Why Live Data is behind successful NHS engagement

Oli Hudson, content director at Wilmington Healthcare, explores why smart, accessible and accurate NHS customer data is vital for UK medtech.

In speaking to life science stakeholders about engaging their customer base, one phrase that comes up again and again is: the right message, with the right frequency, to the right audience.

It’s an easy thing to say. But in the complex, cross cutting world of NHS stakeholders, with a range of responsibilities, priorities, and needs, it becomes challenging to assess who is that audience, what message they need, and when.

From the other side, medtech has a range of communication needs. How do you assess who needs a regulatory notification about a product? Who are the procurement managers? Which stakeholders are involved in creating a new pathway for a new surgical technique?

The solutions all hinge on data. Data that has reach; data that’s reliable; data that’s up to date; data that is granular; and data that is compliant. 

At Wilmington Healthcare, great care is taken to ensure that the five elements above are always in place for any data we distribute to our industry clients. 

The NHS differs from many other healthcare systems. NHS personnel can be confusingly compartmentalised. It’s not always easy to discern who the players are in each pathway. 

Wilmington Healthcare operations director Sarah Hawkins says: “Our global clients ask what would you do differently with UK data – and I would say: everything! There are different structures, organisations, and decision-making units.” 

In such a market Live Data, that is constantly updated and can be made to order, based on pressing client needs – give an immediate advantage.

Five reasons why you need Live Data

Below we outline five aspects of our Live Data – and why getting the messaging and data right is all-important.

1. Reach

The NHS is one of the word’s largest employers and keeping track of the right contacts within it is highly challenging. Our database of over 340,000 contacts is larger than anything else available in the UK market.

2. Reliability

Our data is scrupulously researched to ensure the right people, attached to the correct healthcare settings, are presented for your needs; we know their current reported roles and responsibilities and how they fit into wider teams and decision-making units.

3. Currency

Our datasets are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that in the fast-moving world of the NHS customer, you are always dealing with the latest possible information.

Head of sales Andy Hart says: “Static Data goes out of date. Live data is living and breathing, and on demand”.

Sarah Hawkins adds: “we make over 37,000 updates to our data every month. It’s a full-time operation with a dedicated staff – we invest in our data, so your company doesn’t have to”.

4. Granularity

The modern NHS has many overlapping, cross-cutting and sometimes confusing organograms. It’s important to get to the heart of who you need to message; the disease treaters, the clinical networks, the payers, the commissioners or the influencers. Get your message across to the people who can most directly action it.

Wilmington is uniquely well resourced with data on payers and commissioners, so if you are building influence on systems and pathways above the level of individual clinicians and procurement departments, we can help.

5. Compliance

Above all, customer relationship management must be compliant. You need to make sure you can access and contact all your customers within data law and within industry guidelines - and send comms that are targeted and only go to those for whom its appropriate. 

Wilmington specialises in compliant data.

In summary

If you’re launching a device or trying to get engagement with the NHS on a new technique or area of healthcare, you need to know who you will use it, who will procure it and which stakeholders will benefit from it. Here, success is based on the best possible customer data. Companies in the past have been obstructed by data that is outdated, unreliable and unrepresentative of the current NHS.

We can help and position you in your market with fast, accessible, cutting edge and accurate data – that is on demand, can work with your current CRM system, and can be tailored to your commercial, organisational and team needs. 

If this sounds like something your business would benefit from, then we have ready-made solutions for you - easy to implement, cost-effective and most importantly, healthcare market specific.