Do you provide value as a MSL? Part 1

Do you provide value as a Medical Science Liaison (MSL)? “Of course I do!” better be your quick, confident response.

How do you measure your value as an MSL? As you recount meetings with Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), focus on what you said and how you said it that led to an Ah-ha moment of clarity or a behavioral change for your KOL. How do you measure the impact of a new understanding? How do you document the change that will have for patients?

Measuring the impact of MSLs has been a challenge as long as I’ve been in industry.

· Some measure the number of KOL interactions… but this doesn’t tell the full story. We must agree that you can’t have an impactful interaction if you don’t have an interaction.

 · Some territories are large, requiring connecting flights while others are small and drivable… so how does this impact expectations for interactions?

 · Some may measure days in the field… but we know this number will be larger if you’re inefficient so that isn’t good for the budget or your productivity.

 · Some measure the number of insights entered… but if management asks for thirty insights, MSLs will give forty-five, most of which will not be actionable therefore are of minimal value to the company.

 · Early in the lifecycle of a product it may be easier to secure meetings due to the new science and amount of data available… does your company adjust for these factors?

I’ll continue this in my next post with highlights from a recent Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) meeting and a deeper dive into meaningful metrics. Stay tuned.