Account managers play an important role in facilitating pharmaceutical manufacturers' relationships with Integrated Delivery Network (IDN) customers. HIRC's report, Integrated Delivery Networks: Evaluation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Account Managers, reviews IDNs' evaluation of 35+ pharmaceutical manufacturer account management teams and provides insights into critical account manager success factors. The report addresses the following questions:

• Which very large, large, and mid-size pharmaceutical firms receive the greatest number of "best-in-class" account manager nominations from IDN decision-makers? Which account manager attributes define the best-in-class?
• Which very large, large, and mid-size pharmaceutical firms rank highest in overall account manager presence and quality?
• How do 35+ manufacturer account management teams benchmark across six key account manager competencies?
• How can IDN/Systems account managers enhance engagement and foster genuine working relationships with IDN customers?

Key Finding: The industry’s best-in-class IDN/systems account managers are described as responsive, credible, and proactive in providing valuable information. Truly collaborating on customers' specific needs remains an opportunity area and sets leading account managers apart.

Pfizer Leads in Account Manager Presence and Quality with IDN Accounts. Pfizer earns the highest combined account manager presence and quality scores from IDN decision-makers, followed by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck. Teva leads the large manufacturer cohort while Sanofi Vaccines leads among mid-size firms.

HIRC calculated manufacturers' overall account manager performance score based upon customer evaluations of account managers in two key categories. The full report provides scores in presence and quality for a listing of 35+ firms active in the IDN segment:

• Presence: Contact with the Account Manager in the Last 12-18 Months
• Quality: Overall Quality of the Account Manager

Range of Account Manager Competency Scores. IDN decision-makers were asked to evaluate 35+ pharmaceutical manufacturer account teams on six unique account manager competencies. IDN/Systems account managers have the highest industry average scores in ‘Understanding of health care market trends/regional market dynamics,’ ‘Credibility,’ and 'Provides relevant & timeline information;' the greatest opportunity for improvement is in ‘Working towards collaborative solutions.’ Competency scores for over 35 pharmaceutical account teams are provided in the full report.

IDN Customer Contact Continues to be Largely Virtual. IDN decision-makers report that approximately 82% of their interactions with pharmaceutical company personnel were face-to-face prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping to 9% in 2021. Although in-person meetings are now recovering, contact is holding steady at a roughly 65:35 virtual to in-person contact ratio, in-line with customers' current preferences.

Research Methodology and Report Availability. In December and January, HIRC surveyed 54 IDN pharmacy directors and senior leaders. Online surveys and follow-up telephone interviews were used to gather information. The full report, Integrated Delivery Networks: Evaluation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Account Managers, is part of the Organized Providers Service, and is now available to subscribers at www.hirc.com.