Medical Publications: Dedicated Budgets Contribute to Higher Output of Medical Manuscripts and Abstracts

Cutting Edge Information’s research finds more than 90% of high-output medical publication teams have a dedicated annual budget

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Better than nine out of 10 high-output pharmaceutical medical publications teams begin the year with dedicated budgets in place, according to a recent survey by pharmaceutical intelligence firm Cutting Edge Information.

“The foremost and most basic statement of that commitment is to establish a dedicated budget.”

Even high-output teams, those who produce more than 20 manuscripts annually, are challenged by budget and personnel limitations and usually require outsourcing at least some activities. Cutting Edge Information’s study, “Strategic Medical Publications Management: Plan Development and Resource Benchmarks,” found that 93% of high-output medical publication teams have dedicated budgets. On the other hand, 33% of the low-output teams surveyed did not have dedicated budgets in place.

Medical publications detailing scientific findings and data are a cornerstone of medical communication strategy. Larger numbers of publications help pharmaceutical companies reach out to a wider breadth of physicians and medical professionals. To reach these higher rates of publication production, medical publication teams must have the necessary support.

“High-output teams exist because their companies have committed to the medical publication group’s objectives,” said Ryan McGuire, research team leader at Cutting Edge Information. “The foremost and most basic statement of that commitment is to establish a dedicated budget.”

Dedicated budget is not the only factor that elevates medical publication production, as 67% of low-output teams also have budgets in place. The budget’s existence does determine the team’s production rate. However, high-output teams focus spending to support a proactive medical communications strategy. Low-output teams typically allocate spending to immediate needs and are often unable to engage in the planning necessary to produce large numbers of manuscripts and abstracts annually.

“Strategic Medical Publications Management: Plan Development and Resource Benchmarks,” (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/medical-affairs/medical-publications/) examines top-performing medical publication teams’ structures, budgets, performance metrics, medical journal selection, publication rates and outsourcing practices. Publication teams can use this research to:

• Expertly manage medical publication team building, vendor relationship, journal selection and long-term planning.
• Balance in-house and outsourced activities to optimize publication strategies.
• Track the right metrics to prove value and secure critical resources.

For more information about medical publications benchmarks and medical affairs strategy, contact Elio Evangelista at [phone].