CASE STUDY: uUTI SUMMIT
Conceiving the idea:
Livewire has been working with a global medical affairs team since 2019, developing and running their medical education initiatives. Whilst listening to discussions with experts during advisory boards and 1:1 consultations on the scientific platform and narratives, a gap in the management of patients with uUTI was highlighted on multiple occasions as a major health issue.
Working with the client team we developed a plan to run a scientific workshop. Working with a scientific steering committee, and supported by the client team, the workshop would bring together global experts in the field to stimulate a focused discussion on current gaps in patient management, which if addressed would progress patient care in uUTI.
If discussions were fruitful – a consensus publication authored by all contributors was proposed to help shape patient care moving forwards.
Challenges along the way:
The meeting was originally planned as a two day face-to-face event at the beginning of April 2019. However, due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions we had to think creatively to make this project happen.
The meeting agenda was developed containing working groups and sessions throughout the meeting. Collaboration and discussion were key drivers for success. We used the Within3 platform to structure designated asynchronous sessions, pre- and post- online virtual meetings, to gather as much feedback as possible and allow faculty to exchange ideas and information freely.
Online collaborative/discussion meetings were challenging due to the global nature of attendees. There was only one window of opportunity per day to bring faculty together due to differing time zones, from Asia Pacific to South America. Therefore, we restructured the agendas to run across four days within the one available daily time period.
The meeting:
- Independently branded
- Agenda developed in conjunction with the Steering Committee
- Delivered across a period of four weeks – through four interactive, question-driven asynchronous sessions and four 2-hour online sessions where the overtime feedback was reviewed and discussed
- Attended by 20 experts from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Taiwan, India, Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, USA and Argentina
- Facilitated by an independent moderator
- All sessions recorded and transcribed
- Attended by the client team and Livewire in a passive capacity
- Decision by the group to work with Livewire to draft a consensus publication based on the discussions of the working group
Post meeting:
- Livewire drafted a publication for working group review
- Using the Within3 platform all authors provided feedback at every stage of the publication development
- Once the content was agreed upon, the publication was formally reviewed and approved by all authors through Datavision and submitted to the journal
- Published article Wagenlehner F, et al. Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance;2022;28;18-29.
Available to view at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716521002599?via%3Dihub
Strategic win for the client:
At the time, infectious disease specialists were stretched to maximum capacity because of the impact of Covid-19. They were keen to participate, therefore helping to keep the unmet patient need in uUTI in focus for the infectious disease community.
Due to the international consensus, the publication could be used by institutions as evidence for changing/improving clinical practice, directly impacting patient care. In addition, the external expert (EE) experience of working with the client on a successful, professionally organised multi-national project helped build strong relationships with the contributing EEs at a critical time in the pre-launch phase of the product, helping set the team up for success as they progressed towards launch.