November 16, 2010 ·
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November 16, 2010 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a North Carolina firm dedicated to delivering the most accurate and effective key opinion leader (KOL) profiling research for the biopharmaceutical industry, announces the launch of a drug reimbursement project for a top-10 US pharmaceutical company.
With a new drug for treating coagulation coming to the market in 2011, the client contracted Thought Leader Select to find advisors for reimbursement for the new drug. Thought Leader Select is helping the client company by finding the most qualified market access advisors throughout the United States. These key opinion leaders (KOLs) range from pharmacy directors to translational benefit influencers.
The payer KOLs will be found from across the United States through Thought Leader Select’s extensive databases. Through a deep profiling methodology based on 15 categories, ranging from area of expertise to publications, Thought Leader Select will understand the key opinion leaders’ skills and experiences in the area of coagulation.
The role of the customized group of KOLs will be to advise on what the pharmaceutical company needs to accomplish with various private and public formularies to successfully gain reimbursement well in advance of introduction into market.
At project delivery, Thought Leader Select will showcase the market access leaders’ profiles in its proprietary database, Thought Leader Index, according to Neil Mellor, business development consultant. “This database allows users to ... read more »
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biopharmaceutical coagulation key opinion leader KOL database KOL identification KOL profiling market access Neil Mellor pharmaceutical pharmacy directors reimbursement Thought Leader Select thought leaders translational benefit influencers United States
November 10, 2010 ·
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Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M. Sc, MPH
Now that the mid-term election results are in and the US House of Representatives has changed hands, does this mean that there will be a reversal of all the healthcare reform initiatives put into place by the Obama administration? This country is in dire need of healthcare reform, and someone has to have the courage to “step up to the plate.”
To be sure, the initiatives put into effect by the current administration can be considered a good start, but more is needed to fix the situation. Unemployment is not diminishing as quickly as the press would have you believe. And what happens when COBRA runs out for all these unemployed people in America? Insurance companies, in anticipation of higher “medical loss ratios” –such a lovely term–have decided to raise premiums just to hedge their bets. As a result, we are headed into the “perfect storm.”
So with a change in the House, will the new majority try to block these initial changes to healthcare set in motion by the Obama Administration? Healthcare reform is badly needed in America, for all Americans. This is the one time we need bipartisan political support to give Americans a sound healthcare delivery system that is affordable for all. Using healthcare as a political football is just the wrong ... read more »
TAGS: COBRA healthcare healthcare reform industry insights insurance companies mid-term election Paul Meade unemployment
November 4, 2010 ·
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Neil Mellor, business development consultant at Thought Leader Select, and Paul Meade, the company’s president and founder, attended SMi’s KOL: Knowledge Leader Partnerships conference on September 29 and 30 in London. Neil sat down with the Thought Leader Select Blog to discuss his takeaways from the conference.
TLS Blog: Neil, how was the conference in London?
Neil Mellor: I found it quite interesting, and so did Paul—since we’ve grown the company over the last five years to include multiple European and global thought leader assessments, we thought it made sense to get a real sense of the industry’s thinking about what we do on the European continent.
TLS Blog: What were some of the main points of discussion?
Neil Mellor: Right now, there’s a pretty hot debate going on about the roles that health care professionals play in the development and launch of new medicines. This conference even included a robust discussion on what to call them—it seems the European marketplace is evolving away from the term “key opinion leader,” with companies choosing instead to rely on what they call “external experts,” “opinion leaders,” or “thought leaders.” It made us feel even better about the name of our company, that’s for sure!
TLS Blog: Would you say that there’s a migration going on in the perception of the HCPs ... read more »
TAGS: allied health professionals biopharmaceutical biotech British Medical Journal clinical practice Dr. Fiona Godlee external experts FDA HCP health care professionals key opinion leader Knowledge Leader Partnerships Conference London medical experts Neil Mellor new medicines nurse practitioners opinion leaders patient Paul Meade pharma pharmacists physician assistants public health publishing registered nurses research SMi Sunshine Act therapeutic area thought leader assessments Thought Leader Select thought leaders
November 3, 2010 ·
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New press release out today from the offices of Thought Leader Select:
November 3, 2010 (Chapel Hill, NC)—Thought Leader Select, a Research Triangle, NC-based company dedicated to thought leader collaboration services for the healthcare and biopharmaceutical industries, announces the launch of the all-new ThoughtLeaderSelect.com.
Along with the launch of the site, the company has re-launched a branded suite of integrated services geared at facilitating better industry collaborations with experts in the global medical community, along with a new corporate logo. The project, spearheaded internally by Kristen Smithwick, the firm’s vice president of business development, marketing, and strategic planning, and Brian Castle, director of global marketing and client relations, is the culmination of six months of work with internal and external strategic partners, including web design firm Design Hammer and innovation consultant Studio Hagler, both of Durham, NC.
“We are very pleased with the work of Tevan Alexander and the team at Design Hammer in leading the re-design of our site,” stated Smithwick. “We wanted our site not only to showcase our dedicated team and the services they provide to the industries we serve, but also to have a space where we could interact with our clients and people within the industry, through our blog and social media efforts.”
“Ty Hagler of Studio Hagler was also quite ... read more »
TAGS: biopharmaceutical Brian Castle corporate branding Design Hammer healthcare key opinion leaders KOL engagement KOL identification KOL profiling Kristen Smithwick medical experts medicine Studio Hagler Thought Leader Select website
November 2, 2010 ·
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Lisa Smith helped to start Thought Leader Select in 2006 with Paul Meade and Kristen Smithwick. As Executive Vice President of Research and Development, Lisa ensures the company’s highest research standards. She has years of experience leading research and consulting projects for the biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and healthcare industries. Through her work, Lisa has helped scores of companies improve thought leader engagement strategies and strengthen medical affairs, commercial and clinical development functions.
The Thought Leader Select Blog sat down with Lisa, the bedrock of Thought Leader Select’s industry-leading research, to learn more about her role within the company, what drives her at work and the extracurricular passions that make her unique.
TLS Blog: Good morning, Lisa. Why did you help to found Thought Leader Select?
Lisa Smith: I was working at Clear Point Health with Paul Meade on a variety of interesting projects for biopharmaceutical clients. One client, in particular, needed our help to understand how to make advisory boards more effective. Paul and I interviewed executives in several pharmaceutical companies and key opinion leaders to identify best practices in developing, planning and executing effective advisory board meetings. This work sparked our interest in thought leader engagement. Following our work on advisory board best practices, Paul and I helped the same client better engage a group of KOLs by devising an organized system ... read more »
TAGS: advisory boards best practices biopharmaceutical Clear Point Health commercial development ethics healthcare journalism key opinion leaders KOL strategies KOLs Lisa Smith medical affairs OIG Paul Meade public health research thought leader leader engagement Thought Leader Select thought leaders transparency
