Modern Medical Inquiry Management

This video provides an in-depth exploration of the challenges facing medical information (MI) teams in the life sciences industry and introduces Veeva's Vault MedComms as a modern, cloud-based solution for managing the medical inquiry lifecycle. Callum Hawes, Veeva's Director of Strategy for Vault MedComms, outlines significant industry trends, including a marked increase in the volume of medical information requests and a corresponding rise in the burden placed on MI teams. Crucially, the presentation emphasizes the shifting expectations of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients, who now demand information and content delivered through new channels and in richer, more digital formats, such as videos and infographics, moving beyond traditional response letters.

A central theme of the discussion revolves around the technological hurdles currently impeding efficiency. Hawes highlights that many organizations rely on legacy systems that are often complex, heavily customized, and difficult to maintain. These older systems frequently fail to keep pace with the maturation and evolving needs of modern MI teams. Furthermore, these systems are often decentralized, operating regionally or globally in silos, which prevents organizations from capitalizing on opportunities for process efficiency and comprehensive data aggregation. The speaker positions medical information not merely as a service function but as a "really rich source of strategic insight" that can significantly benefit the broader medical affairs organization when data is leveraged correctly.

Vault MedComms is presented as a complete, single-application solution designed to cover the entire end-to-end medical information life cycle. This process begins with the efficient intake of a medical information request and includes the centralized management of case details. A key functional benefit is the ability to efficiently find the necessary content for a response, whether it is a standard medical information response letter or a more modern, digital asset like a video or infographic. The system facilitates the provision of the response directly from the same solution, ensuring a streamlined workflow.

The strategic advantage of using a centralized system like Vault MedComms is the ability to unlock rich insights and reports regarding MI processes. The solution is described as modern, receiving three releases per year to continuously add value-adding capabilities. Importantly for the broader pharmaceutical ecosystem, the application is connected to a wider network of Veeva applications and channels, specifically mentioning integration with Veeva CRM, allowing for seamless data flow and connectivity across commercial and medical functions.

Key Takeaways: • Increased Burden on MI Teams: Medical Information teams are facing a growing volume of requests, demanding greater efficiency and placing increased pressure on existing resources and processes. • Shift to Digital Content: HCPs and patients are challenging MI teams to provide information in new, richer digital formats, necessitating the ability to manage and deliver content such as videos and infographics alongside traditional response letters. • Strategic Value of MI Data: Medical information requests represent a "rich source of strategic insight" that, when properly centralized and analyzed, can provide valuable intelligence to inform the broader medical affairs organization's strategy and activities. • Challenges of Legacy Systems: Many organizations are hampered by outdated, complex, and customized legacy systems that are difficult to maintain, lack necessary innovation, and fail to support the maturity of modern MI processes. • Need for Centralization: Decentralized MI systems (regional or global silos) prevent organizations from achieving optimal efficiency and inhibit the ability to generate comprehensive, actionable reports across the entire organization. • End-to-End Lifecycle Management: An effective modern solution must cover the complete MI lifecycle, from initial request intake and efficient case detail management to content finding, response provision, and centralized reporting. • Unified Content Repository: The ability to efficiently find the correct response content—regardless of format (standard letter or digital asset)—from a single source is critical for rapid and accurate inquiry resolution. • Modern Cloud Architecture: Adopting a modern, cloud-based solution ensures continuous improvement, as evidenced by Vault MedComms' three annual releases that introduce new, value-adding capabilities to benefit MI teams. • Ecosystem Connectivity: Solutions must integrate seamlessly with the broader pharmaceutical technology ecosystem, particularly commercial platforms like Veeva CRM, to ensure data consistency and cross-functional alignment. • Process Reporting and Optimization: Centralizing the MI process unlocks the ability to generate detailed reports and insights into operational processes, enabling continuous optimization and identification of bottlenecks.

Tools/Resources Mentioned:

• Vault MedComms: Veeva's cloud-based application specifically designed for managing the medical information life cycle, including case and response management.
• Veeva CRM: Mentioned as part of the broader Veeva ecosystem to which Vault MedComms is connected, facilitating integration between medical and commercial functions.

Key Concepts:

• Medical Information (MI) Management: The specialized function within pharmaceutical and life sciences companies responsible for responding to unsolicited requests for medical and scientific information from healthcare professionals, patients, and consumers.
• End-to-End Life Cycle: Refers to the complete process flow of managing an inquiry, starting from the initial intake of the request, through content retrieval and response generation, to final reporting and archival.
• Decentralization: The common challenge where medical information processes and systems are managed independently across different regions or global affiliates, leading to inefficiencies and fragmented data.
• Strategic Insight: The concept that the data collected from medical inquiries (e.g., topics of interest, frequency of questions, content gaps) provides valuable intelligence that can inform the strategic direction of medical affairs and product development.