Strategic Execution and Change Management 
The pharmaceutical industry is shifting rapidly toward Specialty portfolio products, and this transformation requires an evolution in how companies approach their market access and account management strategies. With 80% of 2024 FDA-approved drugs being Specialty products, the stakes for adapting to this change are higher than ever. Whether a smaller biopharma company or global pharmaceutical company, this shift has major implications for the Learning & Development (L&D) function to support the strategy and ready talent for different marketplace challenges.
The Shift to Specialty Portfolio Products
Historically, the pharmaceutical market revolved around Primary Care products, supported by broad-reaching sales strategies. These drugs were subject to significant oversight by organized customers due to their impact on healthcare budgets.
Now, Specialty drugs command a larger share of healthcare spending, introducing substantial financial risks for integrated delivery networks (IDNs) and payers. These stakeholders are tightening restrictions, scrutinizing value, negotiating contracts, and demanding robust value demonstrations.
The Evolution of Account Management
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it mirrors the shift seen with Primary Care products in the past. The response then was a move to Key Account Management—a transformation requiring new roles, mindset shifts, and significant upskilling efforts.
Historically, Specialty promotion was much more of a traditional sales approach. Treatment decisions were mostly made at the provider level based upon the latest clinical data, the ability for administration, and ease of reimbursement. So, Specialty Sales Representatives essentially just needed to convince a provider of the product’s clinical benefits to get it prescribed.
Traditional sales approaches no longer suffice as treatment decisions are increasingly determined by various stakeholders within, or externally with increased standardized care pathways and guideline requirements rather than individual providers. Companies must adopt Strategic Account Management models to stay competitive, with tailored strategies and enhanced capabilities for Specialty teams to identify patients and deal with complex supply chain, storage, and medical administration.
Strategic Account Management Infrastructure
If you are not currently employing this model, it is not as simple as calling someone a Key Account Manager and sending them out to work within complex health systems. It is important to establish the right infrastructure to support this new promotional model. You need the right roles, the right engagement model, the right tools and resources, and the right processes for how to work together with the accounts. Moving to a Strategic Account Management model is a change in mindset. It also requires new knowledge and skills to promote Specialty products.
Upskilling existing Account Teams on Specialty
If your organization already has an established Account Management Model for Primary Care teams, this can serve as a foundation — but it’s not as simple as a “lift and shift” for Specialty. Specialty products come with unique complexities and this affects how to build and execute your Specialty Account Management approach.
- Patient Identification and Diagnosis: Earlier and more accurate identification of patients.
- Product Acquisition and Administration: Managing complex treatments like infusions or device-based therapies.
- Reimbursement Navigation: Supporting providers with complex reimbursement processes for extremely high-priced medicines.
Moreover, factors like formulary control, prior authorizations, clinical pathways, and integration with Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems demand specialized skills for navigating organized accounts.
Upskilling Specialty teams on Account Management
If you have an existing Specialty Sales Team, it is about upskilling the representatives and other customer-facing roles with the right knowledge and skills on how to navigate accounts. If you don’t have this capability in your organization yet, you need to embed the right skills:
- Healthcare Trends & Ecosystem Analysis: Understanding the interplay between various healthcare, economic, and political factors impacting care delivery in a local geography.
- Account Profiling & Stakeholder Analysis: Identifying actionable insights by analyzing business, clinical, and operational priorities.
- Stakeholder Relationship Mapping: Developing strong connections with executive leaders, service line managers, and HCPs to address the shift toward decisions impacting the patient journey.
- Strategic Account Planning: Turning insights into clear, actionable plans.
- Collaboration Culture: Fostering a customer-focused, information-sharing mindset across teams.
- Customer Engagement Skills: Equipping field roles to address stakeholders’ needs effectively.
A Call to Action
The rise of Specialty pharmaceuticals is changing the customer landscape and the impact of this creates a necessity to employ a Strategic Account Management model in order to succeed in this space. It is critical to evaluate what you have in place now and ensure you are equipping commercial teams with the right skills, knowledge, resources, and infrastructure to excel in this complex market. This may mean partnering with experienced consultants who understand Strategic Account Management and can adapt frameworks for the Specialty marketplace. These partners can bring best practices, benchmarks, and customized solutions to:
- Evaluate Current Capabilities: Assess existing account management knowledge, skills, resources, and infrastructure among Specialty teams, identifying any gaps to be addressed.
- Create Specialty-Specific SAM solutions to address the complexities for different roles (e.g., Key Account Managers, Medical Science Liaisons, Sales Representatives), ensuring alignment with their specific responsibilities.
- Upskill as needed: Use a mix of in-person workshops, virtual modules, technology, and tools to raise Specialty acumen and instill key account management skills.
- Promote Cross-Functional Collaboration with specially designed programs and approaches to align on goals, strategies, and shared responsibilities in a compliant and coordinated manner.
- Foster a customer-focused mindset that emphasizes collaboration, long-term relationship building, and delivering value to organized customers.
By taking these actions, organizations can ensure their teams are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of Specialty drugs and build meaningful partnerships with organized customers, ultimately driving success in the evolving healthcare market.
