Kavita gave an interview to the "European Pharmaceutical Contractor" magazine, discussing the future of connected healthcare and recent innovations in mobie technology to support conventional medical interventions.

You can download the full article by clicking here, or read it in the March edition of the "European Pharmaceutical Contractor" online magazine.

AS extreme birthday celebrations go, Oberoi Consulting is riding high with the best of them.

Rather than mark its 10-year anniversary with balloons and cake, owner Kavita Oberoi OBE has instead decided to give away £100,000 of services.

Sceptics will call it a PR ploy, but the successful Derby entrepreneur insists she simply wants to "give something back" to he clients.

There's one catch – those the IT company serves must spend cash first to benefit from the offer.

Mrs Oberoi, who set up the Pride Park firm in 2001, explained: "We will match whatever a client spends. If a client spends £1,000 on our services, we will give them another £1,000 to invest further in our business.

"It's a good way of celebrating our tenth anniversary because it's going to benefit all.

"We've done very well over the past decade and I believe a lot that if you give something back, your customers will keep coming back to you in the long-term."

Oberoi Consulting – which provides IT services to the healthcare sector – was built up from scratch by Mrs Oberoi.

Since its beginnings, the company has helped over 5,000 GP practices to become more efficient via a range of services such as data auditing.

Other clients include primary care trusts, the NHS's new Clinical Commissioning Groups, pharmacy chains and the pharmaceutical industry.

Having built the company into a multi-million-pound business, her achievements led to an appearance on Channel 4's Secret Millionaire programme in 2008.

A year later, she was named among Britain's 100 most entrepreneurial women.

In January 2010, she became co-owner of global security company Octavian and today – with various other business interests – she is considered to be one of Derby's most successful and renowned entrepreneurs.

Mrs Oberoi said spending cuts in the NHS had partially prompted her to give away £100,000 of services.

However, she denied the cuts had led to a decline in business for her firm.

She said: "Touch wood, this year, at the moment, we've had one of our best years ever. It's been down to us focusing on providing a new range of services that meet the market place.

"Clinical audit is the core of our business but this is complemented by our increasing portfolio of services driven by changes in the NHS."

Mrs Oberoi said that clients would be able to take advantage of the offer from next month and that the promotion would operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

She said: "There's no deadline on the offer. It will run until the £100,000 pot is empty."

We are running workshops nationally, including at a venue near you. Our workshops will include suggestions of what type of registration your practice should submit, what type of service you should register for and much more.

To find out locations, venues and dates, or to register your interest and book a place please, contact us on 01332 224251 or Click here to send an email

Cost per delegate is £75 + VAT

Microsoft Office is the most commonly used business and office based software in today's working environment; making it essential to keep up to date with its features and functionality.

Our Microsoft training courses are specifically designed to enable you, and your colleagues, to work more efficiently and effectively by harnessing the power of Microsoft Office Word. By being trained in a small group, with the opportunity to ask detailed questions of an expert, the course is tailored by the trainees themselves; maximising the learning capacity, while honing in on the delegates specific needs.

In response to local demand, we will be running an advanced course in Microsoft Word at our Derby headquarters, on November 3rd, starting at 10am.

Completion of the course will gain a Certificate of Achievement in Advanced Microsoft Word.

To see what the course entails, please download the "Advanced Word Course Outline" by clicking here.

Course Details:

• Date: November 3rd 2011
• Times: 10am to 4pm (includes a buffet lunch)
• Venue: 19 St Christopher's Way, Patriot Way Business Park, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8JY
• Cost: £100 + VAT / delegate - A saving of £100* + VAT/delegate

*Usual cost - £200 + VAT / delegate

To book your place, or find out more, contact us.

Other Microsoft Courses Available:

We also offer full training, from Beginner to Advanced level, on a range of other Microsoft application, listed below. To view any of the course details, simply click the course title below to open the training course outline as a PDF. All courses are available for the Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 releases.

Microsoft Office 2010 Conversion Course

• Converting to Office 2010

Microsoft Word Training

• Introduction to Microsoft Word
• Intermediate Microsoft Word
• Advanced Microsoft Word

Microsoft Access Training

• Introduction to Microsoft Access
• Intermediate Microsoft Access
• Advanced Microsoft Access

Microsoft Excel Training

• Introduction to Microsoft Excel
• Intermediate Microsoft Excel
• Advanced Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook Training

• Introduction to Microsoft Outlook
• Intermediate Microsoft Outlook
• Advanced Microsoft Outlook

All of our courses are flexible and can be tailored to suit your organisation's specific requirements.

If you would like further information feel free to contact us.

