What will the Medical Affairs (MA) function look like in ten years from now? What role should MA play in the transformation of healthcare systems? In a previous post, we spoke about the new skills and capabilities that will be necessary in the short and medium term to cater for a changing healthcare landscape. However, what capabilities will still be crucial over the long term?
Healthcare technology is advancing faster than ever. It is likely that artificial intelligence will soon automate medical insights gathering. More personalization of medicines, tailored to an individual's genetic disposition, is already a reality. IoT wearable devices have already transformed healthcare through remote patient monitoring, such as for glucose levels in diabetes patients, paving the way for new preventive solutions.
PwC’s ‘From healthcare to life care: Transforming precision health’ article focuses on the expanding terrain of precision diagnostics and treatment fueled by continued advances in technology and genomics. To stay ahead of the curve, Medical Affairs must prioritize where and how to focus their investments.
With multiple factors at play, we see different options for the future based on two key dimensions.
- Data and technology will increase the complexity of HCP decision making. We see a future where Healthcare systems have become highly digitized and MA has access to consolidated, cross-functional data sources from across the ecosystem that simplify decision making. On the other hand, we also see a highly complex data ecosystem fueled by the rise of new technologies, such as genomic sequencing, digital twins and AR / VR technologies. However, as this data is siloed across disparate data sources, there is no single source of truth, leading to decision overload.
- Healthcare decision makers' appetite for outcome-driven treatment decisions will create cost implications. In a highly digitized future, technology and data can empower decision making through investments in precision medicine that tailors treatment plans to individual patients. However, this depends on decision makers' willingness to invest in precision medicine despite the short-term cost implications.
It is evident that some healthcare systems, such as in Switzerland, are slower to adapt and exploit the benefits of digitization, for example through clinical decision support systems (CDSS). On the other hand, other markets such as Israel digitized patient records almost 30 years ago. The volume of available patient data and its accessibility to pharmaceutical companies will shape MA’s future role, which will differ by country and therapy area, depending on the level of technology adoption and the investment priorities of the healthcare system.
Support role of the future
Imagine a world where healthcare systems have become highly digitized. Large datasets, such as through electronic patient medical records, CDSS, RWE data generation efforts and other internal and external data, speak to each other seamlessly. AI-based Virtual Medical Information Bots will replace the role of medical information. In-territory expertise will be less crucial, as natural language processing technologies will allow for both language translation and specific HTA nuance, leading to cross-territory 24/7 medical information provision. Field-based medical science liaisons (MSLs) will be increasingly supported by virtual roles that span across markets and therapeutic areas. In this future state, certain parts of MA will have more of an automated support role and there will be less focus on precision medicine.
Personalized medicine specialists
In this digitally connected world, where healthcare systems become increasingly patient-centric, Medical Affairs will use personalized solutions to advise on patient treatment pathways and preventive measures. PwC’s ‘From healthcare to life care: Transforming precision health’ article discusses significant advances in biotechnology and diagnostic technologies that have sparked a rapid rise in precision medicine for both treatment and prevention. Precision medicine includes an understanding of the individual’s genetic predisposition to disease and risk factors; epigenetic and relevant biomarkers; preventive measures, such as vaccines and scans; and regular health and wellness monitoring. In an outcome-driven healthcare ecosystem, Medical Affairs will be able to draw seamlessly on cross-functional data to recommend preventive measures to improve population health management and support early identification of health risks, especially in the oncology, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative fields.
Indispensable partner
As healthcare technologies proliferate, leading to rich but siloed data sources, deep medical knowledge will be required to put together recommendations for personalized patient treatments. The MA function will act as partner to the healthcare ecosystem by providing this deep medical knowledge alongside upskilled capabilities in data science. Customers will no longer be limited to key opinion leaders and healthcare professionals, but will span all healthcare stakeholders, including patients, patient advocacy groups, physicians, payers, regulators, researchers, and scientific institutions. The MA function will plug gaps in understanding with regard to novel treatment technologies, shape healthcare policies, and manage research focus areas using cross-functional insights from across the ecosystem.
Data technology specialist
Where high-cost pressures persist within markets despite increasingly complex data sources and the demand for personalized recommendations, MA will need to focus even more heavily on data science capabilities. These capabilities can guide strategy as well as decisions on which therapeutic areas should be focused on, based on industry trends and the needs of patients, HCPs and payers. Data technology will be a central, cross-territorial capability that sits behind the MA function. This new sub-function will also have the opportunity to work closely with external scientific experts to discuss insights and develop solutions for the entire healthcare ecosystem.
Brian Selvarajah, Dr. Christoph Gross, Eleanor Craggs and Kevin Kalinka also contributed to this report.
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