[00:01]
Agency 100 PlayBook Podcast. What exactly do we mean by cultural sensitivity and medical communications? It’s about understanding and respecting the diverse cultural backgrounds.

[00:13]
beliefs

[00:14]
and practices of the audiences as we serve one of the things that we are really doing differently at balance that comes his utilising some of the technological advancements utilising our AI division utilizing you know advanced Analytics to really say okay, let’s look at the mapping entirely differently.

[00:32]
death penalty results in a boundless medical communications first down

[00:38]
hello and welcome.

[00:39]
I’m Marc Iskowitz editor at large for MM+M, and I’m very excited to be part of the sponsored podcast.

[00:45]
with Boundless Medical Communications

[00:47]
and I’m here with my special guests Francesco Lucarelli chief commercial officer.

[00:51]
and Sid DeSousa chief of medical communications both at BMC

[00:56]
gentlemen, how are you and welcome to the MM+M podcast

[00:59]
Doing great thanks for having us Marc.

[01:00]
Absolutely here great and you’re in studio which is all the better.

[01:04]
So we’re talking about medical communications unbound. I mean I’ve been following.

[01:08]
boundless group ever since you rebranded from hcb back in febuary 2023

[01:14]
and now you have medical communications under your roof and

[01:17]
you know medical communications as you were discussing offline.

[01:20]
over the last 18 months there’s been– sort of a

[01:22]
medcomms Arms Race if you will it’s a very sought after

[01:26]
discipline obviously it’s important to medical marketing.

[01:30]
Needs no explanation. It’s really the blocking and tackling.

[01:33]
of medical marketing

[01:35]
but with that kind of you know sort of Assumption that it’s always going to be part of the offering.

[01:40]
one

[01:40]
wonders

[01:41]
Is there really an opportunity to sort of differentiate?

[01:44]
ones medcomms offering

[01:46]
you know we’ve seen you know obviously the Old stall worth the dinner meetings the speakers Bureaus

[01:52]
world familiar with the medical congresses and the foods

[01:55]
being Staples of the HTTP marketing side

[01:59]
and of medical Communications in general.

[02:01]
Our own research showed the most recent Healthcare marketers survey.

[02:05]
That Pharma budgets showed a pullback in those traditional.

[02:08]
channels and putting more and emphasis into

[02:11]
CTV connected TV streaming audio

[02:14]
As ways to reach https.

[02:15]
so

[02:16]
we need the you know we were saying that emergency who have new technologies along with the traditional tactics.

[02:22]
So with that I wanted to put it to you gentlemen.

[02:25]
Can medical communications truly be differentiated?

[02:27]
Or is it a basic PlayBook that is largely prescriptive?

[02:30]
And Francesca you want to start us off here.

[02:33]
It’s a great question mark and I think interesting that you drew that.

[02:36]
comment regarding the arms race I had not heard that but it makes sense, so when I left you know novartis many moons ago and came to the

[02:45]
the dark side of the service side of the industry

[02:47]
medcomms is really where I cut my teeth so I have a heart for it. I have a real in drained passion to understand the importance and the prominence of it and how it plays.

[02:57]
Such a critical role in any product in the market.

[03:02]
that idea of

[03:03]
it being an arms race those interesting because you can look at the two ways right or we?

[03:09]
Going towards mutually assured destruction hopefully not.

[03:12]
and that idea of where I think we could fall in that trap is if everyone does continue to look at it as if it’s just blocking in tackling in a PlayBook

[03:21]
that’s

[03:22]
precisely what we are working to avoid.

[03:24]
given boundless medical communications, so you know adherent to our brand philosophy of being boundless, let’s not live by the

[03:32]
Constructs of the past let’s look forward, let’s do things differently let’s try and be as smart as intuitive.

[03:38]
utilising technology to our advantage, what can we do differently from that perspective when we think about medical Communications

[03:45]
You know Sid’s going to talk specifically about a lot of detailed items in that.

[03:49]
But the framework of what we’re doing and what we’re building is fundamentally based on within our platform.

[03:55]
we have

[03:56]
Consulting services

[03:57]
we have AI technology.

[04:00]
We have Analytics that have the ability to look at and distinguish identification differently than the ways of the past.

