The business model in healthcare is changing, requiring more effective measurement and realization of cost and efficiency improvements. Technology is at the center of the emerging business model, and healthcare providers are increasingly becoming more dependent on IT and services provided through business partners. However, businesses that work collaboratively with their customers are better able to identify high value improvement opportunities and ensure effective measurement of economic impact.
Whether a pharmaceutical company or system provider, when setting a strategy that improves share, margin and cost to serve, or captures new growth opportunities, or increases customer lifetime value, it is critical to understand what the healthcare providers truly value from their suppliers.
Engagement with Hospitals for Pharma R&D
With an aging portfolio and a new set of influencers having more power on therapeutic decisions, a pharmaceutical company that worked with Valkre created a Key Account Manager position three years ago to increase customer engagement at large hospitals. However, over that time, results have been disappointing.
The company had developed a strategy to launch more specialized drugs as drugs in two new therapy classes were near patent expiration. As a backdrop, a new set of stakeholders at healthcare institutions and external entities have increasing influence over therapy and drug decisions. The company had two rep teams, a key account manager, and several medical specialists call upon the healthcare institutions. Even so, the institutions still wanted a deeper, more coordinated relationship.
To address this challenge, the key account managers sought to understand the pharma company’s value proposition that matters to the hospital systems and how they could better engage to build relationships with the new set of stakeholders and executives. They conducted interviews at three large hospitals, across doctors, nurses, department directors and hospital executives.
The company gained immediate CEO and executive access, and the feedback was resounding. The chief operating officer of one of the hospitals went so far as to say that the process was exactly the way the company and hospitals should be working together.
The insights on value across the hospitals are now informing investments and tailoring activities to what is most desired by the customer for deeper engagement & partnering across all departments. The CEOs have agreed to a five year R&D partnership to benefit both the hospital and pharma company.
Strengthening Hospital Partnerships
A leading provider of medical systems and solutions had a long-standing relationship with a large regional health provider. In the changing healthcare environment, the company wanted to strengthen its relationship with this key strategic account by identifying mutual growth opportunities and determine a path to execute its ongoing promises. To do so, the objectives were clear:
First, define its value proposition from the customer’s perspective. The company customized its value propositions based on the hospital service lines to articulate what it does differently from others that add demonstrated value to the account and their patients. More importantly, the internal organization aligned on the company’s differential value and spurred activity for generating evidence of economic benefits to share with the customer.
Second, get feedback on the customer’s challenges in healthcare reform. To that end, the company conducted feedback sessions structured around the service line value propositions and aggregated customer-informed insights on priorities. The discussions with hospital administrators and clinicians led to better segmentation of the strategic view of value from total enterprise vs. deep insights on differentiation from service line. That data enabled decisions on initiatives to focus on based on the highest value areas.
Finally, engage the organization internally to align and execute on the customer’s challenges. The company collaborated with key stakeholders in the healthcare system to improve strategic alignment on growth and expand selling opportunities for the company’s services teams. Then to help improve execution, the company created internal visibility and accountability that ultimately helped the healthcare provider define, measure, and validate the economic benefits of partnering with the company.
All their work promoted an outside-in perspective on value. Since then this leading healthcare company has improved retention with increased services that address both the patient outcomes and economic benefits demanded by the customer.
A myriad of companies are delivering transformative solutions to make the complex healthcare system more efficient. But the crux for suppliers is understanding how their product and service offerings are working for the healthcare providers and what are the top customer challenges that can be addressed by improving those offerings.
Our RENDER® SaaS platform is a tool that is helping companies work collaboratively with their customers to identify high value improvement opportunities and ensure effective measurement of economic impact. Companies are able to bring more innovative and forward-thinking products and services to the healthcare market by understanding what their customers truly value. If the challenges we describe are all too familiar to your company, let us know what you are doing to solve them.
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