May 29, 2013 ·
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We were inspired by a recent PharmaLive story on Lilly’s new initiative highlighting the key work that medical professionals undertake at the company during all facets and phases of drug discovery and development.
The story notes that over 500 physicians, 700 pharmacists, and 1400 medical research scientists work at Lilly, and the company is touting their work with the medical community to bring new treatments to market, all while keeping patient needs first.
While many are either skeptical or unaware of these interactions, the article speaks to why we are in the business of what we do at Thought Leader Select—delivering key information to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies so that external relations officials at companies like Lilly can optimize their medical community interactions in the service of patients.
Companies in life science disciplines utilize key opinion leaders in medicine in a host of ways to ensure that new treatments target unmet medical needs and have the best impact possible on patient outcomes. Their collaborative work results in clinical research, patient advocacy, bioethics, regulatory compliance, and medical education, all key drivers in medicine today.
Thought Leader Select is proud that our work in identifying and profiling the right key opinion leaders and medical centers of excellence to collaborate with industry in these many contexts and more optimizes these industry/medical community relationships for ... read more »
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biopharmaceutical biotechnology Eli Lilly ethics and transparency health outcomes industry-based medical professionals key opinion leaders in medicine KOL engagement KOLs Lilly medical device medical research scientists medical treatments patient care Patients Matter Most pharmaceuticals pharmacists PharmaLive physicians Thought Leader Select
October 30, 2012 ·
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Thought Leader Select is a company focused on driving industry collaborations among biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics companies with leading medical experts and centers of excellence, with the ultimate goals of these collaborations being two-fold in purpose: better treatment options for patients and better outcomes for global public health. As part of our company’s mission, we work with multiple organizations to promote best practices that deliver ethical, transparent interactions among these various healthcare constituencies.
One of these groups is the recently-launched Medical Science Liaison Society, a global Non-Profit organization being led by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Samuel Dyer. The MSL Society is filling a vital need for the expanding role of Medical Science Liaisons around the world, as they collaborate with KOLs, physicians, and other health care professionals to advance medical science together to improve the quality of life for patients everywhere.
Thought Leader Select’s Allison Murphy, a veteran MSL herself from her days working in the Endocrinology Medical Affairs unit at Eli Lilly and Company, recently sat down with Dr. Dyer to learn more about this emerging organization and the impact the MSL Society is having in promoting the role of Medical Science Liaisons in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries.
In ... read more »
TAGS: Allison Murphy biotechnology centers of excellence CRO Eli Lilly and Company health care professionals healthcare key opinion leader management key opinion leader relationships key opinion leaders KOLs medical affairs medical affairs conference medical device medical science Medical Science Liaison Society medical science liaisons MSL and Medical Affairs Networking Group LinkedIn MSL best practices MSL conferences MSL education MSL executives MSL experts MSL management MSL resources MSL World group LinkedIn off-label discussions pharmaceutical physicians publications Samuel Dyer scientific journals social media Thought Leader Select University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
April 26, 2012 ·
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April 26, 2012 (CHAPEL HILL, NC) Thought Leader Select, a Chapel Hill, NC-based consulting firm serving the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries, announces the commencement of an inter-disciplinary infectious disease engagement with a top 10 global biopharmaceutical company.
The biopharmaceutical company, part of a select group of global leaders in drug development for the treatment of infectious diseases, approached Thought Leader Select for support with its development pipeline across the Canadian market. To meet the combined strategic needs of the company’s emerging pipeline in treating conditions like HIV and Hepatitis-C, Thought Leader Select will deploy its in-house research group for a multi-disciplinary assessment of the key opinion leader community in infectious diseases.
Known for the versatility of applications for its in-house research, Thought Leader Select’s research group will analyze the skills and experience of leading specialists in the following areas:
Gastroenterology
Hepatology
Infectious Disease
Internal Medicine
For the first wave of the assessment, the Thought Leader Select research group will identify 50 physicians appropriate for compliant engagement in support of drug development for infectious diseases, across multiple Canadian provinces.
In the second phase of the assessment, Thought Leader Select’s in-house research group will engage in its exclusive, validated methodology of deep profiling, delivering objective assessments of the skills and experience of key opinion leaders across 14 areas where health care professionals define themselves as thought leaders, ... read more »
TAGS: basic and clinical research biopharmaecutical consulting firm diagnostics drug development gastroenterology geographic impact of key opinion leaders health care professionals Hepatitis C hepatology HIV infectious diseases internal medicine key opinion leader relationships key opinion leaders KOL KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOL strategy Kristen Smithwick market access medical affairs medical device medical marketing medical meetings speakers patient health payer marketing physicians pipeline planning pricing and reimbursement professional network mapping public health scientific journal publishing Thought Leader Select thought leaders in medicine treatment guidelines
March 27, 2012 ·
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Industry Insights from Kristen Smithwick
Albeit a bit late, the U. S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule on the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act’s Physician Payments Sunshine Provision (also known as the “Sunshine Act”) to implement it as law.
CMS invited comments on the proposed rule through mid-February 2012, and a recent webcast, sponsored by PharmaLive’s Pharmalot, featured key facts and summaries of comments on the proposed rule. Working for a provider of research and consulting to the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries on relationships with physicians and other health care providers, I enjoyed the opportunity to join the webcast, led by experts from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, P.C., and am eager to share some of my key takeaways.