Making a Difference in Clinical Practice

Experienced & Professional

I have worked with Oberoi Consulting since 2005 as a Regional Account Manager. Prior to joining Oberoi, I worked with EMIS, one of the country's largest clinical system suppliers, for 6 years and have great depth of knowledge and experience of both GP Practice and Clinical Computer Systems.

Amongst numerous projects undertaken over the past 6 years, I have developed many bespoke training sessions for Pharma clients, CCG Medicines Management Teams and GP Practice personnel.

Support & Consult – Understanding the Issues and Problems

As part of our continuing development of relationships with our Pharma clients, I have been involved in designing Training Programmes to improve understanding of Clinical Systems and how clinicians use the systems to manage patients. This training has proved invaluable for Pharmaceutical companies providing our clients with a deeper understanding of the consultation process and patient management from the clinician's perspective.

With this knowledge many companies have been able to develop solutions and services to support their customers and in turn improve the patient journey.

Challenging & Knowledgeable – Solution Implementation

The training is geared to, and developed with, the individual brands in mind and the relevant clinical area.

Following training clients have been able to engage with NHS customers offering assistance and expertise from Oberoi to support the effective implementation of guidelines and pathways having learned about how these tools work in practice.

Some feedback from delegates on previous courses:

"The course gave me an understanding of how the databases worked – we receive enquiries on these, so will enable me to respond with a greater insight"

"I will discuss how we can use the knowledge gained with colleagues and where necessary adapt our approach to GPs over the next few months."

"What we learned will shape our strategy"

"This will integrate into the guidance and activities we recommend for the field force over the coming months"

You can read the original article online on the PharmaTimes.com website, or in the November edition of the magazine.

There will always be a need for first-line managers, but what role will the traditional RBM play in the changing pharma marketplace?

The past few years have provided much soul searching for pharma. Where is innovation coming from? How should the industry communicate via social media?

Is the role of sales representative dead?

But perhaps surprisingly there has been little talk about how some of these changes will affect other intrinsic roles, such as the regional business manager.

“There has been a lot of discussion around the role of the representative, the key account manager, the market access manager, etc, but very, very little on the changing role of the regional business manager,” says David Round, general manager, UK, at Cegedim Relationship Management. “Their role is almost getting lost amid the other noise.”

While it is inevitable that the pharma industry shake-up will impact first-line managers, but how companies are approaching this is very much up in the air. What does seem to be emerging, however, is a general consensus that the traditional RBM role is in decline.

Understandably this reflects the industry-wide sales force cull — less representatives require less RBMs — but another trend is also starting to develop.

“Clearly there is still a place for the ‘traditional’ RBM,” says Darren Mercer, commercial director at Nycomed UK.

“But as pharma looks at the structure and type of sales personnel it requires, this is having an impact, both in the overall numbers of RBMs required and the type of role an RBM undertakes.”

And this is something that companies are struggling with: just looking at the variety of emerging job titles highlights this — regional manager, regional account manager, regional account director, healthcare manager, integrated healthcare manager, senior business manager...

“I could quote the alphabet to give you a list of the different names companies call their sales managers,” says Jennine Clark, from Otsuka and winner of the recent PharmaTimes New RBM of the Year Award. The different titles, she says, are indicative of the seismic shift occurring within the healthcare sector. “Nowadays we need to be more strategic rather than just implementers and have well-rounded sales, communication and performance management skills. Certainly the hottest topic at the moment is ‘change management’.”

A business management role

Not surprisingly, the evolving RBM role is becoming far more wide reaching.

As Jean-Francois Delas, vice president at Kinapse says: “The role of the RBM is evolving from one almost solely focused on team management to one centred on regional business management.”

In other words, the role is becoming more strategic and customer focused, says Mercer. “Companies are seeing the importance and value of having their best people in front of customers where they can interact and engage at a high level and also have autonomy to make immediate decisions.”

Chris Wilkinson, national sales manager at Galderma, suggests the traditional RBM is being forced to up-skill both themselves and their teams. “Gone are the days when an RBM could simply spend four days a week in the field and one day on admin without a further purpose in mind,” he says. Now it’s about field visits in relation to key account management, market access strategies and disease management — instead of simple product sales.

Simon Brander, managing director of CSL, agrees. In the past, representative coaching, development and direction was probably all that was required of an RBM, he says. “But now the RBM will be expected to have more of a business management function; coordinating activity in accounts and generally ensuring that coherent business plans are being developed and followed through.”

For example, in Germany, the role of district manager is shifting from “pure people management” of up to 20 sales representatives, to a more differentiated role as market access and key account management tasks become increasingly important, notes Arnim Jost, general manager, Germany, at Cegedim Relationship Management.

