Professional & Trade Relations Excellence: Optimizing Group Operations, Showing Value & Meeting Challenges

STUDY OVERVIEW

Health care reform and evolving industry guidelines are redrawing the roles and activities of Professional and Trade Relations groups in biopharma and medical device organizations. Facing rapid changes in how their Professional and Trade Relations (PTR) groups interact with external organizations, biopharmaceutical organizations are under pressure to maintain their effectiveness while operating within current guidelines.

To help navigate this new external and internal environment, Best Practices, LLC conducted this study on Professional and Trade Relations management. The study explores PTR operational issues such as activities/services, aligning goals and decision making; measuring and communicating success and the challenges of working in the current compliance environment.

Pharmaceutical executives also can use this research document to anticipate pitfalls and compare their existing strategies with those at best-in-class companies.

KEY TOPICS

• Executive summary
• Operational effectiveness
• Measuring & communicating success
• Challenges & hurdles for professional relations leaders

• Top PTR group activities supported by funding providers
• Effectiveness rating for PTR group services
• Top activities for informing treatment guidelines
• PTR role in advertising and media strategy
• Top priorities of PTR group in shaping company’s presence at professional meetings
• Frequency of interaction with other key internal colleagues/groups
• Top corporate positioning strategies with professional and trade relations organizations
• Top approaches to executive level partnerships
• Top metrics used to measure PTR effectiveness
• Top trends that will affect PTR activities
• Top compliance guidelines in place for PTR activities

• Communicating Value to Stakeholders: Communication of success to internal constituents – especially those that fund PTR – is essential. As a “cost center,” PTR seeks to articulate the value created through PTR investment. An array of methods exist for trumpeting “value added.” PTR executives report using formal and informal communication channels, including emails, annual reports, briefings, and newsletters to build their internal brand.

• Compliance Issues, Cost Constraints & Budget Pressures Hang on the Future Horizon: Compliance and budget constraints are seen as the two drivers of how PTR will function in the next two years. Additionally, 35% of “future PTR issues” will focus on regulatory and compliance issues, such as "Interacting with Health Care Providers, Reporting requirements, Payment reform, Internal safeguards, Increased scrutiny of projects, and Transparency.” On the budget and cost side, key constraints include “cost containment, fee-for-service negotiations & costs, returns management, systemic cost reduction, and Best Price calculations.”

The research employed a data gathering approach that reaps quantitative data from 26 professional and trade relation executives from 25 leading biopharma and medical device companies. In addition, six companies participated in in-depth interviews.

If you purchase Best Practice Database document(s), you will have 30 days from the date of purchase to apply some or all of the cost of the document(s) toward the cost of a Full Access Individual, Pharma, Group or University Membership. Write us at DatabaseTeam@bestpracticesllc.com or call David Guinn at 919-767-9179 if you have any questions.