From Invisible To Invaluable In Medical Affairs: Unveiling Your Impact With Clear Objectives

In a recent poll on Linked in 45% of Medical Affairs said demonstrating impact is the biggest challenge for them in 2024.  In this article we explain how having clear goals is key to demonstrate impact.

The Challenge To Medical Affairs Success

When asked about their biggest challenge impacting on success 45% (n=59/131) of Medical Affairs respondents said it was demonstrating impact. 25% selected lack of clarity on objectives.

45% of Medical Affairs say demonstrating impact is the biggest impediment to success.

The interesting thing is it is all linked.  In order to demonstrate impact you need to be crystal clear on your goals and objectives.  If you are clear on your goal and what you want to achieve then it makes it easier to demonstrate impact.

How?

Put it this way - if you don’t know what your goal is then how will you know if you get there?

Why Setting Clear Objectives Is Key

There are a number of benefits to setting clear goals or objectives.  When you know what your goal is, it allows you to prioritise, allocate resource, align your team around it and stay focused.  

Selecting The Right Goals

I’m sure you are familiar with the “SMART” objectives and goals.  They need to be:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Realistic 

• Timebound

Make your objectives SMART

So when you are setting your goal ask yourself are they specific enough?  It should be clear what you want to achieve by when and why.  

For example:

• (1) Map the patient referral pathway in paediatric Rheumatology for JIA patients by December 2024 (so we can identify pain points on the pathway to support product launch).

• (2) Implement a Medical Education programme on Treat to Target in IBD so that there is an awareness of the Treat to Target in all centres across the country by December 2024 (to support awareness of the benefits of Treat to Target for IBD patients).

• (3) Support increased conversations on quality of life between HCPs and patients in the top 5 centres of excellence by December 2024 through use of X tool.

The why doesn’t necessarily need to be explicit or clearly called out if you know what the why is - i.e to improve patient care.  

What you might notice about the above examples is that the “How” isn’t included.  The “How” is important but it isn’t the outcome and from what I have seen in my own experience in-house and working with clients is that this is the piece where people may stumble.

The “How”

How you achieve these goals may differ on a number of factors including your role, your territory, what is going to deliver the greatest engagement or impact for you.

Focus on setting the right metrics beforehand so that you can demonstrate if you have achieved your goal and therefore demonstrated impact. Then it’s time to identify the projects to get you there.

For Medical Affairs Impact

Clear goals plus clear results is the key to success.

“The Impact”

To demonstrate the impact you bring you want to be clear on what you have achieved and how this compares with where you started.

If you have no baseline then how can you demonstrate the impact?

Looking at the examples above:

(1) Map the patient referral pathway in paediatric Rheumatology for JIA patients by December 2024 (so we can identify pain points on the pathway to support product launch).

Baseline: Limited or no knowledge of the patient referral pathway

Success: Sufficient insight to map out the key pain points on the patient pathway so that it can be used to inform brand planning.

Impact:  There is sufficient information on the patient pathway to support brand planning for launch. 

(2) Implement a Medical Education programme on Treat to Target in IBD so that there is an awareness and understanding of the benefits of a Treat to Target approach in all centres across the country by December 2024 (to support awareness of the benefits of Treat to Target for IBD patients).

Baseline:  Identify the current level of knowledge through insight gathering ( Market Research, Ad Board, 1:1s).

Success:  Increased awareness of Treat to Target across all IBD centres

• Education delivered on Treat to Target to all centres in territory

• Feedback from Medical Education events demonstrate 80% of attendees understand the benefits of Treat to Target for their patients

Note: Implementation of a Treat to Target approach in centres will have the greatest  impact but you may need to lay the foundations first by increasing the education. By having the baseline you can demonstrate an increase in knowledge through the feedback you collect.  

Impact:  Increased awareness of Treat to Target and understanding of the benefit to patients across all IBD centres.  This is the first step to implementing a Treat to Target approach for patients in IBD across the region.  This will ultimately benefit patients.  

(3) Support increased conversations on quality of life between HCPs and patients  in the top 5 centres of excellence by December 2024 through use of X tool.

Baseline: Identify how many if any centres utilise X tool and how often QOL is discussed in patient/HCP interactions.

Success: Increased numbers of conversations on quality of life using X tool.  

• X tool developed in conjunction with nurses at top 3 centres by June 2024.

• X tool rolled out to the top 5 centres by December 2024.

• Feedback from 5 centres on the impact of the tool gathered in 1:1 discussions.

Impact:  Increased QOL discussions will impact patient care and drive better outcomes for patients.  Your company will be seen as a valued partner who supports benefit to patients.  

For each of the examples laid out above, while the impact driven by Medical Affairs is less tangible for the organisation than product sales, it is clear that by achieving your objective will deliver impact for HCPs and for patients.   

The how it is delivered whether it is an 1:1 engagement, Medical Education Meeting, Webinar, or printed guide does not demonstrate the impact but the end result does.  So focus on the outcomes then plan how you will achieve them.    

This is one of the reasons that having a strategic mindset or approach benefits Medical Affairs as you focus on the outcomes rather than the how you are getting there.  

Potential Challenges

Measuring impact in Medical Affairs can be challenging because it is not as clear cut as sales and there is no single metric.  Time needs to be dedicated to creating clear goals first.  Too often the goal is set as achieving the “How”  which measures the activity and not the outcome.  

Conclusion

So to get clear on how to demonstrate impact you need to get clear on your objectives first.  Focusing on outcomes, not just activities, benefits Medical affairs because you are looking at the outcomes rather than the how you are getting there. Once you can clearly identify your outcomes you can clearly identify the impact you bring.

Schedule a free discovery call with us today using the book a call link to discuss how our expert solutions can help you clarify your goals and demonstrate your impact.