“We see department managers managing local and regional market access tasks, visiting local and regional health authorities or health fund representatives, in parallel to managing their direct reports. Meanwhile, in several companies’ department managers cover local and regional KAM and key opinion leader activities as well.”

Retrain or bring on new talent

“And where there is a change in service strategy and business model, companies have to question whether they have the right people and skills”, adds Dan Goldsmith, general manager Europe at Veeva Systems. The RBM role itself is being “redefined” — and this redefinition is something that varies between companies. For instance, he continues, comparing the RBM role with that of KAM and deciding which is a better fit in the new healthcare environment is what “many companies are trying to figure out right now. The big question is whether pharma can retool individuals in these roles or whether they should bring in new talent”. However, Erik Jan Scholten, director of Your Insight, is concerned about the variety being explored in this area and the internal focus of the role, despite it being cited as “customer focused”. As he notes: “Have you ever heard of a doctor or a hospital talking about themselves as an ‘account’?”

Of course, with uncertainty and change, there is no clear path that companies should take. As Kavita Oberoi OBE, founder and managing director at Oberoi Consulting, notes, the role has been muddied as others carrying some of the same responsibility pop up in parallel, including healthcare development managers. And the RBM title could go completely, she adds, especially if more specialist roles are preferred. Wilkinson too is concerned that if pharma loses the sales representative as the link between company and customer, “the RBM job will no longer exist in its current form and they will move from managers to senior account sales people” — but the likelihood of this happening in the foreseeable future, he says, is doubtful when managers are clearly still needed.

Likewise, Amanda Flanagan, sales director UK and Ireland at Almirall, believes the RBM role is still an important one within the industry.

“They may have different titles,” she says, “but fundamentally we still need managers managing teams.”

At the same time this role of people manager also now includes health outcomes management. As Flanagan asserts: “The RBM role now combines people and business management that is ultimately associated with driving outcomes — both in terms of business results for the company, and value and better patient management for the customer. The role has had to evolve — outcomes and improved patient management is our customers’ objective and our roles need to align with that.”

Delas echoes this, saying the emerging RBMs will ultimately be accountable for outcomes — “but in order to be successful, they will have to deliver through people and their team”.

Indeed, it is likely to be a hybrid role in the future as RBMs seek to understand their local health economies and market access boundaries, while providing a service that may not in fact be solved by that company’s medicine.

According to Goldsmith, RBMs are in a unique position to be the voice of customers and to deliver the value that is increasingly demanded. “Individual sales representatives do not have the influence they used to over the customer and their buying behaviour, and this increasingly integrated ecosystem for decision making means there is a real role that RBMs can play,” he says. “It’s something the representative can’t do because there is no visibility or incentive; neither do they have the bandwidth to understand marketing at that level.”

As quality, outcomes and value become the new catchphrases of the global healthcare environment, Clark says it is essential for pharma to speak the customers’ language and understand their priorities so that industry can work in partnership with them. Indeed, she believes RBMs are closer to the business than ever before. Moving forward, the path pharma will take in redefining its RBM role is still unclear.

Download the original article here

As was evident at the recent PharmaTimes RBM of the Year Awards, good leaders are still making their mark in the ever-changing NHS

Leading Through Change

It's been a tough few years in UK pharma, what with the recession and extensive NHS reform. But if anyone can manage change it's the pharmaceutical industry through the role of the regional business manager.

Although undoubtedly it has been somewhat of a shaky ride over the past few years as companies reshape to better meet the needs of the customer, the RBM is still critical as the interface between the NHS and pharma — albeit the role is evolving alongside the transforming health system to become more analytical, more strategic, and with a greater focus on health outcomes.

Nick Spruce, business development director at Binley's, sponsor of the New RBM of the Year Award, sums this up: "It's a time when the NHS and pharma are experiencing unprecedented change and there is more to come. History tells us that for a company to survive or thrive during change it needs great leadership and that's what this PharmaTimes competition is all about."

Indeed, the event showcased an array of managerial talent from 17 companies, which put individuals and teams to the test. Claire Roberts, business manager at Zenopa, sponsor of the Aspiring RBM of the Year Award, described the finalists as "courageous" for putting themselves forward to compete against their peers. And as Kavita Oberoi OBE, founder and chief executive of Oberoi Consulting, sponsor of the RBM Team of the Year Award, said: "It brought the best out of people and managing people".

