Best Practices in the Media

Managing Investigator-Initiated Research

ExpertViews Report May 2012

"There is still a waiting game in the US regarding the sunshine provisions of the PPACA and other reforms the government looks to initiate in the next year or so," says Cameron Tew, executive director at Best Practices. "For now, I believe these relationships [between investigators and pharmaceutical companies] are going to keep going but it's a coin flip as to whether they're going to be able to continue with the level of access, discussion, collaboration that they've had in the past."

MSL Metrics: Measuring Success

ExpertViews Report - December 2011

Increase competition to engage with KOLs was identified as the main driver of MSL growth, according to another Best Practices benchmarking study. The declining influence of the sales rep, coupled with the imminent introduction of the US Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which mandates transparency in pharma payments to physicians from 2012, have made engagement with KOLs a critical factor in a drug's overall success. The demands being made of MSLs are therefore becoming more focused.

How To Steal The Best Ideas Around

Jeremy Main. - October 19, 1992

Kearney, and Towers Perrin have set up groups of companies that benchmark each other regularly. Since the members often compete, these groups pass information through the consultant so members can find out about the best practices without the sources being identified. Specialized consulting firms like Best Practices Benchmarking & Consulting Inc. of Lexington, Massachusetts, are also springing up.

Benchmarking: A Powerful Management Tool

Martha Haswell - September 2012

Benchmarking enables information professionals to measure and compare the cost efficiency and overall effectiveness of their library against libraries serving their competitors or peers. For higher performers in benchmarking studies, the results can be used to demonstrate the library's value to senior management; for lower performers, the results can be used to identify gaps and make needed improvements to bring the library back into line.

E-sampling on the rise

Joshua Slatko - October 2012

"E-sampling to doctors is becoming an established tool that pharmaceutical companies use across many therapeutic areas including diabetes and immunology," says Cameron Tew, executive director research services/business operations for Best Practices. "As sales staffs continue to shrink, companies are looking for alternative ways to reach physicians, and the e-sampling to sales rep mix is about 30 percent to 70 percent."

Device firms to up med ed staff: study

Marc Iskowitz - November 2012

Half of medical device firms responding to a recent survey said field-based medical education staffing will increase, by 10% or more, in the next two years. Best Practices LLC, which surveyed 14 med ed leaders from 10 device companies, also found that the device sector is spending millions to incorporate iPads/tablets into education because the technology is a good fit for the animations and simulations that facilitate device training.

P&T committee ranks 'influential'

Ben Comer - May 2008

Winning a place on formularies in the hospital marketplace may not require face time with a physician, research from Best Practices reveals. According to the study, pharmacy and therapeutic committee (P&T) members are the key formulary decision-makers for both hospital networks and local hospitals—not senior administrative staff such as CEOs and COOs.

Boundaries to Stealing All Those Bright Ideas.

Jeffrey L. Seglin. - January 17, 1999

According to Christopher E. Bogan, chief executive of Best Practices, a management consulting firm in Chapel Hill, N.C.: "The concept of 'steal shamelessly' is really grounded on the concept of 'don't be afraid to borrow.' It's a dramatic statement that no individual, no company, no team, no industry can corner all good ideas. It doesn't for a minute suppose that you should steal proprietary information or trade secrets."

The Ultimate Business Model: Planning that Thousand Year Future

Daniel Pascheles & Christopher Bogan - August 2012

The Ultimate Business Model: Planning that Thousand Year Future Daniel Pascheles & Christopher Bogan In an era where success is monitored and measured in microseconds, planning for the long term is increasingly seen as an abstract absurdity. Yet the principles of natural selection, when applied to business, suggest that a lasting business model is still possible -- if you learn to adapt.

Download the entire article here

Pharm Exec's Brand of the Year -- Humira: Best to Market

Ben Comer - February 2012

Based on [Best Practices, LLC's] research, companies need to consider making lifecycle management its own discipline. Many of the lifecycle management strategies that provide the greatest financial reward take years to plan and vet. To succeed, companies must move beyond short-term goals and work toward long-term priorities.

Trends, Challenges, and Best Practices of Global Product Launches

Robin Robinson - Robin Robinson February 2012

Industry launch leaders surveyed by Best Practices identify the biggest hurdles of launching globally: internal resource missteps and risks; safety, side effects, and target patient populations; and misreading patient populations. As pharma companies look to cut launch costs, areas that need to be protected are physician education and medical marketing. In some therapeutic areas, such as oncology and diabetes, a successful launch can hinge on getting physicians comfortable with a new drug.

A Changing Market Environment Requires New PLM Strategies

Robin Robinson - October 2011

Chris Bogan, CEO of Best Practices, says "There are three life-cycle points that create some risk of neglect or missed opportunity. First, there is a risk that early Product Life-cycle Management is just about indications or brainstorming without substantive planning and market analysis. Second, there is a risk during brand growth that PLM is lost or forgotten from the brand plan among all the tactical activities of growth in a competitive market. Third, there is a risk that the back end is neglected and that pathways that might have added value to patients and shareholders are missed or forgotten."

Effective Global Teams Are Aligned, Not Built

Robin Robinson - October 2010

Best Practices LLC has identified several friction points where team effectiveness can break down. According to Chris Bogan, CEO of Best Practices, these points occur around marketing and sales perspectives, compliance and marketing needs, the product's target forecast, product positioning, cultural differences across functions and partners, and generational differences on the team.

Cingular's Sigman Faces Huge Task

Jesse Drucker, Joann S. Lublin and Almar Latour - Feb. 18 2004

Cingular's expected aggressive personnel strategy could impair productivity and slow consolidation efforts, management experts warn. "Retention bonuses are absolutely critical if you want to keep the right people" until a takeover's completion, says Keith Symmers, a vice president of consultants Best Practices LLC in Chapel Hill, N.C., which studies postmerger integration. To ensure a smooth transfer of customers and technology, he adds, "you have to maintain continuity."

Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Present New Company, Sales Plans, Leaders

Pui-Wing Tam and Scott Thurm. - May 8, 2002

Such uncertainty can hurt: Productivity can fall by as much as 50% while employees are in limbo awaiting new assignments, said Keith Symmers, vice president at consultant Best Practices LLC in Chapel Hill, N.C., which studies post merger integration. The companies have promised more than $600 million in retention bonuses to employees who stay for a year, but that might not be enough. Best Practices says that 47% of top managers at acquired companies leave within three years.

Cisco Defies the System with Mergers that Work

Scott Thurm. - March 1, 2000

Cisco ranked No. 1 last fall when consultant Best Practices, Chapel Hill, N.C., surveyed 12 clients about successful merger-and-acquisition policies.That's not unusual; the Best Practices survey found that more than a third of managers and key technical employees typically leave after a company is acquired.

How To Steal The Best Ideas Around

Jeremy Main. - October 19, 1992

How To Steal The Best Ideas Around Kearney, and Towers Perrin have set up groups of companies that benchmark each other regularly. Since the members often compete, these groups pass information through the consultant so members can find out about the best practices without the sources being identified. Specialized consulting firms like Best Practices Benchmarking & Consulting Inc. of Lexington, Massachusetts, are also springing up.

Company Carefully Cultivates Leaders within the Ranks

JSarah Schafer. - Nov. 28, 2000

GE's search for its new chairman-elect was early on dubbed a "horse race," in which the winner would have met clear objectives. "The test has been whether these individuals move into diverse sets of assignments and handle them well," said Chris Bogan, chief executive for Best Practices LLC, a Chapel Hill, N.C., research firm. The goals are clear, he added, and include "producing the double-digit growth that is required by all of [GE's] business units.