There was a day in the pharmaceutical industry when training sales teams on disease state, product, selling skills, and the brand proposition was all these professionals needed to hit the ground running. That is no longer the case. Every life sciences company must include healthcare ecosystem and business acumen training in their brand strategy. The CMR Institute board of directors came together to discuss the current landscape and how trainers can best prepare their life sciences sales teams. Here are the three key takeaways: 

1.   Communicating value to practitioners and prescribers

Today’s physicians are all involved in value-based care—and thus taking on some amount of risk for the population they are serving—in some way. So, for the life sciences sales representatives and professionals who interact with these physicians to be successful, they need to understand the reality of today’s integrated delivery networks. 

Life sciences sales professionals must understand the value-based programs that physicians are involved in, whether it’s a hospital-based system for readmission reduction penalties or the quality reporting system (MIPs) for physicians. 

Life sciences sales professionals must have a solid foundation of knowledge about the context and ecosystem in which physicians are practicing today. With this knowledge, life sciences sales professionals are better able to make their case and effectively communicate the values their medicine or medical device, or innovation brings to physicians and the healthcare system in which they are practicing. 

CMR Institute’s healthcare ecosystem training and educational resources are the perfect tools to keep these sales professionals aware of today’s state of healthcare and informed about the programs and policies these physicians are working under. 

2.   Navigating hospital administration and pharmacy and therapeutic committees

Fewer and fewer life sciences sales professionals are selling devices or medications directly to physicians, one clinic at a time. Today, there are boundaries of hospital administration and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committees to get new devices or medications into hospital networks. 

In the value-based care world, sales professionals must be able to clearly show how patients, providers, and healthcare organizations are going to benefit from the product. Understanding the unique challenges of specific providers and their systems is paramount to becoming a partner and solution provider. 

CMR Institute’s business acumen learning focuses on the information, tactics and approaches for selling that are most effective in a value-based care model. 

3.   Becoming a credible source of information  

Practitioners and physicians are busier now than they have ever been before, seeing more patients in less time. At the same time, they are seeing changes in how they are getting paid, how they are getting reimbursed, and how drugs and other therapeutics end up on or off the formulary. 

Physicians are overwhelmed with everything they must keep track of. By positioning themselves as partners who can provide helpful, credible information, life sciences sales professionals can build successful relationships with these physicians. When these sales representatives and professionals can share reliable, accurate information not only about the therapeutic they are selling, but also explain the nuances of the current healthcare landscape, physicians are more willing to engage. 

At CMR Institute, we are committed to maintaining a library of accurate, relevant information for life sciences professionals, so they can be seen and trusted as reliable sources of knowledge for the physicians to whom they are selling. 

Watch this short video for direct insight from our board of directors, Jeff Farber, MD, MBA, FACP, CPE, President & CEO, The New Jewish Home, Andrew Krumerman, MD, Montefiore Medical Center Division of Cardiology, Mark Sorrentino, MD, MS, VP Center for Pediatric Clinical Development, PRA Health Sciences, and Tim Kern, Global Commercial Operations, North America Training Lead, Pfizer (Retired).

CMR Institute is the go-to provider of educational solutions for pharmaceutical and medical device professionals. Established by a collective of doctors in Roanoke, Virginia, we ensure life sciences professionals have the knowledge they need to successfully engage in value-based discussions that enhance healthcare and improve patient care.

We have trained thousands of learners with our library of more than 400 microlearning courses. We understand that a real-world education looks different for all learners. That’s why we partner with real-world healthcare experts to develop and provide relevant content. Our expert teams develop customizable learning pathways that meet your unique teams’ needs. 

Chat with our training expert to improve the performance of your teams through healthcare business acumen training.  

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We understand that a real-world education looks different for all learners. That's why we partner with real-world training experts to develop customizable learning pathways that meet your unique needs.

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