[04:07]
And so we put all of those sort of filters or lenses if you will on the perspective of let’s approach medical communications with that mindset. Let’s look at clinical affairs. Let’s look at the msl’s, let’s look at what’s going out there.

[04:23]
Or some of those factors of the past will they ever completely go away of course not alright? They’re all always be sort of the peer-to-peer programs at some level that we important.

[04:32]
Congresses societies all of those things absolutely have to still exist.

[04:37]
At some form, but it’s when you start to build the surround sound plan so instead of just having the off the shelf here’s your medcomms plan in a box.

[04:46]
It’s of course you have to have those Linch pins those blocking attack pieces.

[04:50]
But how can we do things around that? That’s smarter more intuitive that’s going to be quite honestly at the end of the day.

[04:57]
it cost savings for client because as you said part of that Arms Race

[05:00]
unfortunately sometimes drives it towards the bottom line as well.

[05:04]
right

[05:05]
and we still see the prominence of Period of Peer education as being the gold standard.

[05:10]
So waiting for the day when you know doctors are going to want to learn something from somebody on tiktok.

[05:14]
Not going to happen so the gold standard.

[05:17]
Said you want to build on with Francesco said well. I agree with everything Francesco just said which is unusual.

[05:23]
I I been in recording now. I heard it.

[05:28]
I’ve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and I’ve witnessed the evolution of medical communications and it’s

[05:35]
safe to say that.

[05:36]
Many of the same initiatives have persisted because simply put they work.

[05:41]
However more recently, there’s been a noticeable emphasis on cultural sensitivity.

[05:46]
what exactly do we mean by cultural sensitivity and medical Communications

[05:51]
It’s about understanding and respecting the diverse cultural backgrounds.

[05:56]
beliefs

[05:57]
and practices of the audiences we serve.

[06:00]
This encompasses a range of nuances that must be carefully navigated to ensure.

[06:05]
effective communication and engagement

[06:08]
for instance let’s consider the language we use.

[06:11]
words carry different meanings and connotations across cultures

[06:15]
What may seem perfectly acceptable in one cultural context could be deeply offensive in another?

[06:21]
So it’s essential to tailor our language to resonate with specific cultural sensitivities.

[06:26]
avoiding inadvertent misunderstanding offenses

[06:30]
moreover cultural nuances extend beyond language to encompass visual imagery symbols and even non-verbal communication cues

[06:38]
What works in one culture may not necessarily translate well to another?

[06:42]
So a one size fits all approach simply doesn’t.

[06:46]
To fight into today’s.

[06:47]
globalised world

[06:48]
additionally embracing cultural sensitivity and medical Communications

[06:52]
entails fostering and inclusivity and representation

[06:56]
this means ensuring that the voices and experiences of diverse Communities are heard.

[07:01]
And reflected in our communication efforts.

[07:04]
It also means clinical trials need to include.

[07:07]
diverse participants

[07:09]
people from ratio and ethnic minority and other diverse groups are underrepresented in clinical research.

[07:15]
And the FDA encourages diverse participation in clinical trials.

[07:19]
Which is somewhat new but certainly something that I believe.

[07:23]
Will be the standard for clinical trials in the future.

[07:26]
So can medical communications truly be differentiated?

[07:30]
absolutely

[07:31]
Well, there may be some foundational strategies that remain effective across the board.

[07:36]
the integration of cultural sensitivity adds layers of complexity

[07:41]
and richness to our approach.

[07:43]
It requires us to constantly evolve.

[07:46]
to listen learn

[07:47]
and adapt to the diverse needs and perspectives of those we serve.

[07:52]
Great yeah, I like that. You know that integration of cultural sensitivity.

[07:57]
as a certain richness to The Approach

[08:00]
and we often hear about that on the patient side, but not necessarily always on the hcp side. You know there’s a important, too.

[08:05]
Make sure that you’re communications are culturally.

[08:09]
sensitive and nuanced depending on

[08:12]
Who you’re talking to just like?

[08:14]
There’s vast differences in the way different culture seek medical treatment and different you know.

[08:19]
nuances around that

[08:20]
with health care providers as well and even generally you know you want to talk digitally to somebody younger who grew up with social media.

[08:27]
vs an older doctor say

[08:29]
so it is possible, then you answered my initial question is possible.

