Tips for a Successful Advisory Board 

By: Martine Estchmaier, Anna Hundt Golden, Rebecca (Becky) Roman

In today’s fast-paced healthcare landscape, the importance of gathering insights from diverse perspectives cannot be overstated. Healthcare advisory boards play a pivotal role in this process, serving as a bridge between industry stakeholders and the invaluable expertise of thought leaders, clinicians, and patient advocates. These boards provide a platform for discussion, collaboration, and strategic thinking, enabling organizations to navigate complex challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities. Below, we review 4 key considerations for implementing an advisory board and ensuring successful outcomes.  

Methodology for In-Depth Market Insights 

Prior to engaging in an advisory board, it is crucial to determine if an advisory board is the most appropriate methodology or if a survey or market research might be a more suitable approach given your unique needs. Advisory boards are an opportunity to gather feedback in open discussion with a small group and gain in-depth insights from a wide range of stakeholders. Formats such as market research or real-world evidence (RWE) can provide a broader view but are less flexible.  

Size and Length of a Healthcare Advisory Board 

An advisory board is a meeting in which a small number of advisors (8-15) are engaged to provide insights on a given topic or disease area. The meeting format can vary and involve a range of different stakeholders (eg, subject matter experts, key opinion leaders (KOLs), healthcare professionals, payers, patient advocacy groups, and patients, among others). Advisory board meetings should last between 2 and four hours, especially if the advisory board is virtual. 

A few examples of healthcare advisory boards with the aforementioned stakeholder groups include (but are not limited to):  

  • KOL advisory board: Gather clinical and strategic insights from KOLs in a specific therapeutic area on a product coming to market, market trends, emerging research, etc  
  • Patient advisory board: Gather input on disease-specific experiences from a patient/caregiver perspective to assist in the design of early access programs and patient-centric marketing strategies 
  • Payer/medical advisory board: Capture insights on data, evidence gaps, potential use of a product, and possible barriers to a product’s coverage/reimbursement 

Format of a Healthcare Advisory Board 

There are 3 meeting formats to consider when planning an advisory board that come with inherent advantages and disadvantages. 

  • Face-to-face meeting linked to a congress: Advisors may already be at a location (thereby reducing travel costs) but may be juggling a full meeting schedule. Being physically in the same space can facilitate discussion. 
  • Face-to-face standalone meeting: A meeting can be scheduled to best fit the meeting objectives, and being physically in the same space can facilitate discussion. Advisors are focused on the task at hand and not distracted by other commitments. Travel can be costly and finding a mutually agreeable meeting time can be challenging. 
  • Virtual meeting: Virtual meetings allow for a scalable environment for group discussion in which virtual monitoring and reporting tools (eg, polls, questions) can be leveraged to facilitate discussion and drive consensus. Advisors do not need to commit time to travel thereby reducing travel costs for the study sponsor. That said, advisors may be distracted by work demands that impact meeting quality, technical issues may arise, and time zones may impact scheduling the meeting. 

Advisor Engagement Strategies 

To make the most of your advisory board, there are a few strategies to ensure advisors are prepared and engaged.  

  • Preread materials: Preparing pre-meeting materials for advisors to review will level set expectations for what is to be discussed during the meeting and help shape discussion.  
  • Meeting agenda: Create a meeting agenda of topics to be discussed and the time limit allotted for each topic. This allows advisors to focus on specific discussion points. 
  • Engaging meeting materials: Slide content to drive discussion should be engaging, clear, and visual. All content should be relevant to the meeting topic, and topics for discussion should be presented in stimulating ways. 
  • Breakout rooms: If the advisory board is large enough to support smaller group discussions, breakout rooms can be used to change up the flow of discussion. 

Advisory Boards at Magnolia Market Access 

We specialize in implementing successful advisory boards tailored to your unique needs. Our expertise can help you leverage the collective knowledge of KOLs and stakeholders to enhance your market access strategies. Ready to elevate your organization’s approach? Contact us today to discuss how we can support your advisory board initiatives and ensure you unlock the full potential of these vital collaborations.