7 MIN READ
Healthcare providers, or HCPs, are vital to ensuring the success of a treatment launch. A robust HCP engagement platform can help companies find the right HCPs at the right time to serve as brand advocates. By using a quality business intelligence platform, pharma companies can design and execute effective HCP engagement strategies that boost profitability and improve outcomes for patients.
Finding the most well-rounded, feature-rich HCP engagement platform can make all the difference when pharma companies are investing time and money into treatment development and release. By finding the right tool for the job, or the platform in this case, you’ll be able to engage the HCPs who drive the most value for your brand and maximize a treatment’s potential in improving the lives of patients.
In this article, we’ll discuss the key benefits of using an HCP engagement platform and provide guardrails on what to look for when deciding which platform to adopt.
What is an HCP Engagement Strategy?
An HCP engagement platform is a software product that makes it easy to find, communicate with and engage HCPs. Since HCPs, rather than patients, are the key decision makers when it comes to the treatments that ultimately reach patients, their interest and support is vital to the success of pharmaceutical companies.
In a fiercely competitive pharmaceutical industry, HCP engagement platforms help companies stand out. They enable brands to conduct strategic research and outreach that differentiates their products from others on the market. From in-depth mapping of the experts in their disease area to hosting events that provide value to HCPs so they’re incentivized to engage, HCP engagement platforms are a crucial component of any pharma brand’s treatment strategy.
Benefits of Using an HCP Engagement Platform
Since HCPs are so crucial to pharmaceutical success, HCPs engagement platforms offer a competitive advantage when developing treatments and taking them to market. As clinicians conduct fewer in-person meetings, it’s important that brands get the most out of each interaction they have so that they can utilize HCPs to their fullest potential to drive meaningful results. In an Accenture survey taken during the pandemic, 87% of HCPs said they now want either all virtual or a mix of virtual and in-person meetings. An HCP engagement platform can help pharma companies design touchpoints that meet the moment and drive meaningful conversations.
HCP engagement platforms can help companies:
- Identify Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and ThoughtLeaders (TL)
- Discover important research and institutional connections
- Conduct peer-to-peer programs that facilitate HCP networking
How to Choose the Best HCP Engagement Platform
It’s important to consider a platform that provides in-depth topical analyses by disease area so that your brand can pinpoint exactly the HCPs it will need to engage. To unlock the greatest potential for treatments, it’s helpful to search for HCPs based on their experience, research, industry connections and influence over other HCPs.
When an HCP engagement platform provides a good understanding of global, national, regional and local TLs and KOLs in a targeted disease state, brands gain access to pertinent information that enriches conversations with HCPs. By leveraging data about HCPs and market dynamics, companies can identify and communicate with HCPs who can facilitate treatment adoption, such as high writers, HCPs known for the high-volume of prescriptions they write.
In addition to KOL mapping, a robust platform will also help you design both virtual and in-person programs to facilitate meaningful interaction between HCPs and your brand.
What to Look For When Choosing an HCP Engagement Platform
KOL Mapping Tools: A platform that provides robust information about global, national, regional and local TLs will add meaningfully to a brand’s HCP engagement strategy. Look for a platform, such as MDOutlook’s Lumineer, that provides information on how HCPs are interrelated with other HCPs and institutions, their areas of interest, and key research. The platform should make it easy to search by geography and niche, enabling companies to diagram which HCPs to engage at specific lifecycle stages. A strong platform will provide opportunities far beyond the publicly available lists of the top-50 KOLs and make it easy to intelligently prepare for, and set-up, high-value meetings.
Peer-To-Peer Programs: Once a company has mapped out HCPs, they should be able to leverage the platform to identify, engage and recruit the most influential people for educational programs, such as panels featuring KOLs that are respected in the disease area. Speaking opportunities provide incentives for KOLs to be hired as advocates, and for HCPs to engage with a brand to obtain educational resources from, and networking opportunities with, KOLs they admire and trust. A strong platform will also make it easy to disseminate information created by KOLs to engage even more HCPs.
Lumineer Can Drive Meaningful Results
As pharmaceutical companies navigate a challenging and competitive marketplace with shifting HCP preferences, a robust HCP engagement platform like Lumineer can vastly accelerate company goals and profitability. With Lumineer’s extensive search and mapping tools, supported by MDOutlook’s Doc Pulse for research and engagement and Activeer for unique peer-to-peer programs and activations, your brand will be prepared for every single HCP interaction and propel above the competition.
Learn how Lumineer can help your brand get the most out of your HCP engagement strategy. Contact us to schedule a free demo today!
