大数据不是公司管理万能药
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托伊称：“决定销售人员的薪酬时，我们在使用哪些数据、不使用哪些数据的问题上做出了艰难的决定，由此树立了良好的声誉。” 自从20世纪80年代初开始，制药公司就习惯使用从厂商那里获得的医生处方数据来决定销售人员的薪酬。医生开出的处方越多，销售人员的提成就越高。因此，医生吃回扣的现象也屡见不鲜，许多医生都被请去吃免费的饭，拿免费球票。因此制药公司的这种提成制度造成了一种医生和医疗代表之间暗藏猫腻的关系，也使一些病人怀疑为什么医生要开这种药，而不是那种药。 从去年七月开始，葛兰素史克公司废止了这种提成模式。现在公司主要依赖对医生和管理人员的调查，以及对产品知识和业务敏锐度的考核来决定销售人员的奖金 。 最高管理层的支持、透明的激励系统，以及消费者的正面反应降低了在销售部门中推行这种新机制的难度。托伊表示：“现在销售人员和医生的关系变得不那么重要了，更重要的是事实和科学。” 葛兰素史克公司在与政府和保险公司的谈判中也奉行了以数据为指导的策略。葛兰素史克与默克（Merck）和辉瑞（Pfizer）等公司竞争着一块非常有限的市场蛋糕，不过托伊表示，数据分析正在为葛兰素史克带来某种优势。 北卡罗来纳州蓝十字与蓝盾协会（Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina）信息管理与分析服务副总裁苏珊•海默•穆塔夫指出：医疗保健市场瞬息万变，有效的数据分析如果得到正确使用，就可以节约许多渠道成本。 “节约成本的唯一方法就是检验信息，进行分析，”穆塔夫说。“成本是从什么地方产生的？哪些疗法是有效的？它是在哪交付的？” 去年，北卡罗来纳蓝十字与蓝盾协会把许多来自不同部门的分析师集中在同一个部门里，以方便他们进行协作。同时该公司也希望雇佣一些不仅能够分析数据、还能用其它人能够理解和接受的方式提交数据的分析师。 后来该公司的管理层意识到，让一群统计学博士花时间获取数据是很荒唐的，于是他们投入大量资金建立了一个卓越中心（Center of Excellence），卓越中心的分析师以发现问题、解答问题为主，而不是四处寻找数据并检验它们的准确性。 穆塔夫表示，这些变革导致公司的成本出现显著下降，并且提高了客户的满意度水平。卓越中心的建立已使公司节省的医疗开支达到了初始开支的将近19倍。 尽管以数据为中心的做法已经使北卡罗来纳州蓝十字与蓝盾协会获得了不小的成功，但该公司仍有一些员工至今不相信数据分析是公司未来成功的关键。要说服这些员工也是个不小的挑战。 穆塔夫说道：“我们需要让人们理解，今天的工作环境已经和三四年前不同了。” 译者：朴成奎 |
"We are building a reputation by making hard decisions about what data we use to compensate our sales people and what we don't use," Touey says. Since the early 1980s, pharmaceutical companies have used physician prescription data acquired from vendors to determine how they pay their sales force -- sales reps would make more when doctors wrote more scripts. As any doctor who has scored a catered buffet or free sports tickets can attest, this strategy led to some questionable relationships and caused some patients to wonder why doctors were prescribing one treatment over another. Beginning last July, GSK scrapped this model. The company now relies on surveys of doctors and managers, as well as tests of product knowledge and business acumen, to determine sales bonuses. Selling this new model to the sales force became easier thanks to support from top management, the transparency of the incentive system, and the favorable reaction from customers, Touey says. "It has become less about relationships with doctors and more about facts and science," he says. GSK also is letting its data guide how it negotiates with governments and insurers. They compete with other giants like Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE) for a very limited pie, and Touey says that analytics are providing an advantage to the firm. In the ever-changing world of healthcare, effective data analysis can provide cost savings in multiple channels when applied correctly, says Susan Helm-Murtagh, vice president of information management and analytic services for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. "The only way to do this is by examining information and analytics," Helm-Murtagh says. "Where are costs coming from? What cares are effective? Where is it delivered?" Last year, BCBSNC brought many of its analysts from different units into a centralized group where they could collaborate. The company also looks to hire analysts who are capable not only of crunching numbers but also of serving them up in ways that others can understand and accept. When executives realized the absurdity of having Ph.D. statisticians wasting time hunting for data, they made a large investment in a Center of Excellence (COE), which allows analysts to focus on asking and answering questions instead of looking for data and verifying its accuracy. These changes have resulted in significant cost savings and increasing levels of customer satisfaction, Helm-Murtagh says. The investment in a COE has already resulted in medical expense savings worth 19 times the initial cost. While the focus on data has been a resounding success for BCBSNC, the company still faces the challenge of convincing some employees that this is where the company's future success resides. "We have a job to do in helping people understand that this is a different place to work today than it was three or four years ago," Helm-Murtagh says. |
