EVERSANA’s Powerful Matrix Approach to Value & Evidence
EVERSANA’s Value & Evidence (V&E) team is comprised of seasoned HEOR researchers and industry experts who are collectively focused on improving healthcare outcomes and ultimately creating a healthier world. Collaborating with biopharma, device, and digital medicine clients across a variety of workstreams, the team supports every phase of the product life cycle – from evidence generation through reimbursement and market access.
At the core of their success is a collaborative structure that integrates both specialists and cross-trained generalists, with each group comprising approximately 50% of the team and contributing according to their unique strengths. Together, these complementary roles form a matrix organization, a foundational model that supports large-scale and global projects particularly well. V&E specialists have honed their skills in particular areas, such as economic modeling, biostatistics, evidence synthesis, and value communications, and are able to execute with deep technical knowledge. The cross-trained generalists have an integrated view of all workstreams and provide the strategic oversight necessary to plan and perform.
While both roles bring value to the table and are essential to the team’s success, it’s the generalists who help connect the dots across workstreams and ensure alignment on complex projects.
Client Praise Highlights Generalist Success Across Workstreams & Projects
As leaders within the HEOR team, we’ve seen firsthand how essential V&E generalists are in supporting clients and advancing their missions. Since generalists are equipped to see the broader context across multiple workstreams, they’re readily able to identify dependencies and anticipate downstream impacts when a change occurs in one area. Generalists are often the ones who can step back and say, “Here’s how the evidence synthesis connects to the modeling work, and ultimately to the payer or HTA strategy.” In helping a client achieve success, this point of view is where the magic happens.
In one recent engagement, a client was struggling to align their HEOR and market access narratives. One of our generalists bridged the gap by identifying overlapping data points and critically appraising the data from the lens of both reimbursement agencies and payers, which ultimately helped reframe the story and maximize success for both functions. The client said it was the first time their internal teams felt truly aligned.
For EU-JCA projects, oversight by a generalist is critical to ensure full alignment and efficiency across the systematic literature review, indirect treatment comparison, and dossier workstreams. While the project is still underway, the recent client recognition we’ve received for the high level of coordination and collaboration already speaks volumes about the impact of the generalist skillset.
The proof is undeniable when reflecting on positive client feedback: generalists break through barriers and bridge gaps to greatly enhance our V&E team’s integrated solutions.
Generalists’ Enduring Relevance Backed by Distinctive Traits
As EVERSANA – and the life sciences industry itself – continues to evolve, the V&E team predicts continued success from its unique pairing of specialists and generalists. The need for dedicated specialists has grown over time in tandem with the organization and team, as more work in specialized areas has emerged. However, the generalist role has existed from the beginning and has truly stood the test of time, with its relevance becoming even more evident across the scope of today’s projects and clients. Our collaborative structure ensures that project teams are led and supported with the right mix of strategic and technical excellence.
What helps a generalist truly thrive in their role? Among other traits, adaptability and a love of learning are the standouts. V&E generalists are an exceptionally curious bunch – true researchers at heart with a drive to explore a variety of areas. They embrace continued learning across a wide range of topics and are not daunted by the fact that they don’t have specialized knowledge in all areas. A day in the life of a generalist might look a lot more varied than a specialist – much like being a chameleon, a generalist has to be comfortable with wearing different hats while working across functions. If one area shifts, it impacts another, and the ability to switch gears seamlessly is a crucial skill that clients celebrate.
Generalists Drive Client Success in Modern Pharma
In today’s rapidly changing healthcare environment, EVERSANA’s V&E team stands out by combining the focused expertise of specialists with the broad, strategic perspective of generalists. While other organizations have created distinct silos, V&E continues to combine and leverage the strengths of both specialists and generalists to optimally support our clients.
Generalists serve as the connectors who bridge workstreams, anticipate challenges, and proactively develop solutions. Within V&E, they navigate across functional workstreams to foster collaboration and ensure every project benefits from integrated thinking. Beyond V&E, their ability to see the bigger picture plays a key role in connecting our services with other EVERSANA business units – delivering the strategic value and agility clients need to thrive in a fast-paced, complex pharma landscape.
Author
As a health economist with over 15 years of experience, Heather has led global health economic and market access programs, as well as local reimbursement projects involving economic modeling, evidence generation, strategy and value communication.…
Kim is a Director on the Value & Evidence team at EVERSANA® and supports numerous HEOR projects involving health economic modeling, evidence synthesis, and value communication to support reimbursement access across a range of…