COVID-19 is fast-tracking the industry’s slow move from fewer in-person Pharma HCP dealings visits to digital and virtual approaches.

COVID-19 has driven vast changes in what healthcare providers need and value from pharma companies, and as a result, the industry is striving to develop new ways to engage with physicians. Experts say this is just the beginning of a long journey and as the health ecosystem continues to morph, so will pharma interactions with HCPs.

According to a recent Accenture report on how COVID has forced changes between Pharma HCP dealings, pharma companies are starting to redefine their role in this new landscape, and healthcare providers are realizing the value a rep can bring to the table.

As HCPs shift to more virtual interactions with both patients and pharma companies, a vast majority of HCPs report they have seen pharma companies change what they communicate about — beyond just product information. Healthcare providers said the services that pharma companies are offering now are of higher value than before COVID-19.

The upshot: virtual engagement with HCPs is here to stay, requiring sales teams to create new ways of making meaningful connections.

Virtual Engagement Will Continue Post-COVID

More than 40% of HCPs said they are restricting who can enter the office for professional reasons — no pharmaceutical reps — with 28% planning to make this change permanent. “COVID-19 has greatly accelerated already-strong trends driving greater virtual engagement,” says Paul Mignon, president, Syneos Health Deployment Solutions. “Over a five-day period in March, our Syneos Health Deployment Solutions teams essentially flipped a switch and moved sales reps from 99% face-to-face interactions to more than 90% virtual. We made a swift and effective transition to video calls and virtual detailing thanks to the education, training, and learning resources available, and to our relationships with medical teams.”

Reps have been using CRM add-on capabilities to help fill the gap caused by the lack of physician access due to COVID-19. This allows representatives to conduct physician calls virtually by phone and/or video in addition to email and text.

In addition, due to social distancing and increased safety measures, doctors are changing how they work, notes Steve LoSardo, VP, healthcare solutions at Mobiquity.

“In some cases, they don’t have the same traditional hours that they did pre-COVID, which allows them to see more patients virtually, either over the phone or via video visit,” Mr. LoSardo says. “This has also impacted pharma representative access, however recent surveys indicate that physicians still want some interaction with sales representatives, particularly in relation to product information and drug samples.”

Best Practices to Reach Physicians Post-COVID

Reaching physicians in the future won’t move to all virtual and digital; in-person contact will remain an important tool in the sales rep toolbox. It just won’t be used as often.

According to Mr. Khedkar, a best practice would be the right mix of the three modes: in-person, virtual, and digital, ie, emails and apps, tailored to the preferences of the physician.

“COVID has accelerated our journey down a path toward globalization and digital transformation that will forever alter the way people connect and exchange information with one another,” says Ross Toohey, chief commercial officer, Fishawack Health. “We believe that the greatest change won’t be in which channels become more predominant, but rather how we use them, and what we expect them to accomplish.”

Mr. Toohey suggests a best practice would include a thorough reevaluation of the paradigms of Pharma HCP dealings in a post-COVID world, with emphasis on training and empowering sales teams to better deploy technologies.

InCrowd conducted COVID-19 syndicated studies that show digital communications, preferably those suitable for on-the-go responses, are preferred by physicians now during the pandemic and in the foreseeable future. “According to data sourced since the pandemic began, physicians at the frontlines of COVID-19 care — PCPs, pediatricians, and ER and critical care specialists —have emphasized that they need dialogues to be fast, simple, and convenient,” says Caleb Costa, chief commercial officer, InCrowd.

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