Key opinion leaders (KOL) are one of the most important drivers of product success in medtech, making it critical for organizations to maintain up-to-date information on KOL activities, engagement, and preferences. Recently, a global medtech shared how their medical affairs organization is transforming KOL management in the cardiovascular space through a data-driven, technology-enabled approach. Their director of medical affairs operations and senior manager of digital solutions discussed how they leverage a centralized repository to standardize and scale KOL engagement.
The medtech’s data transformation journey began with an internal project revealing that KOL data was fragmented, being stored in various spreadsheets across global functions. The medical affairs director shared that it was taking “about 3 months to capture information.” It became clear that the medtech needed a more efficient way to collect and leverage KOL data for future scalability.
Driven by its need for efficiency, data transparency, and regulatory readiness, the medtech adopted to capture and unify data on KOLs and HCPs, including profiles on scientific, digital, and clinical leaders and procedures into a single source. With expanded and centralized KOL data, they are now able to identify opportunities to support planning and drive strategy on top of enabling all stakeholders to access the information they need from a single source.
With a centralized source of KOL data, the system is embraced across multiple functions within medical affairs, including scientific, clinical, and operational. Teams now use the system to support:
In addition, the teams are now proactively identifying high-potential KOLs, even in regions without prior engagement, through detailed tagging and geolocation features. This supports focused engagement and strategic planning in the future as the organization prepares for expanded markets and emerging therapies.
“What I love about Link Key People is that it’s a living breathing database so we can constantly pull things from there and we know that it’s up-to-date” –Director of Medical Affairs Operations
As with any new process, getting team buy-in is critical. The team emphasized that successful implementation required more than just technical integration, and a proactive strategy to drive adoption. They are seeing continued success through:
While they initially focused on awareness and adoption, they now plan to shift priorities to internal utilization.. “Having a dedicated champion of Veeva Link is essential,” the director of medical affairs operations noted. “It’s not just about the system—it’s about the strategy and evangelism behind it.”
While the team has already seen measurable efficiencies and deeper engagement with their focused strategy and the system in place to streamline activities, they’re eager to take the next step with predictive analytics. The team is working toward utilizing AI and other connected tools to proactively suggest engagement strategies based on a project’s goals, physician personas, and past behavior.
The medtech also plans to maximize efficiency in the KOL process even further in the future by utilizing the entirety of Link Key People. “We’re just scratching the surface,” said the Senior Manager of Digital Solutions, “This is about enabling better decisions with smarter data.”
“Every time we revisit [Link Key People], there’s something new. It’s not just about capturing data—it’s about unleashing its full potential.” –Senior Manager of Digital Solutions
By centralizing KOL data, medical affairs teams and cross-collaborative groups across medtech organizations can realize better outcomes, clarify strategic direction, and improve efficiency. To learn further about maximizing KOL engagements, see how AVITA Medical uses real-time intelligence to expand KOL engagement.