Speaker Interview – Kevin Appareti, Philips HealthCare – Autumn Medical Affairs Leaders Forum 2014
Leading up to NextLevel Life Sciences’s Autumn Medical Affairs Leaders Forum, we are conducting email interviews with selected members of our prestigious speaker panel to learn more about their thoughts on this vital issue.
*Opinions below are those only of the individual and do not reflect upon corporate strategy or positioning.
For more information regarding NextLevel Life Sciences’s Autumn Medical Affairs Leaders Forumclick here.
Kevin Appareti, Senior Director, Global Medical Science Liaison, Philips HealthCare, USA
NLP: What do you think makes the current medical affairs environment so challenging for medical device companies?
Kevin Appareti: Healthcare changes and reforms are creating a very dynamic and complex environment. Risk-bearing is shifting across stakeholder groups and this leads to a changing power base and influence network. It is challenging to stay abreast of these changes, but at the same time it is critical understand and react to these shifts and changes.
NLP: Which trends have you seen on the ways in which the medical device sector approaches KOLS and stakeholders over the past 5 years?
Kevin Appareti: Due to new transparency compliance regulations and laws we have seen major changes in individual KOLs willingness to continue collaboration with vendors in the medical device sector. In addition we have seen hospitals and care organizations institute new policies that govern/limit how they and their clinicians can partner with industry. This creates an environment where we need to be very clear about our goals and how we engage with KOLs. Neither healthcare companies nor clinicians and hospitals can innovate and transform medicine alone. We need to work together and in fact bring in payers, policy makers, and other organizations to create a multidisciplinary approach to solving healthcare issues and deliver high quality care at lower costs.
NLP: How much do you think the medical affairs & MSL roles in the device sector are increasing their influence?
Kevin Appareti: In challenging times companies need to rethink how they interact with a growing list of stakeholders. Medical Affairs and the MSL role play a very big role in establishing strong relationships with key influencers. Medical Affairs and the MSL role are in many ways the bridge that connects the external expert and the internal company key stakeholders. This is vital in creating the environment where collaboration will play a strategic role in developing new solutions to transfer healthcare. The MSL role in particular is key as they are managing the relationships that contribute to the creation of value moving forward.
NLP: What’s the best thing for you about working in medical affairs right now?
Kevin Appareti: The best thing about working in medical affairs in this current environment is seeing how challenges are being confronted and overcome by very smart and creative individuals across the spectrum of healthcare. I see providers coming up with incredible care solutions in partnership with healthcare companies. I see payers using analytics to create novel payment models that changes behaviors of providers with better outcomes for patients. I see patients demanding the right care and the right value and companies and providers developing the solutions that fulfill the triple aim: Improved Experience of Care, Improved Population Health, Reduced Cost per capita. It is a very exciting time!
NLP: Why is this Autumn Medical Affairs Leaders Forum event a good idea for people to attend in your eyes?
Kevin Appareti: The value for attending the Autumn Medical Affairs Leaders Forum is to gain insights on trends, best practices, future ideas from my peers. In addition the networking has always been a high value for these meetings. Just as we build strong sustaining relationships with KOLs, we can also learn and benefit from building strong relationships with our peers in this industry. This forum is a great way to do this.