Focus Magazine - Fall 2012 - 23

Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute
The PPACA established an independent, not for profit organization known as the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). It was created to fund research that provides information about the best available evidence to help patients and their healthcare providers make better, informed decisions. This will be accomplished by producing and promoting high integrity, evidence-based information that comes from research that is guided by patients, caregivers and the broader healthcare community. In order to fulfill this mission, PCORI has $150 million to spend in 2012 to make sure that U.S. medical treatments really work and that treatment is delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible. Overall, it is estimated that PCORI will receive $3.5 billion to fund patient-centered outcomes research through 2019.

Sales Organizations Must Evolve
In order to make this shi , successful representatives need to have a new mix of competencies. ey include account planning and management, the process of evidencebased medicine, and consultative, solution-focused, selling skills. • Strategic Account Planning and Management - e shi in mindset for physicians means they are now focused on collaboration and outcomes in order to lower the cost of care. ere are now multiple stakeholders in the decision-making process. As a result, buying decisions involve much more of a strategic selling and planning approach that goes beyond traditional selling models. To be successful, representatives must understand the roles and motivations of everyone involved in the process. en, using that information, they must strategically plan the sales process in a particular account. For example, rather than recommending a product for a particular patient, representatives must understand how the product ts into the treatment paradigm of the whole o ce. ey must then marshal the appropriate corporate resources to support the solution enabled by their product. • Evidence-Based Medicine - A critical competency arising from the new healthcare environment is the understanding and application of

the principles of evidence-based medicine. Market research has shown credibility to be a key factor in the ability to impact prescribing behavior. e focus on evidencebased medicine in healthcare reform multiplies the need. Representatives need to understand how to critically appraise clinical data (as physicians are taught) and have the ability to discuss the validity, signi cance and clinical relevance of data. So the understanding of the principles of evidence-based medicine and ability to apply them, provide the representative with the situational uency to link clinical data to brand speci c solutions speci c to the physician’s patients or practice. • Solution-Focused Selling - In order to be successful, representatives will need to earn their “air time” and be capable of adding value to the practice. ey achieve this by e ectively diagnosing critical issues and challenges for the practice or organization and o ering brandrelated solutions that relate to key business drivers. As the world of healthcare undergoes rapid transformation, there will be new winners and new losers. e winners will be armed with the knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully add value to new types of success measures for the industry. Learning the language of the healthcare provider and focusing on outcome-driven solutions drives value to the HCP, builds credibility and gains access to decision makers. I

For more information, scan/capture the QR code with your smartphone.

Brad Ansley is the director of life sciences at Sales Performance International and currently oversees the development and marketing of Evidence-Based Solution Selling®. Email Brad at bansley@spisales.com.
FOCUS | FALL 2012 | www.spbt.org
23

http://www.spbt.org

Focus Magazine - Fall 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Focus Magazine - Fall 2012