Digital Transformation In The Pharmaceutical Industry

In a world increasingly driven by technology, the pharmaceutical industry faces both challenges and opportunities in adapting to digital transformation. Yet, measuring the impact of digital strategies is often inconsistent, whether in online engagement, CME, or marketing campaigns.

Unlike other industries, were clear metrics drive evolution, the healthcare sector struggles to set unified standards for success. So, how can we change this?

At Xpeer, our mission is to support HCPs and pharmaceutical companies in embracing effective digital transformation in medical education. The idea of creating a global app to break down barriers like accessibility and reach began after conversations with doctors who asked:

“Bring me the latest congresses and updates in my pocket, and I’ll be the happiest doctor in the world”.

“Help me spread my knowledge, not only to a few lucky doctors invited to events or who can afford going to congresses, but to the maximum number of doctors who could benefit from it, for the sake of our patients.”

We need to work together to change behaviors, especially when it comes to measuring impact and facing challenges.

The stages of digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry

Understanding the different stages of adoption can help everyone move forward more effectively. Here’s how it is:

1. Disruptors: These are the pioneers executives willing to try new ideas and technologies. Our journey at Xpeer began with forward-thinking leaders from companies like Pfizer, Amgen, L’Oréal, Novo Nordisk, CSL Vifor, OM Pharma, IBSA, and Biocodex Microbiota Institute. It takes courage to lead change in established industries, but they inspire us all to bring value to their company and take that first step during the pandemic, which forced us to rethink established strategies. They transformed into a tech and digital world.
   
   
2. Early adopters: This group has begun integrating innovations into long-term strategies, driven by real results. In healthcare, we are still between the disruptive and early adoption stages, trying to embrace the digital world, but true digital spending in pharma is still minimal, often under 1% of total budgets spent on apps, advertising, social media, and corporate websites. To make a real impact, a goal of 50% investment of the marketing, medical, and commercial departments in digital and innovative channels could help drive sustainable change.
   
   
3. Early majority: They adopt new technologies to stay competitive, following the lead of early adopters. Unfortunately, the pharma industry is not quite here yet. With the pace of innovation and technology applied to medicine, accelerating our sector could mean incremental improvements in patient outcomes and reduced business delays. We need to speed up!
   
   
4. Laggards: Often the last to innovate, they adopt changes only when necessary. This is normal, as change is complicated and can take time. Hopefully, we will work together over the coming years to reduce the number of laggards, as HCPs and patients need us to be more innovative than ever to keep up and provide the best care possible as a sector.

Current challenges in the pharmaceutical industry

Digital experience deficit

One of the biggest barriers in our industry is a lack of digital expertise. Less than 5% of the pharmaceutical market can be classified as disruptors, compared to much higher percentages in tech and marketing sectors.

To bridge this gap, we need to share insights and success stories that show what’s possible, and most importantly, to teach others and limit risk management. We already have some years of experience in this new world, lots of data to share, and with successful cases, it’s easier to take the next step.

Impact measurement deficit

Understanding and measuring the impact of our initiatives is complex but essential. Quantitative and qualitative metrics, such as trust and credibility, are vital indicators of success.

Only about 2% of the pharma industry effectively measures impact, whereas industries like advertising have robust systems in place for this purpose.

Our primary KPI is the time doctors spend effectively engaging with content. We have an 80% completion rate, showing that once they click on a video, they stay engaged until the end. Which proves that we can make complex, required content smooth, easy, and entertaining to digest, even when accredited.

When doctors engage with our content, we focus on the time they spend learning, on average over 20 minutes per session. These minutes matter. When healthcare professionals are engaged, they’re more likely to absorb knowledge that leads to better patient outcomes.

We also track outcomes like knowledge improvement, intentions to change practice, diplomas, and test scores. However, a standardized approach to measuring impact is lacking.

Imagine the value if we, as an industry, established clear metrics for success that went beyond basic numbers. Let’s work on this together!

Learning from other sectors

Compared to other industries, the pharmaceutical industry often struggles with basic impact metrics. In the advertising and marketing world, metrics like engagement, reach, and conversion provide clear insights into audience interaction and content effectiveness.

By learning from marketing, we can apply their frameworks to understand how effectively our efforts resonate with HCPs and the broader medical community. Here’s what we need to consider:

• Engagement metrics: Advertising and marketing sectors measure unique user interactions with content, while pharma often lacks this level of tracking.
• Reach metrics: Those sectors can accurately measure the reach of their campaigns, something that pharma is still catching up on.
• Conversion metrics: Where other industries track how often users complete specific actions, conversion tracking in pharma remains underdeveloped.

How can we move forward?

To create meaningful change in business strategy in the pharmaceutical industry, it’s crucial to establish unified metrics that go beyond basic KPIs. By focusing on deeper measures, such as time spent engaging with content, knowledge retention, and behavioral change, we can better define success and set higher standards across the industry.

Another key step is fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing to bridge the digital expertise gap. By sharing insights, success stories, and data, pharmaceutical companies can drive impactful digital transformation and work toward a more innovative pharma industry future that delivers better outcomes for healthcare professionals and patients alike.