Medical Planning: How to Go from Annual PowerPoint to Year-Round Action

Medical Affairs teams often spend 900 to 1,000 hours building a single brand's medical plan, plus consultant and agency spend on top of that. Then, once the plan is finished, most teams don't open it again until the next planning cycle.

Scott Thompson (CEO, Acceleration Point) and Linda Traylor (VP of Medical Excellence, Acceleration Point) walk through why this happens and how to fix it. Thompson founded Acceleration Point roughly 16 years ago after starting his career in medical affairs. Traylor spent more than 25 years in medical affairs, clinical development, and regulatory roles across multiple therapy areas before moving into consulting. Together they identify four recurring reasons medical plans stop being used: mistaking a broad vision for a strategy, writing a strategy that reads like a job description, filling gaps with impressive-sounding language instead of substance, and skipping the reasoning that connects strategic imperatives to activities. They then show how to rebuild a plan around three elements: the clinical decision the team is trying to change, a conclusion statement explaining why that decision isn't happening today, and the outcome the work is meant to produce, not just the activities planned. To quantify that gap, Acceleration Point uses Target Population Output (TPO), a model that measures what percentage of the time a clinical decision aligns with the supporting science at a defined moment in the patient journey. If your team's medical plan gets built, presented, and then sits until the next cycle, this is the session to watch.

What You'll Learn

• Distinguish a strategic medical plan from a "world peace" vision statement using the competitor test: if a competitor could adopt your vision statement word for word, it isn't a strategy.
• Structure a medical plan around three components: the clinical decision you're trying to change, a conclusion statement explaining why it isn't happening today, and the outcome the work is meant to produce, not just the activities planned.
• Use Target Population Output (TPO) to quantify a care gap, illustrated by a case where 38% of patients started first-line therapy before molecular results returned and fewer than one in five switched afterward.
• Organize a medical plan by goal rather than by function, so field medical, RWE, SciComm, and other teams work toward the same outcome instead of filing separate sections.
• Report progress to commercial and executive stakeholders in outcome language, such as diagnosis-to-treatment timelines, rather than in activity counts like publication totals or advisory board counts.
• Run a Monday-morning test on your current medical plan: ask five people on your team which strategic imperative they're working on today, and see how many different answers you get.

FAQ

What is Target Population Output (TPO)?
Target Population Output (TPO) is Acceleration Point's model for measuring a care gap: the percentage of the time a clinical decision aligns with the supporting science at a defined moment in the patient journey.

Why do most medical plans stop being used after they're built?
Scott Thompson and Linda Traylor point to four recurring failures: mistaking a broad vision for a strategy, writing a strategy that reads like a job description, using vague or inflated language in place of substance, and skipping the reasoning that connects strategic imperatives to activities.

What three elements make a medical plan measurable?
A measurable medical plan names the clinical decision it aims to change, states a conclusion explaining why that decision isn't happening today, and defines the outcome the work is meant to produce, rather than only listing activities.

How should a medical plan be organized structurally?
Effective medical plans are organized by goal rather than by function, so field medical, real-world evidence, scientific communications, and other teams can see how their individual activities connect to the same outcome.

How can a team check whether their current medical plan is working?
Scott Thompson recommends a Monday-morning test: ask five people on the team which strategic imperative they're working on today, and see whether the answers align.

About Our Speakers

Scott Thompson is CEO of Acceleration Point, which he founded approximately 16 years ago after building his career in medical affairs. He works with Medical Affairs teams to translate strategic ambition into decisions field teams can act on throughout the year.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/medical-excellence/

Linda Traylor is VP of Medical Excellence at Acceleration Point. She spent more than 25 years in medical affairs, clinical development, and regulatory roles across multiple therapy areas before moving into consulting.

Connect with Linda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-traylor-76a467a/

About Acceleration Point Webinars

Acceleration Point webinars bring Medical Affairs and Field Medical leaders together to share practical insights, emerging strategies, and real-world perspectives on the challenges shaping the industry. Each session is designed to support the professionals driving scientific exchange, field medical excellence, and Medical Affairs transformation.

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