This most recent ReCon newsletter discusses the emergence of ACOs in the healthcare marketplace and how pharma marketers should engage in the process.

1. ACOs and Pharma
ACOs represent an important emerging market that
may exercise very high levels of control over the
services and products used to treat their patients.
Public and private payers are taking the Accountable
Care Organization (ACO) concept from
„demonstration project‟ to broader market
implementation. Provider networks and integrated
healthcare delivery systems are racing to forge
viable business models and capabilities that promise
to reshape the healthcare landscape. This new
approach to health care delivery is charged with the
dual promises of reducing costs and improving
quality of care. The challenge requires development
of a coordinated health systems approach that spans
health care settings and demands collaboration A pharmaceutical company can position itself to
across health care stakeholders. Many of these new take the lead in understanding and capitalizing on
entities (ACOs) are fully operational and more are business growth opportunities emerging from the
forming every month. ACOs represent an emerging ACO customer segment. Finding and establishing
customer segment that presents important new “partnership intersection sweet spots” is critical to
challenges and opportunities for Pharma to the process of creating an accurate roadmap for how
demonstrate that its drugs are part of the solution for to achieve the dual objective of customer focused
delivering quality and reducing overall healthcare support and competitive advantage for its products
costs. with this new customer segment. In order to be
positioned effectively, it is important to understand
What will motivate these decision-makers? How the unmet needs for pharmaceutical care within the
does Pharma gain access to them? scope of ACO initiatives, and secondly, to identify
What are the opportunities to work cooperatively the expected benefits resulting from efforts to
and in collaboration with them to achieve mutually address those unmet needs. Lending complexity to
beneficial goals? In this newsletter we will describe the situation is the fact that each healthcare segment
a few initiatives that deal with how to uncover i.e. Medicare, health plans, hospitals, integrated
answers. health systems, physician groups, employers etc.
will interact somewhat differently thus adding to the
challenge of uncovering a path forward.

2. Some important issues to consider relative to the greatest areas of focus should be. ReCon‟s road map
ACOs include: will broadly include the following topics:
 What do ACOs mean to your company?  Key stakeholders/audiences involved.
 How do ACOs change the business  Opportunities that exist in the market, how they
environment? translate into potential benefits for the customer
 What new opportunities and obstacles are and your company, and recommended tactical
created? approaches to capitalize on the opportunities.
 Obstacles that would need to be overcome and
ReCon Marketing Solutions can assist in developing recommendations for dealing with these.
corporate recognition of this new customer segment  Future trends and implications for the developed
and identify the business objectives, goals, strategies ACO business model.
and tactics that will guide a company‟s efforts to
take the lead with ACOs. Some questions that must be answered include:
 What should be done with ACOs in light of
ReCon recommends a multi-step initiative designed recent trends and developments in the US
to produce an actionable ACO Plan customized to Healthcare system?
the needs of your organization. It is recognized that  What factors affect the decision for your
some elements of the initiative outlined below may organizations interest in a potential partnership,
be completed or in progress. Where this is the case, for example therapeutic areas, disease states,
ReCon will work with your organization to program implementation?
incorporate the information and results already  How do other pharma competitors impact the
gathered into the work flow outlined below. equation and what is their involvement, if any?
 What metrics that can be employed to gauge
Objectives for Work Flows success?
ReCon may provide advice on the development of a  What strategies make the most sense from a sales
strategic plan that includes tactical recommendations and marketing perspective?
in the form of a road map that will result in
successful positioning of your company and its If you would like to discuss strategies and tactics
products with customers engaged in ACO that can assist your organization address
initiatives. Each company must also gain an engagement of the ACO business model, consider
understanding of the fundamental tools and calling us at (856)-596-7650
resources needed by its account personnel during the
transition to selling in the ACO environment.
This in part can be achieved by gathering feedback
and advice from subject area experts to identify
opportunities for your customer and your
organizations focused wins.
ReCon can provide management with a
comprehensive 360 degree view of what its overall
approach to ACOs should look like and where the