6 MIN READ
Life Sciences leaders often discuss the challenges of engaging Healthcare Providers (HCPs) and standing out from their competitors. When pharma companies host engaging peer-to-peer programs, such as educational pharmaceutical dinners, they can drive meaningful conversations, networking, and storytelling around their disease area and increase the likelihood that a treatment achieves market success.
Why Engage HCPs?
When Should HCPs Be Engaged?
HCPs can be engaged at all stages of treatment development and release, from the earliest research phases, where disease state experts can provide guidance about market demands, through marketing and launch support.
They can further help by:
- Writing research papers
- Leading clinical trials
- Inspiring product adaptations
- Participating in peer-to-peer programs
- Influencing networks and treatment formularies
Companies seek out HCPs for a range of reasons and often use a variety of KOLs and TLs through a treatment’s R&D and marketing stages. When pharmaceutical companies host peer-to-peer programs, such as pharmaceutical dinners, they create opportunities for HCPs to be influenced by KOLs and TLs when making prescribing decisions.
How To Find HCPs
There are many opportunities to engage HCPs of all geographic markets and disease state niches. With strategic planning, companies can determine the HCPs they want to engage at specific points and build an engagement strategy around them.
There are an abundance of ways to identify and engage HCPs. Brands might search social media, identify the high writers at institutions, or locate subject matter experts from their published work. They could even connect with a company such as MDOutlook that specializes in connecting brands to the right HCPs at the right time.
Here are a some great ways to find HCPs and determine whether they’re the right fit at the right time in a product’s life cycle:
- Mapping ThoughtLeaders using MDOutlook’s Lumineer
- Understanding how HCPs are connected
- Knowing their prescription volume and treatment share
- Researching the networks and institutions where HCPs work
Peer-to-peer programs are one of the most effective ways to drive value for the clinicians organizations want to connect with. These are an incredible place to network and find HCPs because they create atmospheres that are interesting to HCPs and presented on their terms. These programs may include ThoughLeader panels, pharmaceutical dinners, webinars, articles, and live networking events.
The important thing to remember is that HCPs are eager to engage and learn from peers they’re inspired by and trust. By creating value for both participants and attendees through educational content and networking, pharma brands can engage HCPs to support the various stages of a treatment traveling from development to launch.
How To Engage HCPs
Once a company has mapped out the HCPs it needs to support product development and marketing, it can utilize a number of tools to begin engaging them. Brands have traditionally relied on field teams for in-person meetings and educational group events, such as conferences and pharmaceutical dinners.
During the pandemic, brands were forced to switch to digital touchpoints, which also proved to be extremely effective. However, they now have a major opportunity to shift back to in-person meetings and peer-to-peer programs.
Many clinicians are eager to get out and meet, network and learn from their peers after years of pandemic restrictions. Pharma companies can leverage this by building events such as pharmaceutical dinners into their engagement strategy.
How Pharmaceutical Dinners Add Value
So, how do pharmaceutical dinners actually help brands? Studies have shown that HCPs are more engaged with educational content that is delivered during a meal, and this often results in greater impact on prescribing behavior.
When organizing events such as these, companies can cater to disease area experts and HCPs of various local, regional, national and international locations with targeted content that maximizes impact.
Consider some of these benefits when hosting content-rich events:
- Participation from TLs and KOLs will attract HCPs you care about
- Engaging content will entice HCPs to engage with your treatment
- Networking provides value for your brand and the HCPs in attendance
Pharmaceutical dinners give companies the opportunity to learn more about their market, engage more HCPs in their disease state, and seamlessly present their treatment and study results to an eager audience. Virtual pharmaceutical dinners also continue to remain popular in a post-COVID world.
MDOutlook Can Help You Host Valuable Pharmaceutical Dinners
MDOutlook provides strategic opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to engage with the right HCPs at the right time. Our Activeer platform offers a variety of innovative ways to engage clinicians, while our Lumineer solution makes it easy to see and connect with the KOLs and TLs that add value to pharmaceutical dinners.
Clinicians are craving rich, community building events where they can soak up information and conversation about new research, treatments and best practices. Now is a great time to consider building events into an engagement strategy. Contact us today to learn more about pharmaceutical dinners and how we help brands plan the most effective events to drive meaningful discussions and engagement.