[08:33]
to differentiate the medcomms PlayBook

[08:36]
Let’s talk about a level deeper. How does Balance medical Communications

[08:40]
Look at medcomms. Differently said you want to start us off on that one.

[08:44]
Form of boss once said to me that if the client doesn’t look forward to having status meetings with the team.

[08:50]
Where failing at our job?

[08:53]
Clients are constantly submerged in the chaos of their own worlds right. They’re juggling deadlines managing teams.

[09:00]
and navigating through stressful situations

[09:03]
and in the middle of all this they’ll carve out time to touch base with our team.

[09:08]
Shouldn’t that interaction be more than just a mundane update.

[09:12]
It’s not just about the livering.

[09:13]
scientifically accurate content or hitting deadlines

[09:17]
It’s about creating an experience.

[09:20]
Our clients deserve a moment of reprieve a chance to lighten the mood and maybe even crack a smile.

[09:26]
After all laughter is often the best medicine even in the world of business.

[09:30]
So once the work is done and the action items are squared away. Why not sprinkle in a fun fact or throw out a would you rather scenario.

[09:39]
It’s in those little moments of levity that can transform a standard meeting into a memorable experience.

[09:45]
Not only does it show our clients that were human, too?

[09:48]
but it also reinforces the idea that We’re All In This Together

[09:52]
navigating the ups and a Downs of the business world with a smile on our faces.

[09:56]
Yeah, I mean what I love about. What’s his Sid said they’re it’s it’s pretty intriguing. I’ve been in a lot of meetings with him where he does these? Would you ever things with clients or would you rather and

[10:07]
It’s beyond a nice breaker it really.

[10:10]
Breaks down, you know the common sort of we’re all people here and let’s let’s share these moments of either levity or laughter or what have you?

[10:19]
And it builds a bridge.

[10:20]
I will go back to again this idea of living boundlessly is something that we really advocate both internally and externally in our clients sort of want to.

[10:29]
Engage with folks that are not looking at everything as if going back to the earlier question it’s just the PlayBook you’re going through an X to the Y to the Z it’s literally let’s do some things differently let’s approach meetings differently let’s approach that interface internally differently and it starts from there.

[10:47]
That’s what allows it to.

[10:50]
You know spread outwardly, so this idea that.

[10:54]
happy engaged clients or then open to looking at things differently that’s part of the the magic if you will if we’re able to diffuse some of the

[11:04]
mundane as Syd mentioned

[11:07]
that’s when people are more apt to unique ideas different offerings a different way of doing something saying well.

[11:14]
This is how we’ve always done. Kol planning.

[11:16]
okay

[11:17]
Have you thought about doing it this way?

[11:20]
Well, if you’ve got somebody that’s able to break bread and laugh with you in a room as you said earlier. It’s great. We’re in the studio together alright. You’re able to do that it goes leaps and bounds for their and

[11:30]
and that’s part of our process of engaging clients differently.

[11:35]
yeah and

[11:36]
to build on that.

[11:38]
Francesco are there sort of unique offerings that you put on the menu from the get-go.

[11:44]
when you sort of do sort of presuppose that that client is going to be more open to

[11:48]
your differentiated approach.

[11:50]
So there are a number. I don’t want to give the farm away, but there are yeah, but but there are there are a couple that I I will draw attention towards and and one of them is so fundamentally driven in.

[12:03]
The quote unquote PlayBook of medical communications right and that’s around.

[12:07]
kol

[12:08]
identification development or advocacy identification development

[12:13]
You know different companies will have a different spin on it and now I’m seeing.

[12:16]
e E’s used more so than kols and external experts, so I won’t get into the

[12:22]
the different you know.

[12:24]
alphabet soup of it, but just basically the fundamental principle of

[12:28]
we’ve always for the longest time in the industry has said going back 30 years and going back to the early 2000s when I first started in medcomms.

[12:36]
It was a very Ivory Tower approach to kol identification top-down fundamental traditional pyramid structure.

[12:43]
one of the things that we are really doing differently at boundless medcomms is what I said earlier of utilising some of the technological advancements utilising our AI

[12:53]
division utilizing you know advanced Analytics to really say okay, let’s look at the mapping entirely differently.

[13:00]
Let’s not just look at it from one criteria or two criteria. Let’s look at.