As mentioned in previous Thought Leader Select Blog posts, the Sunshine Act, as with many laws and regulations, is full of unintended consequences – some positive and some negative. Lance K. Stell, medical ethics teacher at Davidson College and Carolinas Medical Center, reports in his USA Today op-ed piece that the “Sunshine Act will cost far more than the $224 million estimated for just the first year of compliance” and that “the biggest cost will be the valuable, socially useful physician-industry collaborations that simply won’t occur.” Of course, the idea of ... read more »
TAGS: AdvaMed BIO biopharmaceutical biotechnology Buchanan Ignersoll & Rooney CMS Davidson College Carolinas Medical Center diagnostics HCP payments health care providers Kristen Smithwick Lance Stell medical device medical ethics OTC manufacturer Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act pharmaceutical PharmaLive Pharmalot PhRMA Physician Payments Sunshine Provision physicians Sunshine Act Thought Leader Select Thought Leader Select Blog US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services veterinarians veterinary schools
April 27, 2011 ·
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Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M.Sc., MPH
By now, just about everyone involved in healthcare has heard about the Sunshine Provision (also known as the Sunshine Act). Starting January 1, 2012, any U.S. drug or device manufacturer that provides compensation to a physician or medical institution for any kind of services rendered will have to report it to the government.
The reporting benchmark is any amount over $10 for any single event. This means that if a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company buys a sandwich for a physician’s lunch and it costs $9.95, it doesn’t have to be reported, but if the physician adds a bottle of water to the sandwich, bringing the total to $11.95, it will need to be reported. Is it really to report sandwiches? Of course not, but it will! It’s really for some of the “big ticket” items, like compensation for conducting clinical studies, consulting on the development of new products, speaking at small meetings to colleagues that are sponsored by a company, etc.
So who pays for collecting, capturing, analyzing, and reporting all this information, and what will all of this monitoring activity cost? Let’s start by determining the number of active physicians in the United States. Well, there’s a problem right off the bat! According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are ... read more »
TAGS: $10 American Association of Family Physicians biotechnology Census Bureu compensation consulting cost drug government government database healthcare information JAMA Journal of American Medical ASsociation manage manufacturer medical device medical institution monitoring Paul Meade pay pharmaceutical company physician report reporting sales representative Sunshine Act Sunshine Provision thougth leader WHO World Health Organization
July 14, 2010 ·
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Brian Castle joined Thought Leader Select in January of 2010, as director of global marketing and client relations. Brian has 12 years of experience leading teams in business development, sales, marketing and customer services. He spent 11 years in the financial services industry, managing business units for several top banking institutions. Upon leaving the financial sector, Brian used his expertise in business development, communications and marketing to help business and non-profit clients develop and execute marketing, social media and branding strategies. In his new role at Thought Leader Select, Brian is helping the company expand its sales and marketing efforts and create a larger presence in the KOL identification and profiling marketplace.
The Thought Leader Select Blog sat down with Brian, the powerhouse behind Thought Leader Select’s social media strategy, to learn more about his role within the company, what drives him at work and the extracurricular passions that make him unique.
TLS Blog: Good morning, Brian. What made you sign on with Thought Leader Select?
Brian Castle: I spent most of my career working in the financial services industry. When the industry started experiencing its recent turmoil, I decided it was time to make a change. So I reached out to several business owners and started collaborating with them on a host of projects in marketing, business development, social media, and public ... read more »
TAGS: banking biotechnology business development communications customer services financial services health care hockey key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOLs Kristen Smithwick Lisa Smith marketing medical device non profit objective research Paul Meade pharmaceutical pop culture public relations RBC rock star sales social media Thought Leader Select thought leaders wachovia wells fargo
May 6, 2010 ·
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Kristen Smithwick joined Thought Leader Select as its director of research operations in 2006. Kristen leads sales, marketing and strategic planning in her current role as vice president of the company. A 1998 graduate of Duke University, Kristen spent the first seven years of her career as manager of membership services at a North Carolina firm providing best practice benchmarking services to the biopharmaceutical, medical device, and health care industries.
The Thought Leader Select Blog recently sat down to catch up with Kristen Smithwick to learn about her background and how she makes her professional contribution to the work of Thought Leader Select.
TLS Blog: Good morning, Kristen. Tell us why you joined Thought Leader Select.
Kristen Smithwick: After seven years working to help a small company grow its market share, I wanted a new, different challenge in my career. I saw a great opportunity at Thought Leader Select—I loved the concept that Paul Meade and Lisa Smith (Thought Leader Select’s founders) had put together. This concept—providing unbiased, objective data on key opinion leaders to assist pharmaceutical companies in developing new medicines—was something we all thought the industry really needed. I had worked with Paul and Lisa at my previous company, and I appreciated Lisa’s sharp-minded approach to research and Paul’s big-picture, strategic mindset.
TLS Blog: How does your academic background and/or professional career ... read more »
TAGS: benchmarking best practices biotechnology Duke University health care key opinion leaders KOL deployment KOL development KOL engagement KOL identification KOL mapping KOL profiling KOLs Kristen Smithwick Lisa Smith medical device objective research Paul Meade pharmaceutical Thought Leader Select thought leaders
