Best practice strategies for your emerging biopharma field team search
By Melissa Mulchahey
Emerging and mid-cap biopharma companies should prioritize these qualities for a field reimbursement and access team
The limited budget of emerging and mid-cap biopharma companies raises another important question. How can a biopharma company get the most value for its spend when it comes to a field team?
To effectively staff a field team while making the most of a limited budget, emerging biopharma companies should consider how they can outsource a field reimbursement and access team to a commercialization partner — either in its entirety or for just specific roles.
The following is a quick checklist of the top 5 traits emerging biopharma should consider from an outsourced field team partner:
Reimbursement and access knowledge
Field reimbursement and access professionals should have a deep understanding of the healthcare reimbursement and access landscape. When a biopharma company outsources a field team to an experienced commercialization partner, that partner can often build a field team from an existing staff with backgrounds as practice/facility administrators, account managers, certified coders, payer representatives, and pharmacy technicians. This ability to leverage the experience of a seasoned commercialization partner can expedite the time needed for an emerging biopharma company to hire and develop an internal team.
Training skills
The outsourced field team should also have quality training and top-notch communication and relationship skills. The team needs to educate providers about patient support programs while also helping them navigate the complexities of the reimbursement and access process, including formulary placement, prior authorization, and acquisition channels — as well as billing and coding for physician-administered or dispensed product.
Patient and field support integration
Emerging biopharma could also choose a single commercialization partner to outsource both its patient support program and its field services. There are valuable synergies from integrating a field team and a patient support program. For example, a field team could increase awareness of a patient support program’s wraparound services — such as medication management and other services that help to improve access and adherence. Field team integration with the patient services program helps ensure that the effort to maximize access to therapy does not exclude patients or providers.
Flexibility
Field team strategies should be flexible, informed by several variables, including:
- The goals and budget of the biopharma company
- The route of administration and access channels for the product
- The size of the target market
- The number of competitors and their market share
- Any specific anticipated challenges related to reimbursement and access
A field services partner should tailor its approach to each biopharma company's specific needs based on these variables. An experienced field team partner will understand the level of experience and background needed for each product and build a team with the appropriate size, skills, and knowledge.
Virtual options for healthcare providers
As the world of work continues to evolve, providers have grown accustomed to different ways of learning about new products. In-person visits from pharmaceutical sales representatives are no longer the only way for biopharma to communicate about new product launches. According to an Accenture survey, 38 percent of healthcare providers would prefer that all meetings with biopharma companies are virtual.1 The best partner will nimbly adapt to communications preferences by offering virtual support models and other agile solutions.
Clear direction for the critical questions ahead
Outsourcing a field reimbursement and access team to a commercialization partner with these qualities gives emerging biopharma companies clear direction for the critical questions they face when bringing a product to market. These qualities include:
- Reimbursement and access knowledge
- Training expertise
- Integration with patient services
- Flexibility to adjust its team size up or down as needs evolve
- Virtual support options
Outsourcing for these traits can be a cost-effective way for emerging biopharma to make the most of their budget while leveling the playing field with established companies — helping emerging biopharma work smarter toward increased patient access.
Reference
1. The new rules of engagement. Accenture Strategy & Consulting. 2021. Accessed 3 May 2023. Available at: https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/a-com-migration/pdf/pdf-167/accenture-life-sciences-healthcare-provider-covid-19-survey.pdf#zoom=40.
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