The role of the RBM can sometimes be overshadowed by that of the sales representative but it is important to remember that these people are "committed to what they do and what they deliver", said Leslie Galloway, chairman of the Ethical Medicines Industry Group, sponsor of the Sales Company of the Year Award. It's not just about the "fantastic products", he said, but the "fantastic people" behind those products that make them what they are. This was a sentiment echoed by Sales Company of the Year winners Sanofi: "It's all about people and investing time in those people."

For Simon Brander, managing director of CSL, sponsors of Senior RBM of the Year Award, being associated with the PharmaTimes competition is important when the sales force is the interface between the industry and the NHS, particularly in times of such change. "Getting the interface right is crucial as it colours the perception of the industry as a whole. The manager level, the RBMs, is the level that will set the tone, the direction and the speed of travel to new ways of partnering."

Indeed, as the sector moves into a new era of healthcare, the value that pharma can offer — and having people who can demonstrate that value — becomes increasingly important, says Paul Hurst, from Bristol-Myers Squibb and winner of the Account Manager of the Year Award. As such the role is changing, noted Sandra Whitehead, director, training and EU compliance at Quintiles, sponsors of the Account Manager of the Year Award, adding: "This award shows how pharma can partner with the NHS".

Value is everything, said Bey Huggins, from GlaxoSmithKline and winner of the Senior RBM of the Year Award. "I'm really pleased to have been able to represent the high quality managers who work in the pharmaceutical field, particularly given that the focus of this year's competition was Leadership Through Change, because, put simply, "we are all patients and we want the best products" — and for this industry needs the best people.

Regional Business Manager of the Year

Pharma Award Winners 2011

Aspiring RBM (Sponsored by Zenopa) - David Birtles, Sanofi

New RBM (Sponsored by Binley's) - Jennine Clark, Otsuka

Account Manager (Sponsored by Quintiles) - Paul Hurst, Bristol-Myers Squibb

Senior RBM (Sponsored by CSL) - Bey Huggins, GlaxoSmithKline

RBM Team (Sponsored by Oberoi Consulting) Andy Moulson, Dan Morris, Jane McKenna-Green, Adele Day, Sanofi

Sales Company (Sponsored by EMIG) - Sanofi

Download the original article here

Making a Difference in Clinical Practice

Support & Consult – Understanding the Issues and Problems

Having formulated lasting relationships Oberoi understands the intrinsic needs of our clients. We highlight and fulfil the unique requirements of each project whilst driving and accelerating the implementation of guidelines and pathways.

By aligning ourselves with our clients (both Pharma and NHS) we provide a high level of support and co-operation to identify and solve the problem.

Through a series of auditing services the resulting data allows us to fully understand, interpret and understand the scale of the problem and inform commissioning decisions.

The analysis conducted allows us to support, advise and consult whilst “enjoying” what we do, supporting each other and enhancing reputations.

Experienced & Professional

With over 10 years of  experience exceeding client expectations we deliver tailored bespoke solutions to meet client needs, at the same time ensuring good communication is at the heart of what we do and how we operate.

Our commitment and professionalism is driven by our passion to support and consult. We are well-respected, trusted and valued for the projects we manage, the quality we deliver and the flexible approach we adapt.

Our programmes, tools and specialist workforce allow us to provide unrivalled expertise to deliver our tailored solutions. Assisting our clients to achieve their healthcare targets, whilst improving efficiencies, reducing costs and improving patient healthcare.

Challenging & Knowledgeable – Solution Implementation

Constantly inspired to challenge both market and industry perceptions, we ensure knowledge gained is communicated effectively to drive through the implementation phase of the auditing services and deliver change in clinical practice.

Through qualitative research and a willingness to listen and discuss, we create and deliver solutions that challenge, compete and ultimately prove successful for our clients.

All our programmes are supported by case studies that demonstrate that impact of our work.

With Global Heads on eMarketing and Mobile from Roche, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Philips, Medtronic and many more it really is the must attend event for anyone involved in the commercial side of pharma.

Kavita Oberoi OBE will be giving an exclusive guide into the opportunities for pharma to increase health outcomes through mobile technology in the patient section of our event.

Oberoi Consulting is proud to offer a €200 discount off the advertised rate using the code 'OBEROI'. Just click on: Mobile Strategy for Pharma, Dec 1-2, London and choose register.

For an average sized practice (5891 patients) this change is reflected like so:

• 697 points @ £130.31 = £90,965.47
• 661 points @ £130.31 = £86,267.11
• Reduction of £4,698.36

At Oberoi Consulting, we strongly believe that one way of protecting income from the Clinical Indicators is to ensure that your prevalence is as accurate as possible.

For further information, please have a look at our DRV Case study.

