And all three – Strategic Insight Research, ScoreCard Modelling, and epidemiology – need to be aligned and work synergistically to create a robust, sustainable business health strategy.
All three also are usually done concurrently; it is best to start with epidemiology. Unlike “patient flow” models that healthcare industry companies tend to focus on, Epidemiology focuses on the population-wide risk factors and which of these are most likely to drive the development of the disease. It requires companies not only to consider treatment (“downstream” populations) but also to start with upstream modeling, something that epidemiologists understand well, but healthcare companies do not. And when a company shows it takes epidemiology seriously – from early risk assessment and prevention through treatment and patient care, the company is making a true commitment.
Conducting Epidemiology research can be a daunting task given a possible lack of capacity and capability. However, this is exactly why companies should support doing it. This is because most governments are remarkably poor at developing and maintaining such data, as evidenced by the lack of registries, national data bases and more. There are also means to efficiently use surrogate data or extrapolation that make this step feasible – a test of reasonableness that uses the analogy: “If A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C”.
The next step is to do ScoreCard Modelling™. Here, we consider all known factors that drive the market, then streamline them to identify those most critical to determine market potential and health outcomes. We then further evaluate based upon which business strengths a company is able to leverage.
For example, in a recent analysis we did for one major healthcare care company, we identified over 300 variables that contribute to the development of any given country where they may do business, but of these, in a given therapeutic area, it can be boiled down to 15 factors (some including epidemiology) that are most critical to drive its commercial success as well as to drive specific population health outcomes.
Concurrently, the company should conduct in-depth Strategic Insight Research. To do this, it identifies disease experts and other medical thought leaders (including some customers who independently would qualify as “thought leaders”) to gain immediate insights into the underlying causes of the current disease state in these populations and what is needed to help drive improvements. These interviews include key personnel in governments or other agencies responsible for these populations’ access to health as well as leaders of consumer or patient advocacy groups that may exist (or patient thought leaders and leading health reporters interested in the topic, if advocacy groups do not yet formally exist.)
Results of epidemiology research combined with Strategic Insight Research and ScoreCard Modelling can be acted on immediately, medium and/or longer term. For example, in a certain specialty field of medicine, the research will determine what specific support is needed for primary care providers to gain awareness, interest, diagnosis and referral. Longer term, one may collaborate to build capacity and capabilities for the health care providers, specialty care, and health infrastructure.
This synergistic research combination – which can be completed within 3 months in most cases – yields important insights to deliver positive, tangible impact on specific populations and for the company that are important and necessary to improve health and other value outcomes. In doing so, companies also create vital sustainable strategic and collaborative advantages.