[13:04]
the market landscape from

[13:06]
all data points that are available

[13:08]
including social including

[13:11]
you know publication strategy including.

[13:14]
What people are saying out there including sentiment analysis to what people are saying out there?

[13:21]
Sometimes you know the loudest voice might be the best opinion leader sometimes it may not be.

[13:27]
So we’re looking at that identification process quite differently looking at it from a true analytically driven model.

[13:33]
Vs. More of the traditional let’s just look at who has the

[13:38]
top opinion voice at the top Institute

[13:41]
we’re still considering those.

[13:43]
qualifications of old if you will

[13:46]
but we’re layering and to it more of the modern definitions of what influence looks like.

[13:52]
Also looking at the perspective of not only akol as an opinion leader, but who are those?

[13:57]
online influencers so a koi

[14:00]
sometimes they’re the same sometimes you’re completely different in understanding how.

[14:04]
The channel management fits into that overall archetype and universe can give you different thought leaders for different channels.

[14:12]
As Sid said earlier different thought leaders for different voices or different groups that we’re trying to reach.

[14:18]
So it’s it’s a more sophisticated model of doing that.

[14:22]
a second

[14:23]
piece that

[14:24]
I’m really excited about talking about and again it ties back to what sit earlier mentioned about.

[14:29]
really understanding some of the

[14:32]
differences that exist out in the marketplace

[14:35]
and when we’re looking at clinical trials we know there is just

[14:40]
For decades now if not longer.

[14:42]
There’s been in inequitable access to not only clinical trials, but then the results that come out of that and then trying to broadcast out.

[14:52]
predefined

[14:53]
you know clinical trial evidence to

[14:57]
Fit the mass market.

[14:59]
What we’ve been working collectively on again with our AI group and with the Med comes team.

[15:04]
Is how can we facilitate clinical trial enrolment?

[15:09]
that’s done with the information about

[15:12]
how do we match this in mirror it more to what the everyday patient population looks like

[15:19]
and so we’re using advanced Analytics we’re using.

[15:23]
our

[15:24]
Media resources and we’re using the facilitation with

[15:29]
the clinical affairs groups to basically understand

[15:33]
What’s the predefined nature of this disorder?

[15:36]
Who is it impacting the most?

[15:39]
And then how can we both?

[15:41]
Help with the materials but also with the clinical trial recruitment.

[15:45]
To ensure that enrollment matches, what Society says and not what just we need the numbers to hit our clinical endpoints?

[15:54]
And that may sound like a long-term plan.

[15:57]
But we’re real big Believers that that’s going to have.

[16:00]
A gigantic impact on market down the road.

[16:04]
So recruiting for clinical trials in a way that’s more realistic absolutely.

[16:07]
okay

[16:08]
Let me go back to you mentioned colc.

[16:11]
I influencer identification to beginning.

[16:15]
another

[16:16]
thought leader that are well actually they’re not thought leaders yet, but sometimes our clients ask us to identify.

[16:22]
those Rising Stars

[16:24]
Now we can’t use the same approach. We would normally use to identify kols because by definition.

[16:30]
Rising Stars are not going to be well published or be on editorial boards.

[16:34]
or beef faculty members in association meetings

[16:38]
so, how do we do it and

[16:40]
you know I don’t think I’m giving away to secret sauce here because I can’t possibly be the only one doing it this way but

[16:46]
I believe people generally want to help and that includes doctors.

[16:51]
so ideally I can reach out to kol’s I’ve worked with in the past and asked them if they have seen any young Physicians

[16:58]
Or fellows, who they believe will become kols in the future.

[17:02]
so who better to ask about promising young Talent

[17:05]
Then those who are already established in the field.

[17:08]
And I let them know that anything they share will be.

[17:11]
Confidential unless they want me to let the clients know who made the recommendation.

[17:16]
And I’ve had a lot of success with this approach. Especially since most of the times.

[17:21]
the kols are given us two to three names of promising Rising Stars

[17:25]
it makes sense you know use user existing kols.

[17:29]
You’re dols if there are another alphabet digital out there.

[17:33]
Hadn’t heard EE before that’s that’s a new one.

[17:36]
I external experts. Yes, I just learned that one recently so I’m I’m always learning sounds like a new mmm article I think so I think so.

