Eighty-Six Percent of Surveyed Life Science Companies Coordinate Key Opinion Leader Travel Arrangements

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - April 29, 2016) - Fifty percent of surveyed life science companies task vendors with managing travel arrangements and 36 percent coordinate travel internally. Of the remaining 14 percent that task KOLs with arranging their own travel, half reported that their travel compensation practices need improvement in order to be compliant, according to primary intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information. 

Life science companies seek out healthcare providers (HCPs) to perform a variety of activities on their behalf, ranging from ad boards to clinical work to promotional speeches. Many times, HCPs do not live or operate in close proximity to where these activities take place -- and must travel to perform them. At 86 percent, it is common practice among survey participants for the host company to coordinate travel arrangements for a key opinion leader (KOL).

"Not even one of our surveyed Top 10 companies reported that they leave travel arrangements to the key opinion leader," said Jacob Presson, data product team leader at Cutting Edge Information. "This solidifies the expectation among healthcare providers that travel will be arranged for them."

The survey analysis, Travel Policy Compliance for Engaging with HCPs, available at https://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/other/travel-policy-compliance-engaging-hcps/, captures key aspects of KOL travel policies about rates paid for travel time, hotel accommodations, airfare allowances and acclimation time. The results of this research are presented in this deliverable. Clients can use these data and insights to inform their decision-making around thought leader travel policy. Some of the highlights included are:

• Policies for compensating healthcare providers (HCPs) during travel time.
• Level of travel support for HCPs (e.g. booking assistance).
• Practices surrounding preferential hotel arrangements.
• Differentiation between KOL tiers for air travel accommodations.
• Class of airline travel for domestic and international journeys by tier.
• Policies regarding which activities warrant travel time reimbursement.
• Guidelines on acclimation time after international travel.

Contact:
Elio Evangelista
Senior Director of Commercialization
Cutting Edge Information
[e-mail]
919-403-6583