The shift of NHS commissioning to GP consortia will transform the customer landscape for the medical technologies industry. Sam Meakin looks at the strategies and skills needed to work with GPs in the new NHS landscape.

The current upheavals in the landscape of the NHS will affect any company that comes into contact with it. From management consultancies to IT providers, private sector organisations of every shape and size will need to deal with the consequences of the need for efficiency savings and the seismic shift in the way the NHS is run.

Doctoring the NHS

At this stage, it is fair to say that even the NHS itself cannot confirm the shape of its management and commissioning structure going forward. The much- discussed GP consortia will certainly have a great deal of influence at many levels – including the purchase of medical devices – and there is little current information on what these will look like.

A great deal of attention will be paid to the ‘pathfinders’: 52 groups of GPs across the country who will work together to manage their local budgets and commission services for patients directly with other NHS and local authorities in advance of the full switchover in 2013.

What is certain is that the medical technology sector will need to update its tactics and its skill set to ensure survival in the new regime. Whatever the exact new structure, it is unlikely that sales people will be dealing as frequently with nurses as before. Indeed, with the scrapping of PCTs and their purchasing powers, it is uncertain whether nurses will have any decision-making responsibilities at all.

It is possible that we will return to the situation that prevailed several years ago, where the GP is the main decision-maker. For the pharmaceutical sector, this will make very little difference: selling to GPs has always been their domain. But for medical technology companies, the changes could mean the need for an entirely new strategy.

Ditch your database

Selling to GPs is far from easy. For big pharma companies, it has always been a numbers game: having up to 10 reps on a territory increases the likelihood that you will be able to reach the right customer whose needs you can meet. Medical technology companies, however, are nowhere near the same size and do not have the same resources. There are fewer GPs than there are nurses and other clinical professionals, and GPs tend to be extremely busy – a situation that can only worsen as their responsibilities increase. If your one representative is unable to get access to the decision-maker, you will be blocked out.

Of course, every supplier to the NHS will need to deal with a changing customer base as its business practices change. Medical technology staff and employers need to have their fingers on the pulse to survive and thrive in the new world of healthcare. If they fail to keep up to date, they will very quickly find their relationships – and their businesses – have been eroded.

To keep pace with the revolution in the NHS, companies need to examine their existing skill sets and resources to ensure they are best prepared for the next steps. This may mean going back to basics – salespeople will have to forget their current customer base and the details on their CRM system, and gather new information to re-populate it with new decision-makers and clinical leaders.

Aside from the need to rebuild contact bases, it may be that existing employees would benefit from retraining, or that the sales force needs to be strengthened with new blood. It may even be worth looking at recruiting from the pharmaceutical sector to access sales professionals who have already built a base of important contacts within the GP community. This is something that medtech companies have traditionally shied away from – but the skills of pharma representatives are likely to become more and more relevant to medtech in the new NHS environment.

Partnership opportunities

The businesses that are able to engage successfully with GPs will have the opportunity to make themselves invaluable to the new consortia as they take on new responsibilities. The GP consortia will replace PCTs in their obligation to cater for the entire healthcare needs of their designated population in the new NHS landscape. The problem is, however, that few GPs have the skills or the capacity to understand these needs.

PCTs have always been much larger bodies than GP practices, with a far broader knowledge base. Of course, there is no denying that GPs have an excellent grasp of the clinical aspect of care – after all, that is their bread and butter. However, when it comes to areas such as finance and care management, their knowledge of diagnosis and treatment will not be enough.

Clinicians will now have to balance the need to provide the best possible care and equipment for their patients with the need to meet strict budgets set by the Department of Health, and many will not be equipped with the skills to manage the situation effectively. At the end of December, the Government published the NHS Outcomes Framework, which set out the five criteria by which GPs’ performance will be measured: preventing premature deaths, enhancing the quality of life for those with long-term conditions, aiding recovery from illness or injury, ensuring people have a positive experience of care, and creating a safe environment for healthcare.

Much of that is well outside GPs’ current remit – but the gap in skills and knowledge is one that medical technology companies will be well placed to fill with tailored and appropriate solutions. An overstretched GP population will be keen to access products and services that can help them meet their new responsibilities to the level that is expected – clearly an area where medical technologies of many kinds will be essential.

This will involve positioning your offering in a slightly different way: one that is based not only on clinical features and benefits, but also on efficiency and cost saving. By adapting quickly to changing customer needs, offering products and solutions that will fit into the new healthcare environment and making sure that the sales force are able to define the clinical and commercial benefits clearly and concisely, smart businesses will be able to make themselves invaluable to GPs as they face unprecedented challenges.

Don’t panic

Whatever GPs’ responsibilities look like in the future, the changes we are seeing should not be seen as a cause for panic. Those businesses that move quickest and are most responsive to the changes have a real opportunity to grow their market share and establish relationships that will make a tangible difference in the coming months and years. Planning ahead and keeping on top of the changing structures and responsibilities will reap dividends – not only for medical technology businesses, but for the health system as a whole.

Working with GPs: five key things to remember

• Read the situation – Appreciate that the forthcoming NHS changes will be concerning for GPs too. They will find their time in even shorter supply, and may be intimidated by their new responsibilities. Showing empathy and having a legitimate purpose for a call will be essential to fostering genuine relationships.

• Performance criteria – Under the new system, a GP’s performance will be measured on five areas. Help GPs by offering products and services that will help them to meet the new responsibilities outlined in the criteria.

• Solution-based selling – With time pressure being an important consideration, GPs will be looking for ‘bigger picture’ solutions. Providing GPs with holistic packages rather than product-based sales pitches will be of infinitely more valuable to them.

• Make life easier – Much of what is covered under the new performance criteria is outside GPs’ current remit and expertise. Go the extra mile in helping to ensure that GPs understand your offering and let them draw on your expertise. Those who develop mutually beneficial partnerships rather than supplier-client relationships will be considerably more successful.

• Stay connected – Although there will be a paradigm shift in the decision-making power, previous contacts should not be forgotten. While they may no longer be key decision-makers, they may still wield a level of influence.

Sam Meakin is Director of the Healthcare team at RMG, an executive search consultancy based in Cheshire. With over 20 years’ experience of recruiting talent in the healthcare sector, RMG provides both a national and international service covering all functional disciplines and levels of seniority.

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