Systems of Care: How Life Sciences Can Gain High-Def Views of their Markets and Customers

Every Life Sciences Organization (LSO) gathers and analyzes data in order to gain insights that will help them make better business decisions. LSO stakeholders believe they are currently using data effectively to inform a wide range of strategies and decisions. The reality, however, is that few are coming close to leveraging the full potential of data and extracting the insights and intelligence contained within. The difference between the perspective that most LSOs have from existing data solutions and the perspective that is actually available when the latest data resources and technologies are tapped can be compared to the difference between the grainy TV reception of rabbit ears and today’s high definition digital signals.

The good news is… the gap between these two vastly different perspectives can be easily bridged with two simple building blocks:

1. More data from more sources, and

2. Advanced technology to collect, manage and analyze your data.

Let’s examine both of these in a little more detail.

1. More Data from More Sources

LSOs are all using traditional market and sales data, such as: factory sales, reach, frequency, promotional response and syndicated market data. Most of this is internal data, and while it is important and valuable, it really only scratches the surface in terms of the vast storehouse of information that’s available from external sources. Just like a high definition image requires thousands of pixels, a truly high definition view of the life sciences market, with all of its regulatory encumbrances and points of engagement, requires the addition of many types of data gathered from thousands of external resources integrated into a cohesive data set where the rules about how it is standardized and accessed is either uniformly applied or at least centrally documented while still fostering data democratization. Fortunately, leading 3rd party data technology companies are already doing the data gathering and making it easily accessible to LSOs and their diverse information stakeholders. The following are just a few examples of some “non-traditional” data types and resources:

• Public records: residential, education, employment, criminal and spend transparency data.

• Social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, journals, blogs, associations.

• Life sciences market data: patient, payer, provider, integrated delivery networks (IDNs), group purchasing organizations (GPOs), accountable care organizations (ACOs), medical claims and transfer of value data.

These disparate data types and sources along with more traditional data types and sources (healthcare practitioners, providers, and affiliations) can be coalesced into Systems of Care: organized views of a health system value chain from products and services (manufactures) to treatment and outcomes (patients).

2. The Technology to Extract Market Intelligence from the Data

Okay, so now that LSOs have access to all of this data, what can they do with it? Today’s big data technology is incredibly powerful and can process, organize, augment, maintain, link and analyze billions of records in seconds. Sophisticated analytics combined with a well-designed user experience (UX) can manipulate, overlay, compare and express different types of data from different resources in many different ways, and then output all kinds of insights and intelligence into intuitive visualizations. By simply switching on and off specific filters, users can zoom out for a macro view of entire Systems of Care, or zoom in for a micro view of specific markets, networks, relationships, organizations or individuals based on how users define their markets. Today’s data provides answers to critical and very specific business questions, like:

• How is a specific network or System of Care structured and how does it operate?

• How can revenue opportunities within a System of Care be quantified?

• Which parts of the System of Care impact my business the most?

• What level of healthcare system granularity should I zoom into?

• What is our market opportunity vs. our competitors?

• What is the optimal structure of marketing and sales resources to take advantage of an identified market opportunity?

The few early adopter LSOs that have already begun to recognize the extraordinary value of 3rd party data have gained an advantage over the rest of the market. However, they will probably not maintain this advantage for long because full adoption of big data solutions is inevitable for the entire life sciences industry once LSOs catch a glimpse of the true power and value of high definition market intelligence and extreme Commercial Agility. With Commercial Agility, LSOs can be innovative with marketing and sales strategies and embrace the inevitable change that will demand swift and revealing analysis of markets and networks through the Systems of Care lens.