[17:45]
Did I wanted to just get your take?

[17:47]
Where has medical communications fallen short over the years and you reference yours multiple- decades in the space talk about give some give us some perspective there.

[17:55]
Yeah, I think I will go back to what we touched on in the beginning with cultural sensitivity.

[18:01]
In many regions particularly in low-income or rural areas.

[18:04]
access to medical resources and information

[18:08]
is severely Limited

[18:10]
this lack of access can have dire consequences leading to misinformation.

[18:15]
the late diagnosis and inadequate treatment

[18:18]
so language barriers low literacy levels and cultural differences can all contribute to

[18:24]
disparities

[18:25]
in access

[18:27]
for example individuals from minority Communities may struggle to find medical resources.

[18:32]
And their native language or may encounter cultural taboos.

[18:36]
That prevent them from seeking help.

[18:39]
So what can be done to address these shortcomings?

[18:42]
first and foremost there needs to be a

[18:45]
concerted effort to make medical communications more accessible.

[18:49]
and inclusive

[18:50]
this means our clients need to invest in outreach programs.

[18:54]
utilising culturally appropriate language and imagery

[18:58]
and involving community leaders and stakeholders in the development of health initiatives.

[19:04]
Yeah, I mean that’s you you call out a really.

[19:06]
important

[19:08]
aspect there where I think anybody can argue that one that a lot of marketing is fallen short and the cultural sensitivity area.

[19:15]
Mark if I could that it’s interesting because is listening to Sid now it really.

[19:20]
drawers three things top of mind

[19:23]
for me and

[19:24]
maybe I’ll Express them as you know I’ve got I’ve got bones to pick with medcomms, but you know here I am on it’s festivus right, so I’m going to air my grievances. You know the first is I feel.

[19:36]
there’s some shared accountability between parties one and party two and parties one is you know those that have been the medcomms providers have

[19:45]
allowed us to fall into

[19:47]
a bit of a rut

[19:49]
bye

[19:49]
doing the same things for so long where.

[19:53]
It’s allowed it to.

[19:55]
Gain a sort of commoditization mindset and that’s unfortunate and that’s part of what we were discussing earlier like how can we do things differently?

[20:04]
How do we approach it differently and how do we put a different perspective on it so that it doesn’t feel commoditized that that’s number one the second part.

[20:10]
Is on the flip side of that?

[20:12]
And this I can remember going back to.

[20:14]
you know my days at Nova nordis back in the 90s and

[20:18]
you know there was always a mindset and I heard it again this morning. I was talking to potential client and

[20:24]
large Pharma company won’t say where

[20:26]
and she shared well, you know the commercial guys always have a lot more money than we do in metaphors.

[20:31]
And of course that’s an understood.

[20:33]
but when you think about the importance of medical Communications

[20:37]
early in

[20:38]
the evolution and or the life cycle of where products are going

[20:43]
there’s a disproportionate spend that.

[20:45]
isn’t being put

[20:47]
Into some of the things that are going to develop into the most formative elements that’s going to ultimately help that product commercially.

[20:54]
So, I think that’s something where.

[20:55]
There needs to be a different perspective put on it.

[20:58]
and then the third thing is is the great sort of

[21:01]
You know clinical to Commercial divide?

[21:03]
And that that’s still does exist and I know there’s a lot of companies that are doing.

[21:07]
So much better at doing that but that’s also where I think a group.

[21:11]
That has the mindset across the Continuum can help their clients to look at that differently to.

[21:17]
Sort of put that three and five-year lens on things to sort of say okay. Well, I know you’re here now, but knowing where.

[21:24]
This thing is going to be at the commercial stage down the road.

[21:27]
Let’s try and look at the puzzle a little bit differently.

[21:31]
It’s a great point. It’s leads perfectly into the next bullet point here.

[21:35]
Francesco so we’ll stay with you on this one.

[21:37]
Wanted to see if you could would talk more about how you navigate.

[21:41]
or help clients navigate that clinical and commercial divided because

[21:45]
we’ve seen you know we know that all these different.

[21:47]
elements

[21:48]
whether it’s

[21:49]
proving the

[21:51]
value proposition of the medicine

[21:53]
through evidence generation

[21:54]
and then you know clinical trial.

