Beyond Key Opinion Leader Identification & Mapping, What’s Next?

For decades, we have regarded physician key opinion leaders (KOLs) as the “rock stars” of the life sciences industry. Like the musical ones, these leaders have influenced trends and packed rooms. The press would chase them to get a window into what they are thinking. I guess one key difference is that they tend not to destroy hotel rooms.

Similar to a star musician’s impact on a large record label, the life science industry has long depended upon these influencers who were predominantly physicians, to ensure a therapy’s success.

Enter social media and other drivers of product uptake. The music industry has witnessed songs being made available digitally via an immeasurable number of sources and thus easily shareable. The artists themselves are no longer the main promoters of their product as others (mainly fans) through their endless articles, blogs, Tweets and reviews carefully guide our tastes in music. Technology has also opened a path for lesser known independent artists to gain widespread exposure.

KOL mapping: Need to go well beyond the physician 

Comparable dynamics are observed in the world of medicine. The physician is no longer the sole gatekeeper to access to the product of medical care. We all know that payers can make or break a particular treatment through their level of willingness to cover it.

Other clinicians such as nurse practitioners and pharmacists have been stepping up for some time now, to provide care and counseling. Widespread availability of information has patients more informed than ever. They are sharing their knowledge electronically as well as banding together to advocate for greater access and policy changes. Societies representing patients and professionals sponsor guidelines and position statements to guide disease management. Additionally, there is the role of research consortiums, support groups, social activities, technological modalities (such as telemedicine), and even home care and government-provided services to consider.

Physician KOLs, while still important, must be regarded as a key entity of a larger ecosystem of critical stakeholders. As every disease state or therapeutic area has its clinical specialists, it also involves the cooperation of other groups that are essential to ensuring that a disease is well managed and treatment takes place. Snowfish has worked with clients to define the larger ecosystem. Our analysis has spanned a broad and diverse constituencies including:

Centers of Excellence  Mid-Level Practitioners
Payers Celebrities
                                  Competitors                                     Think Tanks
                                               Patients                                              Government/Policymakers
Caregivers Private/Public Partnerships  
                                              Societies                                              Diagnostic Providers

Physician KOL mapping is ubiquitous within the life science industry. This is clearly not enough. Utilizing sophisticated analytics while taking a creative and forward thinking approach to data sources will help to zone in on the most important stakeholders which will not only build momentum around a product but an entire offering.

While our industry still has our obvious “rock stars” and needs to continue to cultivate them, it is evident that there are others who are exerting their influence in less than obvious ways. Identifying and engaging them will best ensure that for any given company, the music will never stop.

Melissa Hammond, MSN, GNP is Managing Director at Snowfish a commercial strategy firm. Snowfish are experts in mapping non-physician stakeholders and KOLs. Snowfish offers stakeholder identification and profiling to help companies understand who to engage not only today but ten years out. 

Please go to our website or call +703-759-6100 to learn more about how we can improve your stakeholder network.

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