created silos. “Even if you find someone, how do you connect with that person?” he says. “I felt very overwhelmed and lacked the knowledge to pull these pieces together.” Team members were spending eight-plus hours in a day researching one physician’s engagement at one different event.

“Link Key People represented the high-level approach I was looking for” – Brad Wiggins, Director of Professional Relations

Wiggins was determined to make a change. AVITA implemented Veeva Link Key People for MedTech. In a recent internal survey, 72% percent of company employees across sales, marketing, and medical affairs agreed that Link Key People provides new information they were unaware of before. “Link Key People represented the high-level approach I was looking for,” says Wiggins.

Key areas supported by real-time insights

With Link Key People in place, Wiggins immediately started using it to support KOL management initiatives. “It ultimately became a one-stop location for congresses, scientific information, guidelines, clinical trials, collaborations, digital creators, and more,” he says.

Clinical cost outcomes: The company has always specialized in clinical cost outcomes and has a strong scientific approach. Ensuring mentions in publications is key. With real-time insights, Wiggins could look for people who publish so he could identify and focus on building these critical relationships.

RCT data: AVITA strongly believes in creating randomized controlled trial (RCT) data. Showing and proving to HCPs that the company has RCT-driven independent studies is incredibly important, especially for its newly approved FDA indication. Using Veeva Link Key People helped Wiggins better identify KOLs who were essential to share this information with.

Medical Advisors: Before, the company did not have a complete picture of its medical advisors, making it difficult to know where to start. Wiggins used the system to create a snapshot of current medical advisors – mostly those who helped with early trials. He found that they were located primarily in one geographical area, helping him gain a better understanding of where and how to expand these relationships.

Congresses: Congresses are also a priority for Wiggins. When he received attendee lists in the past, they were almost always incomplete and never included contact information. Link Key People helped Wiggins identify who would be there – both attendees and presenters – and also provided email and phone information.

“As a longtime clinician it means more to me when a clinician, who I trust and who delivers high-level care, believes in something that he wants me to use.” – Brad Wiggins, Director of Professional Services

One of the capabilities Wiggins finds especially useful is spider mapping, which visualizes who knows who in healthcare. Wiggins considers this to be a key factor in building relationships and ensuring better patient outcomes. “As a longtime clinician, it means more to me when a clinician, who I trust and who delivers high- level care, believes in something that he wants me to use,” he says. “This feature lets me see if someone I know has a relationship with another physician I’m trying to connect with and can make an introduction to bridge that gap.”

Tips for successful KOL engagement

For Wiggins, working with Veeva MedTech has been integral to his success within AVITA Medical. The team helped him navigate the platform and get him on the right path to identifying multiple KOLs to target. “It’s not just that you’ve purchased something,” he says. “You’re building a relationship with people who care and want to see you have successful outcomes. Link Key People opened up a new world. It allows us to very simply get all the information needed at our fingertips. It’s a time savings, provides clarity, and allows us to focus on providing better patient outcomes.”

Watch this video for more details on how AVITA Medical uses real-time intelligence to engage with more experts.