[21:57]
recruitment

[21:58]
all the way up through

[22:00]
giving birth to a brand

[22:01]
introducing it to the market through traditional.

[22:04]
medical communications that traditional these things have been somewhat siloed

[22:08]
Now they’re all kind of being.

[22:09]
grouped under one umbrella

[22:11]
and the trick I guess is to integrate them all to greater effect.

[22:14]
and

[22:15]
some of the again some of that transformative capital that’s coming into the space less 18 months we’ve seen.

[22:21]
Kind of blurring the lines there you know you have an organisation it used to be separate organizations doing these things now. That’s one.

[22:27]
One one one shop, you know that’s saying the value and commercializing the drug.

[22:31]
How do you

[22:32]
help clients navigate

[22:34]
What one’s was a divided or a yawning chasm but maybe it’s getting narrower.

[22:39]
Happy to see that it is narrowing.

[22:42]
Also cognizant of the fact that there is still a divided there.

[22:45]
We look at it slightly different.

[22:47]
from a perspective of

[22:49]
there’s the importance of specialisation.

[22:52]
in knowing your skill set

[22:53]
Sid heads up medcomms for boundless

[22:56]
That’s what he knows inside now.

[22:59]
I’ve got a great.

[23:00]
team that heads up the commercial Consulting group

[23:03]
led by Steve Mitchell knows what they’re doing we’ve got great.

[23:06]
Marketing leaders on our marketing side of the fence and Bob Armstrong heads that team up.

[23:12]
The specialisation is important.

[23:14]
but where the universality of it or where the tying all the threads comes together is being able to within one group have the ability to put it all together and this is something that I’m

[23:25]
absolutely passionate about because I’ve lived this you know both.

[23:29]
on- the inside and on the outside now for

[23:31]
going near 30 years, it’s much the same as soon and

[23:34]
I’ve witnessed where it doesn’t work.

[23:36]
And I’ve seen where it works really well, too and you know if there’s anything that I can do.

[23:41]
Going forward to help it’s I want to see that chasm narrowed. I want to see it better and so the perspective that we bring from the boundless integration is.

[23:50]
when needed

[23:51]
the expertise can be pulled into a

[23:54]
dare I say

[23:55]
silo or separation of church and state which again everything needs to be above board from a regulatory in compliance perspective.

[24:02]
However, where I feel we approach things differently as what we will do is we will sit back particularly when we’re pre-commercial and we’re really looking at.

[24:11]
you know medical affairs teams and talking about the where is this thing going to go past the

[24:16]
filing state and once it does hit market and as you said sort of the birth of the brand going forward.

[24:22]
When we’re thinking about medcomms at that stage we still need to be thinking about what’s going to happen in that post commercialization stage.

[24:30]
so it’s

[24:31]
of the imperative for the Med comes team to be working with the thought leaders working with the medical affairs groups working with the internal stakeholders to understand that.

[24:41]
What we do now?

[24:43]
Is setting the table so to speak for what happens later?

[24:47]
You know you don’t get a second chance to make the first impression alright those those first Hundred Days of an actual launch are so valuable to a brand and and they can be made or made or broken in that first Hundred Days

[25:00]
and medical communications before that isn’t.

[25:03]
Instrumental part of doing that in the right way, so when when we try and consult more with our clients were looking at the bigger picture to say.

[25:10]
You’re here now.

[25:12]
We need to convey this point but understand the ramifications of what that’s going to mean three and four steps down the chess board.

[25:18]
Equally, why leveraging back to even some of the comments that said was talking about understanding cultural sensitivity and what I had mentioned about.

[25:26]
You know clinical trial and Roman you know we’re involved with customers very early and in phase two- where.

[25:31]
you know we can be helping them form some of the

[25:35]
decisions that will go into those trial designs the trial and enrollments.

[25:40]
TR owes you know things that

[25:42]
may seem like wow, it’s so far down the table.

[25:45]
But if it’s done right at this phase.

[25:48]
that commercial group is going to be the beneficiar if that down the road so

[25:53]
That is I think how we really kind of integrate and we’d.

[25:57]
The services across and that’s hopefully where our Small Part can be played and you know bridging that divided.

[26:03]
Sure, it makes sense, so do you want to build on that yeah a few challenges we often run into.

