[October 23, 2012]

Patient-Centered Medical Information Teams Direct Pharmaceutical Company's Focus to Their Products' End-Users

Patient-centric pharmaceutical companies are more likely to have larger medical information budgets and staffs, according to a recent study by Cutting Edge Information.

One surveyed Top 20 company that strives for patient-centric operations reports an $11 million medical affairs budget and 21 FTEs. The affiliate medical information team of another surveyed patient-centric company staffs 4 FTEs, which is one of the largest affiliate teams profiled in Cutting Edge Information's study.

Today, top pharmaceutical companies are working towards becoming more patient centric. For medical information teams, this means that treating each physician inquiry about a product ends up meeting a patient need. While the medical information team's emphasis should be to ensure that healthcare provides receive accurate, medically sound responses to their inquiries, medical information teams should also work to meet the needs of real patients.

Cutting Edge Information's recent study, "Meical Information Teams and Call Center Management" argues that medical information teams need to become more visible within the organization. Surveyed companies reported that medical information staffs ranged from 50 FTEs at Top 20 pharmas to 1 FTE at company affiliates. Medical information budgets ranged from $24 million at Top 20 pharmas to $11 thousand at company affiliates.

"Medical affairs teams - and medical information teams in particular - have a responsibility to improve patient care," adds Ryan McGuire, Research Team Leader at Cutting Edge Information. "As more medical information teams communicate and collaborate with other internal functions such as marketing, legal and regulatory, their impact is more visible companywide. This elevated impact leads to a more patient-centric strategy for medical information teams."

"Medical Information Teams and Call Center Management" (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/information-teams/) explores medical information teams' budget and staffing benchmarks, as well as call center management metrics. The report to is designed:

• Manage a growing number of medical information responsibilities, including call centers, library services and copy review
• Leverage medical information teams' capabilities to support other internal functions with product dossiers and other educational material
• Position medical information as a key voice within the company

For more information about medical information and medical affairs benchmarking, contact Elio Evangelista at 919-403-6583.

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