“The answer is only as good as the question.”

You may have heard this saying before, but you probably haven’t thought about how it applies to Medical Affairs (MA).

At Acceleration Point, we work with MA teams on the quality and quantity of insights, providing tools to ask the right questions, get the appropriate answers, and analyze those hundreds of data points to produce actionable insights.

Data to insights to action. But action is not the final stage of the insight generation process. Once insights produce strategies and Medical Affairs execute them, holding everyone involved accountable is key. That means tracking progress towards the fulfillment of those strategic objectives, understanding how and when they are to be accomplished, and correcting courses as needed. Closing the loop is critical to a successful organization.

So what’s the secret to actual accountability and achieved objectives? A large part of this is simply communicating with all key stakeholders on what the actions of the company are. If Medical Affairs said they’re going to create three new publications on transitioning to telemedicine, you must expect the MSL teams to share them and hold them accountable.

The natural question is, how do you measure what you manage? Let’s say 84 percent of oncologists engaged by MSLs in March-related concerns about seeing patients safely during COVID-19. Perhaps Medical Affairs leveraged that data to produce and distribute educational material on social distancing for chemotherapy infusion centers so patients can receive the care they need safely. How could the results of these actions be measured? The MSL team could redeploy six months later in September, interview those same physicians, and perhaps find that only 50 percent are concerned about patient safety in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Additional questions might then reveal that it was the Medical Affairs materials that were partially responsible for shifting these views.

But Medical Affairs leadership would not know that unless the MSLs asked. Hence, the need for accountability to not simply drive strategy but to follow up, ensure its execution, and verify its efficacy.

If you have questions about medical insight generation contact Acceleration Point today.