[26:09]
Is that the commercial and medical affairs teams have?

[26:12]
Both scheduled and activity that’s targeting the same attendees.

[26:16]
For example the commercial team scheduled an ad board doing a conference and then the medical affairs team scheduled investigators meeting at the same time.

[26:25]
But neither group knew about it until was too late meaning the invitations are already went out.

[26:30]
We also see both commercial medical affairs asking their agencies to do competitive intelligence gathering a conferences.

[26:37]
And it yields a lot of the repetitive information in the CI reports.

[26:41]
Since both agencies are covering a lot of the same sessions.

[26:46]
And then lastly commercial medical affairs.

[26:49]
Have both contacted the same kol for a one-on-one engagement.

[26:54]
Um at a conference.

[26:55]
And it’s the kol.

[26:57]
Who’s telling the either commercial or medical affairs person?

[27:01]
That they are already confirmed for a meeting with their company.

[27:05]
So you know just to avoid these conflicts we recommend a couple things to our clients.

[27:10]
The first is a cross-functional meeting twice a month.

[27:14]
Doing these meetings we start with covering.

[27:17]
upcoming or plant advisory boards

[27:19]
And then who each department plans to invite.

[27:22]
Then we move into upcoming conferences and review The planned activities.

[27:27]
the goal of the meeting

[27:29]
is not to question the activities.

[27:31]
It’s to determine if the same doctor is being invited to multiple activities.

[27:36]
Or if repetitive work is being done.

[27:38]
Such as the competitive intelligence gathering.

[27:41]
I’ve done these meanings for two different.

[27:44]
big clients

[27:45]
and both times we could tell that there were some people.

[27:48]
Who were not happy to be attending the meeting in the beginning?

[27:52]
But by the end of call the same people who were not happy and the beginning.

[27:56]
Realised that they have avoided scheduling that activity or inviting the same kol to an engagement.

[28:02]
Because the kol was already scheduled for that activity with the other department.

[28:06]
And because of that they realised how valuable the meeting was and we’re willing participants in future meetings.

[28:13]
One other recommendation we make to our clients is a kol management system.

[28:19]
We have our own proprietary system called aims which stands for.

[28:23]
advisor influencer management system

[28:26]
What aim allows our clients to do is is to know the current status of activities involving hcps?

[28:34]
They provides yearly activities and spam by brand or therapeutic area.

[28:39]
It provides a history of engagements with each and hcp including the activity.

[28:45]
The world they played and the honorarium.

[28:48]
And then finally the hcp contact information.

[28:52]
Payments they received today and then travel in accommodation preferences.

[28:57]
Yeah, good okay.

[28:59]
both have been kind of mentioning AI throughout the conversation and

[29:02]
and how you

[29:04]
use perhaps some of the same.

[29:06]
basic Staples that we’ve come to

[29:09]
Appreciate as being the foundation.

[29:12]
Of med comms like peer to peer you know medical affairs that sort of thing.

[29:17]
by your layer on top of that advanced Analytics to

[29:20]
take a different approach.

[29:22]
Following the data if you will.

[29:25]
Not just like you know with the example Francesco gave with KL identification assuming that the top institutes kol is going to be the most influential ever every time I might not be it might be somebody.

[29:35]
Who’s younger like a Dr glom klim glomin?

[29:39]
That’s in that right from tiktok. You know the ophthalmologist who’s got 5 million followers on tiktok and he was just has to speak at the

[29:45]
commencement address for the University of Michigan medical school so

[29:49]
You never know but tell us where you think AI can best be leveraged for medcom sit.

[29:54]
Yeah, what we’re actually.

[29:56]
very lucky to have an AI business unit in-house and that’s led by Tim O Sullivan

[30:02]
there are a tremendous help.

[30:04]
to help expedite deliverables or

[30:07]
Curate a vast amount of data.

[30:10]
For medical communications, we’re using AI to create.

[30:13]
personalised content delivery

[30:15]
so the AI algorithms can help analyse the preferences.

[30:19]
interest and behaviors of health care professionals

[30:22]
to deliver personalized content tailored to their needs.

[30:26]
This ensures that they communications are relevant and engaging increasing the likelihood of interaction and retention.

[30:33]
We also use the AI group for content curation and recommendations.

