What is Driving Shifts in Healthcare Market Research?

Advances in AI and accelerated product development cycles are driving a rapid evolution in healthcare market research. There is growing demand for real-time data, faster insights, and diverse datasets, but data overwhelm is creating new challenges that hinder effective decision-making.

Market Research Budgets Are Shifting, Not Shrinking

According to a recent study, the pharmaceutical industry invests a staggering $276 billion annually in research and development (R&D). While market research is only one component of R&D, pharmaceutical companies dedicate a significant portion of their R&D budget to market research because understanding preferences and market trends is crucial for product development and commercial success.

Market research budgets in healthcare are shifting toward faster, tech-enabled solutions that enhance efficiency, scalability, and real-time insights. Several factors are driving this shift, including:

• The increasing availability of real-world data (RWD) from electronic health records (EHRs), claims data, patient registries, social media, and digital health apps. These sources provide new opportunities to gather insights without relying solely on traditional PMR.
• AI-powered analytics and automation, which offer faster, more cost-effective market research solutions. Predictive analytics help forecast prescribing behaviors and treatment adoption, reducing the need for repetitive studies.
• The growing need for real-time insights to respond to regulatory changes, market access challenges, and shifting physician behaviors. Traditional PMR methods are often too slow and costly to facilitate agile decision-making. 

Stagnation in Traditional PMR in Healthcare

While advances in secondary market research (SMR) and RWD race ahead, traditional PMR, such as physician surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews, are not advancing at the same pace. Several factors contribute to this stagnation, including high costs, inefficiency, data limitations, and the rise of faster, tech-driven alternatives. 

With product development moving faster than ever, traditional PMR presents several challenges:

• High costs and slow turnaround times.
• Difficulty recruiting diverse and representative healthcare professional (HCP) panels.
• Limited real-world applicability, as insights often lag behind real-time healthcare trends.

While PMR is still valuable in gathering deep qualitative insights, it struggles to keep up with rapid industry changes, including regulatory shifts, emerging therapies, and digital health innovations. Furthermore, PMR often operates in isolated studies, making it harder to integrate with broader datasets. 

While PMR isn’t going anywhere, its adoption is slowing as companies turn to more scalable and cost-effective solutions.

The Rise of the Data Scientist and AI-Driven Insights

Healthcare companies have access to data from more outputs than ever before, but more data does not automatically translate to better insights. As a result, the evolution of market research is emphasizing the critical importance of data scientists. They are the architects of insight and leverage technology, analytics, and RWD to drive strategic decision-making. 

Though not a new position, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 36% growth in data scientist employment between 2023 and 2033, reflecting the growing demand for expertise in integrating and analyzing complex datasets. 

Data scientists are critical in today’s market research landscape, because they address data silos by integrating various data sources and provide real-time insights to improve strategic planning and regulatory decision-making. With the rise of AI, data scientists also mitigate bias to ensure fair and ethical research outcomes.

The Challenge: More Data, But Not the Right Insights

The sheer volume of healthcare data is growing exponentially, but many organizations are struggling to extract meaningful, timely insights. A staggering 97% of collected data in healthcare is never analyzed or used, highlighting a profound underutilization of available information.

Traditional market research approaches are falling short for a few reasons:

• Siloed Data: EHRs, claims, patient outcomes, physician surveys, and market access data all exist in separate systems, leading to fragmented insights.
• Disconnected Methodologies: Traditional PMR methods often lack integration with AI-driven analytics, limiting their real-world applicability.
• Inefficiency and Cost: PMR remains time-consuming and expensive, making it difficult for companies to keep up with industry shifts.

Without a connected ecosystem to analyze data holistically, more data doesn’t translate to better decision-making. In many cases, it simply creates additional noise for healthcare companies that already need to navigate a rapidly evolving market.

What’s Next for Market Research?

The question isn’t whether healthcare leaders should adopt a tech-enabled market research strategy — it is how quickly they can implement the right tools to stay ahead. To move from data overload to decision-ready insights, healthcare companies must embrace an integrated approach to market research that:

• Combines primary and secondary market research. 
• Breaks down data silos by connecting various data sources into a single ecosystem.
• Leverages AI to analyze data and uncover actionable insights.
• Embraces continuous, real-time monitoring of healthcare trends.

Organizations that embrace AI-driven insights, RWD, and an integrated market research strategy will outpace competitors and make more informed, impactful decisions.