64 Percent of U.S. Medical Affairs Leaders Believe HEOR Should Sit Under Medical Affairs

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - December 29, 2015) - The life sciences industry has placed an increasing focus on health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), and many medical affairs functions are shifting to incorporate HEOR under their umbrella. According to a new study from Cutting Edge Information, 32 percent of medical affairs teams are responsible for HEOR, and this percentage is forecast to increase to 43 percent for U.S. teams.

The percentage of medical affairs teams supporting HEOR may not reflect individuals' views about whether or not HEOR should be part of medical affairs. The study, Medical Affairs Management: Igniting Innovative Global Strategies, asked respondents where they believe HEOR should sit within a company. Forty-five percent of all respondents believe HEOR should be under medical affairs while 37 percent believe it belongs under market access.

These data shift among U.S. respondents, where HEOR arguably has the biggest impact. Sixty-four percent of U.S. medical affairs leaders want HEOR teams to report to medical affairs, and no one responded that HEOR should be an autonomous group. This trend may underscore the value of HEOR in the U.S. market and medical affairs' growing strategic role in market-facing activities.

The debate over HEOR's positioning is due to HEOR activities that touch both market access and medical affairs roles. The end-goal of health economics research is to bolster discussions with payers, but much of the clinical outcomes research actually takes place under medical affairs, in Phase 4 studies. 

"There is no clear-cut verdict of where HEOR belongs," said Sarah Ray, senior analyst at Cutting Edge Information. "Instead, overlapping medical, market-access and other internal objectives may complicate companies' decisions of where to position HEOR within their organizations."

Medical Affairs Management: Igniting Innovative Global Strategies, available at http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/global-resource-allocation/, analyzes medical affairs subfunction budgets, staffing and outsourcing data, by each team's region. The report's highlights also include:

• Budget per year (2014-16) for the total medical affairs budget
• Data showing 2015 budget per supported product and per FTE
• Medical affairs team structure, including associated subfunctions and strategy development structures
• Trends affecting medical affairs and its individual subfunctions
• Stage during which 15 medical affairs subfunctions begin and reach peak activity

For more information about Medical Affairs Management: Igniting Innovative Global Strategies and medical communication team budgets, please visit www.cuttingedgeinfo.com. 

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