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In a recent Reuters Health webinar, life science leaders reported that their insights management processes have a long way to go before becoming fully tech-enabled: 95% said their insights strategy is either highly manual or only somewhat tech-enabled. Why should industry leaders move toward a more connected approach, and how can they get started?
Your team might be comfortable with the status quo – maybe you don’t see an alternative or think bringing on new tools and processes is more trouble than it’s worth. But the pharma industry faces several challenges in the years ahead: global inflation effects, restructuring and merger activity, and intensifying competition. Budget and staffing levels will likely tighten, and leaders will need new strategies to accomplish more with less.
Webinar poll question: how would you describe your insights management process?
| Manual and not integrated – we use multiple systems and have to search and compile manually | 34% |
| Somewhat integrated and tech-enabled – we use a few systems and some are connected, but we still use manual processes | 61% |
| Highly integrated and tech-enabled – we use one or a few systems that are connected and we can find things easily | 5% |
Reuters Health + Within3 webinar, February 1, 2023
Insights allow you to adapt to a demanding marketplace. Without insights – the right insights – decisions might be based on incomplete or subjective data or the same information competitors use. But in most organizations, there’s no real methodology around insights or an embedded way to align them back to strategic imperatives.
So how do you get started with an insights management platform? The approach can be incremental, starting with a better way to engage internal stakeholders. Some Within3 clients target particular projects or initiatives, like a specific medical congress or advisory board, and add more tools, such as social listening or sentiment analysis, over time.
Other clients prioritize a deeper analysis of their disease community landscape. Teams might want a more complete and contextual picture of the experts they should be engaging or understand how HCPs or patients perceive their product. And some companies may start with a top-down re-evaluation of their insights management process to align all their insight-gathering activities.
The good news? At any stage of insights management maturity, you can add the elements that make sense to you and progress at your own pace.
Whatever the approach, life science teams reap significant benefits from modernizing: reduced operational costs and internal workload, lower data acquisition and maintenance costs, and better business results due to a more nimble strategy and execution. Teams will also find it easier to communicate insights and deliver value to internal stakeholders.
What steps can companies take to prepare for a new approach to insights management?
Evolving your approach to insights management requires a change management mindset. Start by taking stock of where you are, changing how you view insights generation, and work to prioritize insights in your team or organization. Our recommendations:
#1 Evaluate your current process
How are you collecting insights across your organization, team, or region? How difficult or time-consuming is the process, and what is the quality of the information you can share as a result?
#2 View insights generation as a holistic endeavor
Insights management needs to happen in one place, where information is accessible, searchable, and useful. If you view each step as a separate process with a separate technology or workflow, insights management will always be complex and difficult to use. Measuring and improving a single process is much easier.
#3 Elevate insights generation within your organization
Support insights management with the same rigor and technological support as any essential process. Think about the other mission-critical processes in your organization: finance, human resources, IT. What would your insights management strategy look like with similar support?
Insights management is critical for the pharma industry – you’ll need a solid strategy to confront a challenging market. Embracing a one-process, one-platform approach enables you to create differentiation, excel in the market, and improve ROI over the status quo.
Learn more about insights management’s value and strategic implementation in a new white paper co-presented with MAPS. Download the paper.
