Disrupted. And disrupting.
The year of change, innovation and challenge ahead.
We enter this new year inspired by the power of science, the persistence of patients and the success of survivors. New choices from mutation-derived targeted treatments to digital therapeutics have captured the global imagination. The impact of biomedical innovations has ushered in what scientists call an Age Wave. The number of people age 65 or older increased tenfold in the last one hundred years and older people are living longer and in better health than ever before.
We live in truly incredible times.
As remarkable as this new era is, it also challenges us as an industry. We’re racing to radically retool our organizations to work in more agile ways. We’re creating powerful new evidence to answer important questions about the impact treatments have in the complex real world. And we’re making everything—every communication, every treatment, every label—infinitely more personal and actionable for people and professionals.
And we’re doing it all at break-neck speed.
Our healthcare provider partners, too, are facing new burdens and stresses from the very personal impact of mental health issues to the systemic challenge of navigating an increasingly complex reimbursement environment. As an industry, we’re standing up new talent to support those professionals in right-now relevant ways while changing our processes to elevate and amplify the patient voices we’re all guided by.
In this fast-changing landscape, it’s no surprise that life science leaders need new levels of decision-driving insight from their partners, ideas and business cases that drive action.
In this report, we sought to dive deep into all the aspects of change 2019 has in store. We’re asking new questions with the goal of co-creating new solutions that help us all deliver on the possibilities of science.
Alistair Macdonald
Chief Executive Officer
Owner’s Manual
Our 2019 Health Trend Ten book is packed with inspiration for the year ahead.
Here’s how it works:
SCAN: Use the Table of Contents to quickly scan the Top 10 macro trends changing our industry and opportunity. Flag, highlight or circle the ones of most interest to your work.
BRAINSTORM: Use the worksheets in each trend to dive deep into key questions about how you might learn from that trend to evolve or even transform your approach to engaging stakeholders in 2019.
EXPLORE: Dive into each of your highlighted trends. Use the features and callouts to understand different aspects of each trend. Dog-ear your favorite pages and underline the most relevant ideas.
KEEP: Find the poster in each of your favorite sections and tear it out. Hang it in your workspace, tuck it in a notebook or send it to a friend to keep that trend top of mind throughout 2019.
Table of Contents
1. Radical Re-Orgs
Internal change is happening fast in 2019. It’s driven by a basic economic need to flex the cost structure. But, more importantly, it’s fueled by a new commitment to mix talent, encourage collaboration and always innovate from the perspective of the patient.
2. Accelerating Evidence
Regulators around the world are creating policies and collaborations to test novel science and technology faster, understand the real-world impact of treatment and seamlessly learn across geographies.
3. Relearning Launch
The need for bold launches is greater than ever; yet we enter 2019 constrained by resources and drive. As the science and economics grow more complex, teams need to prepare markets more comprehensively, redefining both metrics and regional relevance.
4. Search for the Right Patient
In 2019, data is taking on science. The most important insight won’t be how a drug works, but who it works for. Systems, media and disruptors are getting much more sophisticated in how they find, engage and support those patients with the best choices and experience just for them.
5. Demand for Decision-Driving Insights
In 2019, pharmaceutical leaders are passionate about the opportunity to create change—and seeking the momentum to act on it. Look for new calls to more quickly create business cases, advance institutional data fluency and infuse behavioral science in everything we do.
6. Rewired HCP
The profession of provider has radically changed as we enter 2019. Physicians find themselves working with less control, higher financial stakes and increasing mental health challenges — all in a climate with more information at their fingertips and less time than ever.
7. Relieving Burden
The weight of the work is piling up on our most critical stakeholders. In 2019, old and new players are stepping in with strategies and services that reduce friction, complexity and inconvenience across the clinical and commercial landscape.
8. Value Puzzle
Debates about value may be old, but innovation, politics and data have re-energized them for 2019. People, payers and advocates want to know: Is it worth it? And who should pay?
9. System of One
Care increasingly happens where health happens: at the clinic, at home, at local pharmacies and even on the phone. In 2019, the patient experience—from everyday health to clinical trial inclusion—will be more transient, opportunistic and data-connected.
10. The New Top Talent
Massive shifts in the expectations of customers and the reality of healthcare are driving demand for talent ready to excel in this new era. Companies are retooling, rethinking and recruiting for 2019.
