The Role of a Medical Information Specialist at Med Communications
Pharmaceutical medical information is a broad term that entails an extensive amount of drug or product data for both on- and off-label uses. As a department, medical information revolves around the creation of fair and scientifically balanced materials for patients and health care professionals. This comprises, but is not limited to, publications, dossier development, and promotional review committees. A subset of medical information includes reactively responding to unsolicited product questions from external requestors.
As a result, pharmaceutical companies have dedicated informational call centers, staffed with medical information specialists (MIS). Medical information specialists serve as product specialists that interface with clients (both the medical community and the public) to provide concise, accurate, and non-promotional data in a timely manner. They ensure clients have essential information that is clearly understandable for using the company’s products safely and effectively.
As a representative of the company, an MIS addresses the needs of clients while following company procedures. It is not uncommon for the MIS to use multiple channels, including email, letters, or even video chat, to communicate. However, a typical day consists of answering clients’ drug information questions verbally through live telephone conversations. This requires phone etiquette, such as tactful oral communication skills and active listening, in order to be successful.
In addition to responding to and documenting calls in compliance with regulatory and legal demands, the MIS also identifies and captures adverse event information and product quality complaints. Depending on the life cycle of the product, an MIS may assist with clinical trial recruitment and patient assistance programs. Medical information specialists also routinely attend medical congresses and scientific meetings. Not only do these experiences enhance the MIS’s scientific knowledge, but they also provide the client a face-to-face exchange of medical information with the MIS.
Medical information specialists are generally pharmacists or nurses who have many years of related experiences and/or drug information residency backgrounds. More often than not, most MIS’s specialize in one therapeutic area for one company. However, a portion of the MIS’s at Med Communications have a unique role. With Med Communications’ non-dedicated model option, one pharmacist may be responsible for providing medical information for several pharmaceutical companies. This model provides benefits to both our MISs and clients, as it allows our employees to diversify their skill sets and it allows us to offer our clients greater flexibility and costs savings.
MISs are vital to Med Communications as they possess the clinical expertise to communicate complex product knowledge and directly fulfill the needs of our clients and their customers.
