Stop Counting HCP Interactions: Start Measuring Impact
 |  |  |  |
Episode Summary
Most Medical Affairs leaders know the truth: Counting MSL<>HCP interactions is easy, but it’s meaningless. Vanity metrics are holding Field Medical back. In this episode of Transforming Medical Communications, Wesley Portegies is joined by Denise Clark, Regional Medical Director of the Rare Disease team at Amgen, to show you what to measure instead and how to finally prove your team’s real impact. Denise brings a bold, disruptive perspective: activity is not impact. This conversation gives you the modern Field Medical playbook. It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing what moves the needle.
Guest at a Glance
Denise Clark is a seasoned leader in Field Medical, with over twenty years of experience in advancing strategy and education in rare diseases. As a PharmD and former clinical pharmacist, she has dedicated her career to transforming how Field Medical teams measure and deliver impact. She brings deep expertise in onboarding, training, and mentoring MSLs, challenging outdated metrics and building outcome-oriented frameworks that prove Field Medical’s strategic value. Her passion for redefining MSL performance and improving patient care through better HCP education makes this a must-listen conversation for senior Medical Affairs professionals.
- Connect with Denise on LinkedIn
Host at a Glance
Wesley Portegies is the Chief Strategy Officer and Founder of Medical Communications Experts, an agency specializing in effective Medical Communication strategies for pharmaceutical companies. An experienced entrepreneur, Wesley started his first company at 19 and has built multiple successful companies. With over 20 years in the Medical Industry, both on the agency and industry side, he is driven by a passion for Medical Communications.
- Connect with Wesley Portegies on LinkedIn
Topics We Discuss
- How to stop reporting “reach and frequency” and learn what to measure instead.
- Using the BGQ framework to plan goal-driven, insight-rich interactions.
- Training MSLs to listen better, ask smarter questions, and drive scientific exchange.
Hot Takes and Key Highlights
- 03:41 – Counting HCP Interactions is an Outdated Strategy
Measuring MSL value by counting HCP interactions is outdated and misleading. Activity alone does not equal impact. Field Medical teams that focus on quantity over quality risk driving activity for the sake of reporting numbers, not improving patient care. The BGQ framework (Background, Goal, Questions) requires MSLs to enter every meeting with a clear purpose, a defined objective, and questions designed to uncover actionable insights. It forces MSLs to prepare with intent, stay relevant, and avoid wasting time or damaging trust with HCPs.
“You can’t just be transactional and, for lack of a better word, vomit out every detail of data that you know. So you have to plan that interaction and determine what your goal is.”
- 20:36 – Metrics Without Purpose Are Meaningless
Activity metrics like counting HCP interactions tell leaders nothing about true field impact. Teams focused on call numbers risk missing what matters most: changes in clinical behavior and patient care. Metrics should support the story, not be the story. What matters is how MSL engagement drives new understanding, diagnosis, or treatment decisions.
“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
- 27:12 – Define Your Value or Someone Else Will
Medical Affairs teams that don’t take control of their measurement strategy risk having it dictated by others. The right starting point is always the patient journey, identifying gaps in care and building metrics that show how Field Medical closes those gaps. Without proof of impact, Medical Affairs will be undervalued, misunderstood, or seen as a cost center. Teams need to own their value story and show how their work changes clinical practice over time.
“If medical affairs and MSLs don’t define their value, it will be defined for us.”
- 39:43 – Leadership Must Rethink MSL Performance Measurement
Proving Field Medical impact starts with showing what has already changed. Retrospective analysis is a powerful tool to demonstrate how MSL engagement has moved the needle before rolling out new metrics. Data that shows shifts in diagnosis rates, screening patterns, or treatment decisions builds faster leadership buy-in than theoretical frameworks. Teams that lead with proof earn the right to rewrite the measurement playbook.
“Imagine that meeting with leadership when you present in graphical form a dashboard that’s showing this impact. And then, the footnote is through this many interactions or this many programs.”