Measure, Master, Move: An Ecosystem Approach to Stakeholder Engagement

What you’ll learn:

The following article is a summary of the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) Puerto Rico roundtable event hosted by Randi Goeckeler and Holly Henry on March 25, 2024.

Roundtable participants included

Healthcare is experiencing a seismic shift, driven by advancements in science, technology, and patient empowerment. In this rapidly changing environment, medical affairs teams must adapt their approach to key opinion leader (KOL) engagement. Transactional interactions that focus solely on clinical expertise are no longer enough. Today’s KOLs are multifaceted, influencing research, patient advocacy, and health policy. To navigate this new landscape, medical affairs teams need to build strategic, integrated partnerships that fully leverage the diverse influence of KOLs.

What are the challenges and opportunities in this new era? Drawing from a roundtable discussion with industry leaders at the recent MAPS conference, convened by Klick, we'll explore how a holistic view of KOLs can open new avenues for engagement and foster more multifaceted relationships.

Assessing the Current State: The Stakeholder Maturity Index

To gauge the industry’s readiness for this shift, Klick developed the Stakeholder Maturity Index (SMI), a proprietary framework that evaluates an organization’s KOL engagement capabilities across four key pillars:

The SMI defines four maturity levels for each pillar: Crawler, Walker, Runner, and Flyer.

“Crawler” represents a rudimentary capability with ad hoc processes, siloed data, and limited cross-functional coordination. At the same time, “Flyer” indicates best-in-class performance with seamless integration, data-driven decision-making, and demonstrable impact on strategic objectives.

During the MAPS roundtable, participants self-assessed their organizations using the SMI. Most teams ranked as Walkers, indicating early-stage maturity with significant room for improvement. Key challenges included fragmented KOL data across siloed systems, inconsistent execution between global and local teams, and difficulty demonstrating the impact of KOL engagements. The SMI-based discussions reinforced the need for a new approach to KOL engagement that views relationships as part of a dynamic, integrated ecosystem.

Embracing an Ecosystem Approach

How will we define success in this new era? It begins by recognizing the multi-dimensional roles that KOLs can play. While leading KOLs are expert clinicians, they are also influential researchers, patient advocates, and trusted voices in their communities.

In this regard, medical affairs teams must break down internal silos and embrace cross-functional collaboration. These teams must think exponentially, aligning with clinical development to engage KOLs in research and trial design, partnering with patient advocacy to amplify the patient voice, and working with policy teams to shape the healthcare environment.

Roundtable participants emphasized that relationships in medical, advocacy, and professional society can no longer operate in isolation. Just as KOLs cannot compartmentalize their roles, neither can the organizations that engage with them. Integrated engagement is the only way forward.

Building the Foundation: Processes and Technologies

To operationalize this ecosystem approach, roundtable participants stressed the importance of robust processes and enabling technologies. Integrated CRM platforms provide a solid foundation but are only a partial solution. Well-defined processes for capturing and sharing KOL insights across the organization are critical.

The SMI provides a roadmap for building these foundational capabilities. Priority actions for teams in the Walker stage include establishing clear KOL tiering criteria, systematically tracking engagements, and investing in platforms that provide a unified view of KOL interactions.

As teams progress to the Runner stage, the focus shifts to generating more sophisticated analytics and insights. Moving beyond merely logging interactions, the emphasis is on deriving meaningful insights from engagement patterns and KOL feedback over time to identify trends, inform strategy, and measure impact.

Redefining the Role of Medical Affairs and the Power of AI

This capability buildup reflects a fundamental shift in the role of medical affairs. Once seen as a support function, these teams are now emerging as strategic leaders, driving scientific excellence and patient-centricity.

Elevating KOL engagement requires clearly articulating scientific objectives. Interactions must be purposeful, and the KOL strategy must be anchored in key questions around evidence gaps and practice-changing insights.

This strategic orientation calls for new skills and mindsets within medical affairs, combining deep scientific expertise with curiosity, business acumen, and the ability to connect the dots across the ecosystem. Medical Affairs professionals must strategically engage with stakeholders, leveraging emerging technologies and data sources. Integrating AI and large language models (LLMs) allows us to analyze diverse datasets, access real-world evidence, and embrace electronic medical records, driving improved patient outcomes and revolutionizing stakeholder engagement. This transformation positions us as guardians of scientific knowledge and architects of a future where the fusion of science and technology improves patient care and strengthens collaboration.

The integration of generative AI and LLMs offers a game-changing approach to navigating strategic stakeholder engagement complexities. These technologies enable precise scientific communication, dynamic expert engagement, and the synthesis of large datasets, addressing the need for clear and effective communication and fostering impactful partnerships. By leveraging AI insights, our teams can advocate for innovative research, secure internal support, and refine engagement strategies based on ongoing insights, ensuring that interactions with key opinion leaders and stakeholders are impactful and informed. The reach of the stakeholder landscape will expand as we can connect with a more diverse group of experts. Using new tools and platforms will uncover many perspectives and help us lead with innovative tactics and strategies. Embracing these advanced technologies will empower us to break down organizational silos, enhance collaboration, and provide targeted support.

Navigating the Path Forward

The shift from transactional to transformational KOL engagement is a long-term process, requiring ongoing investment in capabilities, culture, and talent. Despite the challenges, the roundtable participants unanimously agreed that the effort is well worth it.

Engaging KOLs as true partners creates an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate medical progress. Co-creating research agendas, uncovering real-world insights, and tangibly improving patient care provides a compelling “why” to galvanize teams.

The Klick roundtable exemplified the ecosystem thinking that will shape the future of KOL engagement. By bringing together a diverse group of industry leaders, the gathering sparked new ideas and collaborations, encouraging open dialogue and the exchange of best practices. Participants emphasized the need to redefine success metrics, shifting from mere activity counts to meaningful outcomes. They advocated for tracking how KOL engagements influence clinical practice, drive evidence generation, and ultimately improve patient lives.

Conclusion

The new era of KOL engagement requires substantial changes, but medical affairs teams that rise to the challenge will help shape the future of healthcare. The Klick roundtable highlighted the industry's readiness to take on this task. By sharing insights and collaborating on solutions, medical affairs leaders can set a bold new direction for KOL engagement, leveraging AI and the broader ecosystem to create transformative impact. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, the importance of KOLs and medical affairs teams has never been greater. With strategic vision, collaboration, and a steadfast commitment to patients, they have the potential to shape the future of healthcare.