How Timely Expert-Led Education Accelerates Clinical Decision-Making

Ken Ruppel
VP of Scientific & Medical Services
Diagnostic Commercialization
Women-smiling

In precision medicine, clinical decision-making is becoming more complex, time‑sensitive, and data-dependent. And that data is often difficult to interpret in isolation. Biomarker reports, evolving guideline updates, new therapy indications. All with rapidly shifting evidence, converging when physicians need clarity, not volume.

Yet across the industry, a familiar pattern persists: the right information is available. Just not at the moment when a physician is actually making a therapeutic choice.

As Sarah Kurz, President and COO at Partner Therapeutics, explains:

“Physicians want to be educated at the right time. They aren’t seeing these patients frequently enough to want to spend the mental energy until they have that patient in front of them."

This reveals a key truth: clinicians aren’t disengaged. They’re overwhelmed by competing demands and constrained by the need to focus only on what’s immediately actionable. Precision medicine multiplies that tension.

The point of clinical decision-making is where momentum is made or lost

 

The biggest barrier to therapy conversion is not unwillingness. It’s timing. Information that arrives outside the clinical decision-making window rarely shapes what happens next.

 

Peter Finlayson, VP of Marketing at Partner Therapeutics, highlights:

“It’s not because physicians don’t want patients to have those medications. It’s just that the information isn’t making it into the physician’s hands at that time.”

This challenge is not solved by more awareness campaigns or more digital content. In fact, as Kurtz noted:

“You cannot solve everything with digital content alone.”

Digital channels play a role. However, these decisions are often nuanced, uncertain, or dependent on clinical interpretation. Physicians often need something more grounded. A conversation with another expert.

Why peer‑to‑peer dialogue cuts through where traditional outreach doesn’t

 

Therapeutic decisions, especially those tied to biomarker‑driven care, aren’t just about data. They’re about confidence. Physicians need the space to ask questions, test assumptions, and understand how peers would navigate similar scenarios.

This is why relationships remain central to clinical momentum. These conversations aren’t promotional; they’re interpretive. They translate evidence into real‑world application and help physicians move forward with clarity under pressure.

The challenge is not persuading clinicians. It’s providing the right expert, at the right level, at the right moment.

Beyond individual clinicians: momentum depends on the whole care team

 

Another overlooked barrier to therapy conversion is fragmentation across the wider care ecosystem. Pathologists, oncologists, specialist nurses, and diagnostic teams often operate with different timelines, pressures, and insights.

Supporting only one stakeholder rarely resolves delays. The entire care pathway influences whether therapy decisions happen with confidence. Targeting the whole care team is critical to improving consistency and momentum.

The missing link: a way to activate timely, senior‑level, peer‑to‑peer education

 

The industry has long acknowledged the importance of clinical conversation. But operationalising it in a compliant, relevant, and timely way has remained difficult. Traditional outreach is too slow, too broad, or too detached from real clinical triggers.

What’s needed is an approach that delivers peer dialogue quickly and credibly. Furthermore, it needs to be within the therapeutic decision window. Not weeks or months later.

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Ken Ruppel VP of Scientific & Medical Services discusses how to bridge the gap between insight and action, so no eligible patient is left behind.

Diaceutics Expert Exchange has become a trusted engagement engine

 

Expert Exchange is a proven model for sparking timely, senior-level, peer-to-peer clinical dialogue. And, doing so precisely when clinical decision-making happens. By activating engagements within the critical diagnostic-to-treatment window, meaningful conversations can be driven. And it's those conversations that can build confidence, reduce uncertainty, and naturally support smoother therapy conversion across the entire care team.

 

What Expert Exchange delivers:
  • Timely activation at the point of decision: Initiates expert-led discussions in as little as 48 hours. This is during the exact moment when diagnostic results are being interpreted and treatment plans are being formed.

  • Whole-care-team engagement: Connects the full ecosystem of clinicians involved in the patient journey. Reduce fragmentation while aligning clinical decision-making teams in that process.

  • Contextual, case-based conversation: Engagements are triggered by real patient scenarios. This enables clinicians to explore questions that don’t fit into promotional materials.

  • Measured, reliable impact: 90% success rate in contacting target HCP institutions. 75% HCP engagement rate post-implementation.


“Being able to engage them at the right time in the right place allows us to make a real difference for patients.” — Kurtz

Expert Exchange: building clinical decision-making confidence that drives action

Expert Exchange connects diagnostic experts with treating physicians to drive confident prescribing through peer-to-peer education. This helps give your brand a trusted clinical voice to clearly explain testing. That is, a therapeutic link in a credible, non- promotional format.

What is peer-to-peer physician education in precision medicine?
Peer-to-peer physician education connects a diagnostic expert directly with a treating physician, so they can discuss a real patient scenario together rather than relying on generic materials. It works because physicians trust the judgement of another expert more than a one-way marketing message, particularly for nuanced, biomarker-driven treatment decisions.
Why do physicians ignore medical education content until they have a relevant patient?
Most physicians are managing a high volume of competing clinical demands and don't have the time or mental bandwidth to absorb general education in advance. They engage far more readily once a specific patient is in front of them and a real decision needs to be made, which is why timing matters more than the content itself.
How quickly should HCP education happen after a biomarker test result?
Ideally within 48 hours. Expert Exchange initiates expert-led discussions in as little as 48 hours, during the exact window when diagnostic results are being interpreted and treatment plans are being formed, rather than weeks later when the decision's already been made.
Why does physician engagement stall even when a therapy is clinically appropriate?
Often it isn't a case of reluctance, it's that the right information doesn't reach the physician at the exact moment a treatment decision is being made. Once that window closes, later outreach rarely changes what already happened.
Who else besides the prescribing physician influences a precision medicine treatment decision?
Pathologists, oncologists, specialist nurses and diagnostic teams all shape whether a therapy decision moves forward with confidence. Engaging only the prescriber, without the wider care team, is a common reason therapy conversion stalls even when the physician is willing.
What's the difference between digital HCP outreach and expert-led peer conversation?
Digital content is useful for awareness, but many treatment decisions are too nuanced or uncertain to be resolved by content alone. Peer-to-peer conversation lets a physician ask direct questions and test their reasoning against another expert's judgement, something static content can't do.
Written By Ken Ruppel
With over two decades in precision medicine, diagnostics, and commercial leadership, Ken serves as Diaceutics' VP of Scientific & Medical Services. His career spans Quest Diagnostics, Clarient, GE Healthcare, and Amplity Health, where he has supported the strategy and execution of 20+ companion diagnostic indications. At Diaceutics, Ken leads the Scientific & Medical Services team, partnering with pharma clients to align diagnostic strategy with therapeutic launch. He champions flawless diagnostic execution as the engine of therapeutic demand, ensuring patients are connected to the right test and the right therapy. His leadership strengthens client outcomes and improves patient access to precision medicine.
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