KOLs: Who Are They, Where Are They, & How Do You Find Them?
Marc Engelsgjerd, MD19 March 20122012 SLA PHTD Spring Meeting
Research
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Agenda
KOLs - The Who
KOLs – The Where
KOLs – The How
KOLs – The Pitfalls
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Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs): The Who
Bureau of Applied Social Research,Columbia University
Paul Lazarsfeld, PhD1901-1976
Elihu Katz, PhD1926-
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KOLs: The Who (2)
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, & Hazel Gaudet, The People's Choice (1944)
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KOLs: The Who (3)
1. Who one is2. What one knows3. Whom one knows
Elihu Katz & Paul Lazarsfeld, Personal Influence (1955)
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Agenda
KOLs – The Who
KOLs – The Where
KOLs – The How
KOLs – The Pitfalls
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Specific biopharma KOL profile depends on context
• Academic luminaries
• Community practitioners
• Basic scientists
• Other healthcare providers (NPs, RNs, etc.)
• Pharmacists
• Patients
• Regulators
• Consultants
• Economists
KOLs: The Where
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Agenda
KOLs – The Who
KOLs – The Where
KOLs – The How
KOLs – The Pitfalls
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1. What am I looking for? Have I adequately defined the specific attributes of the expert(s) that can best serve my needs?
2. Have I found it? Are the experts I have identified truly a good fit for my needs?
KOLs – The How
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KOLs can be found in a variety of ways, ranging from the very informal (and inexpensive) to the very structured (and potentially very expensive). These include:
KOL identification/tracking firms In-house literature searches Expert Networks Personal networks Word of mouth
KOLs – The How (2)
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KOL identification/tracking firms Increasingly sophisticated methods go beyond
standard PubMed searching Natural language processing to maximize relevance Authorship position distinctions May allow longitudinal tracking of sentiment Hard to overcome publication bias May not facilitate actual contact with KOL Can be expensive
KOLs – The How (3)
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In-house literature searches Rapid turnaround Inexpensive Requires bandwidth and expertise Hard to overcome publication bias
KOLs – The How (4)
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Expert Networks Rapid turnaround Many provide turnkey services, including conference
call hosting & scheduling, payment services, etc. Third party arrangement may mitigate some
compliance risks Rely, in part, on self-reported expertise Ranking algorithms may reward promiscuity and lead
to commoditization
KOLs – The How (5)
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Personal Networks/Word of Mouth Rapid turnaround Inexpensive By definition, limited in scope Possibly subject to a variety of biases
KOLs – The How (6)
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Agenda
KOLs – The Who
KOLs – The Where
KOLs- The How
KOLs – The Pitfalls
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Rigorous assessment of expertise can be difficult if not practically impossible in some cases.
KOLs – The Pitfalls
“Dr. Myron L. Fox”
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Experts may have a valuable perspective to share, but if they tell everyone, the impact is
reduced.
KOLs – The Pitfalls (2)
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Being a KOL can be lucrative—sometimes obscenely so—and this incentive, along with the
desire to raise one’s professional profile, can distort objectivity.
KOLs – The Pitfalls (3)
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Financial (or other) incentives may lead to ethical lapses and, in certain cases, jail time.
KOLs – The Pitfalls (4)
Yves Benhamou, MD
Chip Skowron, MD