In the wake of the pandemic, virtual engagement platforms are keeping companies connected and businesses afloat, and there are no signs of stopping.recent polls A Reuters article for Within3 explores insights from more than 300 healthcare affairs thought leaders on the role of digital work in their workplaces. According to the Reuters survey, the majority of those surveyed said they expect 40% to 49% of medical affairs and life sciences engagements to be virtual in the next three years.
Specifically, the report surveyed 304 professionals in the life sciences, 82% of whom held leadership roles in medical affairs, including vice president or C-suite, supervisor or manager positions. Notably, executives from pharmaceutical (75%), biotech (19%), medical device (5%) and consumer health manufacturers (1%) responded. Major companies contributing insights to the report include Merck, Bayer, Jazz Pharma, Pfizer and Novartis.
Respondents cited increased agility (48%), faster response rates (48%), and prioritization of digital channels (39%) as key benefits of virtual engagement, according to the report.
“Going into more asynchronous engagement has really made us rethink how we work and how we interact with the healthcare community,” Ed Power, vice president of Pfizer’s North American Medical Affairs, Hospitals business, said in the report.
However, a third of respondents to the report said some external stakeholders disliked large virtual medical congresses — gatherings of medical professionals.. Nonetheless, 73 percent of respondents said stakeholders responded favorably to virtual advisory committees, while 53 percent favored virtual steering committee meetings, the report said.
“If anything, they’re much richer than face-to-face meetings. People are more accessible and often more engaged,” Bayer senior vice president and head of medical and scientific affairs Shul Gil Chaudrey said in the report about virtual said the advisory board. “The chat feature is especially useful for gathering information, anecdotes and journal references. There’s also greater continuity because information can be shared before and after, which means greater follow-up.”
Because the virtual option has been so successful, the majority of respondents (65% and 85%, respectively) said they believe the Steering Committee and Advisory Committee will continue to be held as virtual events.
Victoria Ho, director of medical excellence and competence at Jazz Pharma, said in the report: “For the sake of diversity, there is a strong argument that the advisory committee remains virtual in front and back and collects input asynchronously, as this will uncover previously unheard expert voices.”
“We’ve all been in situations where – meetings or what have you – one or two people dominate the conversation. Or when a very experienced or senior person speaks, the others just agree because they don’t want to look disagree or Rebut that person,” said Lance Hill, CEO of Within3. “Other organizations in medical affairs and life sciences have found that virtual environments give everyone the opportunity to express their views, resulting in richer and more diverse insights that provide more information and more direction for business strategy.”
In addition, virtual events enable doctors and othersr As reported, HCPs study presentations and data as their schedule allows. Additionally, virtual events can save companies time and money, the report said.
“It has saved us significant cost,” Eliav Barr, Merck’s senior vice president of global medical affairs, said in a report on the virtual tool to quickly share updated financial benefits from clinical trial results to drug development.
However, despite the benefits of digital collaboration, 63% of respondents cited digital fatigue as a problem, and 72% expressed frustration with other attendees multitasking during meetings or attendees not participating in discussions. Both scenarios reduce the effectiveness of meetings, the report said.
“Everyone is inundated with information. The market is packed with webinars, seminars, etc. Zoom fatigue is real and we need to be aware of it,” said Kumaran Kerry, Teva EU Director of Healthcare Excellence and Digital Transformation Sinan said in the report.
The report points to the asynchronous virtual option for participation as a solution to time constraints and not prioritizing one time zone over another when scheduling. Ultimately, bars are likely to settle somewhere between virtual and in-person, the report notes.
“Using virtual technology gives your organization another option, another channel to do work. So maybe you want to have an in-person meeting, but you use an asynchronous environment to agree on your agenda ahead of time, or make sure people are ready work — so your face time is very productive,” Hill said of the mix of in-person and asynchronous work advocated by the report. “Or you attend a medical conference in person, but keep a virtual room open to gather near real-time responses to posters or meetings with KOLs. Rather than thinking about what’s lost, admit it’s a different approach, and you can only learn from it benefit.”
Photo: elenabs, Getty Images; Photo: Reuters