[30:39]
AI powered system can sift through a large amount of medical literature research papers.

[30:45]
clinical trials industry news

[30:48]
to Curate relevant and up-to-date content for health care professionals

[30:52]
These recommendations can help them stay informed about the latest advancements treatments guidelines and best practices in their field.

[31:00]
AI can also help us with data analytics for insights.

[31:04]
ai-powered Analytics tools can

[31:06]
analyze data from various sources including patient feedback

[31:10]
and online interactions

[31:13]
to extract valuable insights

[31:15]
these insights

[31:17]
Can inform medical communication strategies identify merging trends?

[31:21]
And then measure the impact of initiatives on health care professionals engagement and behaviour.

[31:27]
And then finally we use AI for a predictive analytics for healthcare trends.

[31:32]
The AI algorithms can analyse Healthcare data to identify patterns?

[31:37]
anticipate health care trends and recommend proactive interventions

[31:41]
And then by leveraging these insights medical communications initiatives can.

[31:46]
anticipate the needs of health care professionals

[31:49]
and deliver timely and relevant information.

[31:52]
To support their decision making process.

[31:55]
Okay quite a number of applications for AI there.

[31:59]
And Francesco I want to give you the last word here because we’ve been talking about a lot of the things that you’ve been doing also.

[32:03]
For the last number of decades and you have a very strong opinion on AI as well.

[32:08]
yeah, one of the last things I think to

[32:10]
add to what Sid said about where AI can really help and it may be it’s comical and that it comes down to this but

[32:16]
it can also assist on just the fundamental expenditure of revenue.

[32:20]
meaning

[32:21]
as we look at things like rare diseases which are

[32:25]
so

[32:26]
small in terms of numbers yet. I know clients struggle with.

[32:31]
Will how do we do the Education how do we get the programming out there? How do we talk to the right Dr right is there is these conditions where these Physicians may see one of these patients and it’s like well. How do we find them and

[32:42]
Should we be putting a lot of money out after trying to educate? You know the world if if I only really need to impact you know small few.

[32:49]
And that’s where exactly what Sid was saying we’re AI can come in because we can do advanced models using you know icd-10 codes on one level.

[32:58]
Using look-alike models on another Level to try and identify okay, where are those patients most likely being seen by which doctors?

[33:06]
And we can get more surgical and more precise in terms of going out to educate the right people.

[33:13]
And that fundamentally comes down to a cost savings at the client level right so instead of doing.

[33:18]
We’ve got to educate. You know a thousand people to really impact the hundred will let us help narrow it down to those maybe 150 to get to the 100 right.

[33:27]
I don’t think it’ll ever be an exact precise one to one but if we can narrow it down to that extent now. That’s a cost savings perspective so I think that’s really where AI can be used to the greatest advantage at this stage of the game for medical Communications

[33:41]
okay super

[33:42]
so that was fascinating and I also want to you know. Thank you both for

[33:47]
Articulating all the points I mean I see that you’ve really been giving a lot of thought.

[33:52]
To how to make the blocking and tackling of medical communications more, you know unique and differentiated in your own.

[33:58]
Boundless way, shall I say?

[34:00]
And it really it really really shows that you’re excited to use technology and other.

[34:04]
Aspects like you’re combined experience to really bring a new offering here.

[34:08]
So, thank you both for doing such a great job today.

[34:10]
Well, Mark I want to thank you. Especially I found it impressive how you worked in University of Michigan and in this conversation on the notes to me, so I’m really excited about that so.

[34:21]
anytime we get a go blue into one of these I’m always going to be a fired up about that so now but it also Saturday

[34:27]
really appreciate the opportunity to have this discussion with you. I think are real point with going forward is you know collectively right is what you just said you hear the experience at the table and

[34:37]
really that ability to work with clients to see things differently.

[34:42]
And that I think is how we break that.

[34:44]
Sort of old habits of well, this is the way it’s always been done.

[34:47]
Alright, alright.

[34:49]
so we will look forward to many great things to come from balanced medical Communications

[34:53]
Thank you again for joining me.

[34:55]
Francesco Lucarelli is Chief commercial officer.

[34:58]
And Sid DeSousa chief of medical communications for BMC it was a great conversation come back for another one visit the Marcos good for the mmm podcast we’ll see you next time.