Benchmarking Professional Medical Education Excellence: Structures, Resources and Activities to Optimize Large Biopharmaceutical Education Groups

STUDY OVERVIEW

Medical education programs serve as an important platform for large biopharmaceutical organizations to inform physicians and other health care professionals about new products and therapies. While this remains as true today as it was in the past, recent regulations have tempered the sponsorship of some medical education programs by biopharmaceutical companies, as well as some third-party providers of such services.

To succeed in this challenging environment, organizations need to re-examine their education programs to ensure they have the proper structure, staffing and activities.

Best Practices, LLC undertook benchmarking research to investigate emerging Medical Education trends regarding funding and program types at large life sciences companies. The study also informs Medical Affairs and Medical Education leaders on the proper size, resourcing, and structure for this function or group at large companies.

KEY TOPICS

· Medical Education Group Structure and Activities Performed
· Funding Channels Utilized by Medical Education Groups
· Staffing Benchmarks for Medical Education Groups
· Benchmarks for Medical Education Resources, Investment Allocation and Budget Allocation by Region and Program Type
· Trends in Grants to Professional Societies/Associations for Accredited and Non-Accredited Education Programs
· Future Trends in Medical Education Staffing and Investment

KEY METRICS

· Global Investment Level Dedicated to Medical Education Function
· Internal Medical Education Funding Sources
· Budget Allocation by Region and Program Type
· Distribution Channels Utilized to Support Accredited and Non-Accredited Education
· Medical Education Funding Allocations
· Total Number of Full Time Equivalent Employees (FTEs) Working in Global Professional Medical Education Organization
· Budget Per Full Time Equivalent Employee (FTE)
· Average Span of Control (Number of staff per manager)
· Regional FTE Allocation
· Programs per FTE
· Budget per Program

SAMPLE KEY FINDINGS

· Benchmark Companies Rely Heavily On Outsourcing: Large companies rely on outsourcing for developing and deploying medical education programs. They outsource 53% of medical education program development to vendors, while 58% of companies use vendors for program deployment and delivery.

METHODOLOGY

Best Practices, LLC engaged 11 leaders supporting medical education at 9 leading life sciences and medical device companies. More than 50% of participants are at the level of director/senior director and around 27% of participants are managers. More than 70% of participants are from the US.