AD-vice: Pearls of Wisdom from the AD Community

By: Aanchal Gupta, Program Coordinator, NaRCAD

As we kick off 2022, it’s been incredible seeing the detailing community build on new and previous strategies over the past year.
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We’re continuously learning and sharing insights together. Let’s take a look at some of the advice shared on our DETAILS Best Practices Blog this past year. 

Planning and Team Building: Communication, Trust, Building Morale
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• “We spend a large amount of time talking in detail about stigma as related to cocaine use. It’s critical that our detailers are comfortable and knowledgeable when speaking about stigma, because it sets the tone for the providers, who then set the tone for their patients.” – Carla Foster, New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)

 

• “Programs need to plan for time for back-and-forth communication and to engage as many viewpoints as possible [for their materials development process]. Our modules are accredited for continuing medical education and we have reviewers assess the detail aid to ensure accuracy. We also make sure that detailers, who will be using the material in the field, have an opportunity to try out the materials.” – Ellen Dancel, Alosa Health

 

• “You don’t need to know everything to be a leader, but you need to surround yourself with people who can collectively make decisions based on good information. Surround yourself with people who know more than you do, and listen to them.” – Liesa Jenkins, ONE Tennessee

 

• “Trust is essential for effectively exploring differences of opinion, and how to turn challenges into opportunities. Without it, you don’t get to understand where someone is coming from, or to truly grow and learn.” – Loren Regier, RxFiles Academic Detailing

 

• “For your work to be fulfilling and for you to have that sense of satisfaction, it needs to be meaningful. We want to know that the work that we do matters and that we're making a difference. I find that it can be hard to see that right away with academic detailing.” – Julia Bareham, RxFiles Academic Detailing

 

• “We previously defined success for detailers as the number of visits they had completed in a given period of time. Now, we define success as making a connection or having any type of interaction with office staff, whether that be with front desk staff, an office manager, or a clinician. Focusing on these small wins has been a morale booster for our detailers.” – Anna Gribble, Maryland Department of Health

 

• “I recommend starting recruitment efforts early [for the NaRCAD training] to allow plenty of time to find the right recruits in order to build a successful training cohort!”– Karen Curd, Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center in Indiana

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Gaining Access to Clinicians
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• “We worked with the pharmacy technicians on communicating the benefits our programs offered, with attention to utilizing accessible language and avoiding unnecessarily complicated healthcare terms.”– Natalie Miccile, Connecticut Early Detection and Prevention Program (CEDPP)

 

• “Utilize e-Detailing; it’s a wonderful tool! Many developers are coming out with apps to serve this new digital landscape that can assist in implementing e-Detailing successfully. It’s just a matter of finding the right tools by taking a little bit of extra time and patience to experiment.” – Ashley Allison, Oregon AIDS Education and Training Center (ATEC)

 

• “The 1:1 approach is something that separates AD from other tactics, and makes it easier for both clinicians and funding organizations to see you as unique. This work is worth it.” – Harald Langaas, KUPP – The Norwegian Academic Detailing Program

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Conducting Field Visits: Resilience, Empowerment, and Leverage
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• “It takes time to educate providers. It also takes time to alleviate some of those misconceptions that this is “just too good to be true”. So be patient, talk to people, and listen twice as much as you talk to build those relationships.” – Alisha Herrick, Center for Health Innovation (CHI)

 

• “When I’m detailing on one topic, I’m always thinking about future topics by gathering data from providers so that I can better understand their challenges. I ask providers their biggest concerns and I’ve been really surprised at how ready they are to share gaps in resources and information.” – Jacki Travers, Pharmacy Management Consultants (PMC)

 

• “There was [a recent visit I had where there was] no commitment to action or change and we didn’t build a connection. In order to bounce back from something like that, I think you need to acknowledge that it will happen sometimes and debrief with colleagues who have been in your shoes. Then just pick yourself up and try again.” – Jacqueline Meyers, RxFiles Academic Detailing

 

• Addressing the substance use crisis requires an “all-hands-on-deck” approach. Any setting where patients seek care are environments where detailing can improve patient access to support.” – Clement Chen, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

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Data Collection and Evaluation
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• “We found that practices were most successful when they chose an intervention, stuck with it, and set attainable goals. Some practices were at a 50% HPV vaccination rate and wanted to be at 80%. In those situations, we sat down with them and asked them to think about something more attainable, like a 5% increase in 6 months. Practices that committed to smaller increases not only met their goal, but slightly outperformed it.” - Lisa Gruss, Quality Insights

 

• “For anyone looking to intertwine AD with their state legislative process, you need to understand what your state’s priorities are. You can start by looking at state plans and guidelines for major health issues, just like the opioid crisis. You may need to do more research to understand where your program fits in and more importantly, who the movers and shakers in your governance are.” – Mary Moody, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy

 

• “Be flexible in your approach – group detailing sessions or detailing sessions with non-clinicians can be extremely effective, and can lead to 1:1 clinician visits. Also, stay organized! Keep track of who you're reaching out to and who you're following up with. Having all that information tracked over time will help with your evaluation down the road.” - Kelsey Genovesse, Utah AIDS Education Center (ATEC)

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Our team is incredibly proud to see all the dedication from the community each year. We look forward to seeing what opportunities and innovations 2022 brings.

Best,
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The NaRCAD Team