CONFERENCE 2021 PRESENTATION SUMMARIES Implementing Conversational AI Solutions in Medical Information 2 case studies outlining business and operational considerations By Shailini Blackwell
Pharmaceutical companies continue to accelerate their interest in, and deployment of, conversational artificial intelligence (AI) – text or voice virtual assistants – to support medical functions including Medical Information. At our recent PIPA Conference in September 2021, Orion Pharma (UK) Ltd. (together with their partner, conversationHEALTH) and Lifelink Systems overviewed process and strategic considerations as well as outcomes for PIPA members to consider when looking to implement a solution. Julie Boothe; Orion Pharma UK Shailini Blackwell; conversationHEALTH Justin Mardjuki; Lifelink Systems
The case for change – customers want to engage digitally, 24/7, with one business
now have the ability to augment current teams with conversational AI which can double or triple the number of touchpoints we have with patients”
With healthcare professional (HCP) and patient behaviour and expectations having shifted over the past 18 months to a digital-first business engagement, the opportunity for Medical Information (MI) departments to capitalise on technology is very much “now”. As Justin Mardjuki from Lifelink Systems shared, 97% of text messages are opened in less than 3 minutes, and this is not just driven by friends and family but now transcends engagement with business, social and other day-to-day engagements.
However, as Julie noted, this requires multiple stakeholders across the organisation to come together to explore the requirements, skillsets and outcomes for an enterprise solution. First for Julie was Commercial. “Our customers are the same, they don’t see us as medical or commercial, they see us as one organisation. There is a need to fit the business strategy and ensure that customers are getting the best experience when engaging with Orion”.
Medical Information are now “front-of-house” – the gateway to the business as HCPs demand scientific content with as little hassle as possible when it comes to access and authenticity. As Julie Boothe, from Orion Pharma, identified for her organisation “Customers want to get in contact with the company, get their response and leave”. Justin agreed from the patient perspective “Patients get stuck in the middle of pharma’s siloes…. we need to remove the friction for patient experience and make it as humanly-easy as possible”.
Alongside Commercial, we need to ensure there is a seat at the table for Legal, Compliance, PV, Data Privacy, IT, Regulatory and QA/validation leads to the groundwork being in place from the outset to support global scaling across the organisation, rather than just a pilot or one market approach. It means automation of workflows and processes that will drive a change management strategy for the human workforce alongside technology has a 360° business view applied to it immediately, facilitating accelerated growth across the business. As quoted in a recent paper from IQVIA, “Automated agents are better and faster at responding to simple inquiries and reviewing documents, freeing live agents to do more value-added work.”
Change management – the need for a multidisciplinary approach The use of conversational AI across pharma and life sciences continues to accelerate and MI is a cornerstone of this adoption. With a need to increase reach and accessibility to customers as well as a real opportunity to digitally transform legacy systems and processes, MI teams across pharma are looking to automation as a means of freeing up human headcount for businesscritical and strategic work. As Justin highlighted, “We
Regulatory and Compliance Validation requirements are a critical component for consideration and approval of an enterprise conversational AI solution: ensuring all requirements are 25
