Physicians: Balancing Many Masters
Physicians work hard to balance the many disparate forces that impact their day to day decision making.
The result is less time to evaluate new products or to switch patients to a newer, better product. Both of these activities take time, and that’s what physicians don’t have.
At the heart of the matter is that fact that over 50% of physicians are now employ-ees of either a hospital or plan and many are incentivized by plans and hospitals to keep their treatment costs low. Thus, they’ve become very cau-tious about adopting new, more expensive treatments without a compelling reason to do so.
Compounding the situation is a shorter patient visit that has also become more complicated. To maintain their income levels, physicians need to see more patients a day.
There are different health plans he/she contracts with. Each has different rules about what products the doctor can use, what authorizations are needed to refer the patient to a specialist, and so on. Physicians now spend as much time on desktop medicine as they do seeing patients.
https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/healthcare%20systems%20and%20services/our%20insights/the%20secret%20of%20successful%20drug%20launches/beyond_the_storm_launch_excellence_in_the_new_normal.ashx
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/need-15-minutes-doctors-time
https://www.statista.com/statistics/250219/us-physicians-opinion-about-their-compensation/
Health Aff (Millwood). 2017 Apr 1; 36(4): 655–662. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0811; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5546411/figure/F1/;
I will be releasing each chapter of my e-book on LinkedIn in the following weeks. Alternatively, you may download the entire book here. I invite you to read it and look forward to discussing your comments and/or questions with you.
Harris Kaplan is Managing Partner of Red Team Associates, a boutique life sciences consultancy, and CEO of Healogix, a life sciences marketing research company. His resume includes work on the introduction of more than 100 new products including drug, biotech, device, and diagnostics. He is a commercial strategist who frequently presents and authors pieces on how the shift from a provider to a payer and patient centric world impacts new product innovation. Harris’ understanding of these seismic shifts in the life sciences landscape has made him a leader in the space and much sought after by clients ranging from startups to large multinationals. Harris excels at helping companies develop their commercial and go-to-market plans in support of new products. He has also been an advisor to multiple venture capital and private equity groups relative to assist their portfolio companies.
Harris’ articles have appeared in In Vivo, Medical Marketing and Media, and Product Management. He has presented at Intellus Worldwide Institute, Windhover’s Therapeutic Area Partnerships, IN3 Device Conference, World Orphan Disease Conference, Life Science Alley, the Biotech Conference at UC Berkley, Pharmaceutical Strategy Conference, and the Drug Information Association. He was also nominated as one of Pharma Voice’s most inspiring people in 2011.
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Harris Kaplan, Managing Partner
Red Team Associates
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