As these new indicators arrived on the scene without much prior knowledge, it was necessary for the guidance to be expanded to answer the many questions posed. FAQs were published along with the latest guidance from BMA/NHS Employers (Download "QP Supplementary Guidance and FAQs" here). We used these as part of our National programme of QOF Workshops, and from feedback from our delegates we have recreated the most useful ones here:

What happens if a practice has good prescribing levels across the board and it is difficult to identify areas for improvement?

In such circumstances, the CCG and practice may agree to choose three areas of prescribing where the practice will maintain a standard (i.e. the practice continues to achieve above the upper threshold). This would need to be clearly set out in the plans agreed with the peer group and CCG.

For the purposes of achievement, the CCG and practice will need to be mindful that the maximum number of points is achieved by a practice matching the performance of the upper threshold, rather than improving on their previous performance.

Do practices within a peer review group have to review the same three areas?

No, practices in the peer review group do not have to consider the same three areas. However, practices may choose to select the same three areas to focus on as it would allow the peer review group and/or the CCG to provide the necessary focused support to achieve the goals.

If practices do choose to focus on the same three areas, then they need to ensure the areas selected offer the greatest opportunity for improved clinical effectiveness or productivity savings.

As these indicators are restricted to the measurement of prescription items, how can inappropriate prescribing lengths be addressed?

It is expected that practices will use appropriate prescribing lengths relevant to the individual patient.

Do the care pathways for QP6 to QP11 have to be newly developed or can they be ones that are currently in development at the time the indicators were published?

The QOF guidance/SFE is clear that the pathways to be developed should be new. However, where a pathway is still in the development stages and allows the opportunity for practices to engage in development, then subject to agreement between the CCG and practice, this would be acceptable.

Published in Pulse on 14th June, Dr Simon Clay listed 10 Common Coding Errors that could be costing you cash. We have listed some of the ones we found interesting below. Click here to read the full article on the Pulse website.

Measuring cardiovascular risk

You may think that any code for the Framingham risk score would be suitable, but 3888 (Framingham CHD 10-year risk) and 388R (Framingham CHD 10-year adjusted risk) are not valid codes as they are not cardiovascular risk scores.

The two editions of QRISK (QRISK and QRISK2) are valid, as are the JBS CVD and the Framingham CVD 10-year risk scores (662 chapter, 38DF, 38DP and 38DR codes respectively).

Stroke treatment

You can code a stroke in three ways – G61 (infarction), G64 (bleed) or G66 (stroke unspecified).

Only the first group get put into the denominator group for Stroke 12 (patient needs anti-platelet or anticoagulant).

If the person inputting the QOF data at your practice uses G66 codes for any cerebral infarctions the aspirin prescriptions will not count for you.

Also, if you use prompting software to help you start useful drugs on such patients, the software will not prompt you to consider aspirin because there is no infarction code present to trigger it

Dr Gavin Jamie has produced another excellent article on his website (GPContract.co.uk) which outlines the changes made to coding under Business Ruleset V19. (n.b. V20 is the latest, but there have not been many changes to coding issues). Some of the pertinent issues are replicated below, but it is definitely well worth the time to read through the whole article.

So what is new this time? It is of little surprise that it is in mental health where the biggest changes are. Most of the other changes to indicators were fairly simple. Where there are lots of new indicators here there are also lots of codes.

First up is recording of alcohol consumption. In general codes starting 136 count but there are some odd exceptions to this. Code 136 on its own with a quantity would be fine. Anything which says unknown does not count. There is a list of "bad" codes and some good equivalents below.

Published in Pulse on 14th June, Dr Simon Clay listed 10 Common Coding Errors that could be costing you cash. We have listed some of the ones we found interesting below. Click here to read the full article on the Pulse website.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has recommended 20 new indicators for possible inclusion in 2012-13 Quality and Outcomes Framework. Four indicators were suggested for retirement.

The indicators will now be the subject of negotiation between NHS Employers and the BMA's General Practitioner Committee.

New disease areas include osteoporosis and peripheral arterial disease.

Existing areas to be expanded include a new requirement to offer advice and support to smokers and to refer patients with newly diagnosed diabetes to a structured education programme along with an incentive for GP practices to carry out an annual assessment of the physical activity of patients with hypertension and record of brief intervention for those who score 'less than active'.

The committee rejected new obesity indicators covering payments for measuring waist circumference and referral to a weight management programme.

The indicators proposed for retirement include using an assessment tool to measure the severity of depression in newly diagnosed patients and a payment for confirming a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation with an ECG or specialist opinion.

A full list of the proposed indicators can be found on the NICE website.