For some time now, changes in the structure and dynamics of the healthcare market have been eroding the effectiveness of the commercial model on which most manufacturers rely. Consolidation has created fewer, larger customers with greater leverage. The physicians who once drove purchasing decisions are increasingly employed in large, consolidated, integrated delivery networks, and are only one among many voices in product decisions. And even before the pandemic, organizations that were increasingly sensitive to costs had begun to restrict access by representatives to physicians. Fundamental changes to the commercial approach have been in the wind for a while but concerns about ceding customer facetime to the competition put a damper on change.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com.