Healthcare Market Research That Survives the Formulary Committee

Most pharma launches fail at the payer desk, not in the lab. SIS International runs primary research with prescribers, hospital procurement teams, and patient populations across 135+ countries so commercial teams build evidence that clears real reimbursement gates.

Healthcare market research: physician interview for payer value dossier development

Payer Value Dossier Research

HTA bodies like NICE, G-BA, and HAS require pharmacoeconomic evidence specific to their jurisdiction. We interview payer decision-makers and former formulary committee members to test value stories before submission, so market access teams know which endpoints and comparators actually drive coverage decisions in each market.

KOL Mapping and Physician Panels

Recruiting Key Opinion Leaders is not a database exercise. SIS identifies prescribers by referral network influence and publication weight, then conducts structured expert interviews to capture prescribing rationale, unmet therapeutic need, and switching triggers. We maintain active physician panels across oncology, immunology, rare disease, and CNS.

Patient Journey and Adherence Research

Clinical trial compliance rates misrepresent real-world adherence. We run longitudinal patient journey mapping studies that track where patients drop off: missed refills, caregiver burden, portal fatigue, insurance step-therapy barriers. The output is an evidence-based adherence model tied to behavioral data, not self-reported surveys.

Medical Device Human Factors Validation

The FDA’s HFE guidance and EU MDR usability requirements demand third-party validation before submission. We design and execute formative and summative usability studies for surgical instruments, infusion systems, diagnostic devices, and connected wearables. Intuitive Surgical and Medtronic both demonstrated that late-stage usability failures cost 12-18 months.

Biosimilar Competitive Intelligence

The biosimilar market hinges on formulary positioning, not molecular equivalence. We track competitive launch sequencing, indication prioritization decisions, and payer switching policies across the US, EU5, and Japan. For every reference biologic, we map the full competitive set: pipeline stage, pricing strategy, and contracting approach.

Real-World Evidence Generation

Regulators and payers increasingly require real-world evidence alongside trial data. SIS designs observational studies, claims data analyses, and patient registry research that supplement clinical endpoints with evidence from actual treatment settings. The gap between regulatory approval and reimbursement approval is where most commercial strategies fail.

COMMERCIAL LAUNCH INTELLIGENCE

Three Evidence Failures That Stall Market Access

DIAGNOSIS 01 //

UNTESTED PAYER VALUE STORIES

The Phase III Protocol Lock Trap

Most pharma teams finalize their Phase III comparators and endpoints without consulting the payers who will evaluate the evidence. NICE, G-BA, and HAS each weight different clinical and pharmacoeconomic criteria. A trial designed for FDA approval can still produce an evidence package that fails HTA review in Germany or France, leaving the drug commercially stranded in major markets for years.

DIAGNOSIS 02 //

LATE-STAGE USABILITY FAILURES

The Human Factors Submission Gap

The FDA’s HFE guidance and EU MDR both require documented usability validation for Class IIb and Class III devices. Companies that delay formative testing until the pre-submission window discover critical use errors too late. Redesigning a surgical instrument or infusion system interface under regulatory deadline pressure adds 12-18 months and exposes the window for competitors to file first.

DIAGNOSIS 03 //

INVISIBLE FORMULARY EROSION

The Silent Biosimilar Switch

Physicians and hospital P&T committees do not announce formulary switches. They execute them quietly through internal protocol changes and PBM-driven substitution policies. By the time a reference biologic manufacturer detects market share loss in prescription data, the contracting and formulary positioning decisions were made months earlier. Without real-time competitive intelligence on payer switching triggers, the response comes too late.

PRIMARY RESEARCH DELIVERABLES

What SIS Delivers to Life Sciences Commercial Teams

Jurisdiction-Specific Payer Evidence Assessments

We interview 15-20 formulary directors, former HTA committee members, and payer decision-makers per market. The output is a gap analysis mapping your current evidence package against the specific pharmacoeconomic and clinical endpoints each jurisdiction requires for positive coverage.

Regulatory-Grade Usability Validation Studies

Formative and summative human factors research with clinical end-users in their procedural environments. Surgeons, nurses, and technicians test devices under actual operating conditions. Findings are structured for FDA and notified body submission packages.

Longitudinal Patient Adherence Mapping

Multi-week behavioral studies that track where patients drop off therapy: step-therapy insurance barriers, caregiver logistics, portal fatigue, PBM-driven substitutions. Recruited through clinical sites, specialty pharmacies, and patient advocacy networks. Longitudinal data, not single-visit self-reports.

KOL Influence and Prescriber Decision Architecture

We map Key Opinion Leader influence through referral network analysis and clinical practice pattern research, not publication counts. Structured expert interviews capture which data changes prescribing, which peer recommendations carry weight, and which treatment guidelines physicians actually follow in oncology, immunology, CNS, and rare disease.

THE SIS DIFFERENCE

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