
Based in Southampton, Pennsylvania, MedSurvey has helped organizations conduct market research surveys with knowledgeable healthcare professionals and patients for over 40 years. The company recruits virtually any type of healthcare respondent to their cleints’ surveys and also serves as a technology partner for survey programming and analytics. We recently met with Co-Founder & CEO Paul Golota to learn more about the company.
Tell us a bit about how you decided to form your company and how you went about growing it in its early stages.
In 2001, I began working for a local medical market research company, interviewing physicians over the phone and recording responses using paper questionnaires. A coworker and I saw an opportunity to utilize newer technology, such as computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and Internet surveys, to save customers time and money. What began as a side project grew into a new company, and while we initially leveraged existing client relationships, we soon developed a reputation for reliability, quality, and top-notch customer service that fueled our growth.
Paul Golota, Co-Founder & CEO, MedSurvey
What surprised you most about being an entrepreneur?
I always assumed that as an entrepreneur, you would wear many hats and be deeply involved in all aspects of the business. So, I was surprised to learn that to move the business forward, you have to rely on others to take critical roles. The founder or CEO might often have the spotlight, but building a business is a team sport, and without great advisors, mentors, and team members, there will be a limit to how much any entrepreneur can achieve.
What are the most common problems clients are bringing to your door these days? How has this changed in the past 2-3 years?
As a market research operations partner to research agencies and consultancies in the life sciences space, we’re often challenged by clients to find enough hard-to-reach HCPs to take part in surveys. Failing to do so can mean unreliable data and insights, which is unacceptable. But our clients are also worried about the quality of respondents and data, and these concerns have escalated in the past 2-3 years with the proliferation of sophisticated AI. In the face of bad faith actors with the potential to game surveys using AI, our customers are asking: How do we know we’re getting quality data?
You list many methods and techniques in your service offering. Is there one in particular that is still emerging and you feel holds the most unfulfilled promise? If so, why and how do you see it evolving?
As a primary market research supplier, we’re uniquely positioned to help our customers leverage the connections between primary and secondary data. This is why we’ve been investing heavily in maximizing the potential of third-party target lists, as well as access to third-party real-world data such as claims data. The primary data we collect from surveys and this secondary third-party data have been analyzed in silos. Connecting them allows us to build unique offerings and innovative solutions for our customers, unlocking better insights.
For several years now research companies have realized they can’t simply deliver insights but need to consult closely with clients to help them implement and communicate insights across their corporations to have a real impact. How are you going about this?
Just as our agency and consultancy clients must deliver more value to their life sciences customers, we must deliver more value in our role as their primary market research supplier. As experts, we always want to come to the table with unique ideas and approaches. This is why we invest in experienced people to run projects right, data so we know we’re recruiting the right folks, and tools that analyze and improve data quality. These investments allow us to deliver high levels of service so that our customers can spend their time delivering value to their customers, not managing us.
How do you see the role of the research methods that you employ changing as data analytics and AI continue to become more sophisticated?
The healthcare sector is often a laggard when it comes to new technology, usually for good reasons, and market research is no different. Still, more and more companies are showing interest in deploying AI tools for research, such as leveraging conversational AI to conduct long-form discussions with the goal of delivering qualitative data at the scale and speed of quantitative studies. Other areas where AI could eventually reduce time and cost include survey programming, translations, coding of open-ended responses, analytics, and report generation. But the complex nature of healthcare-specific primary market research makes these applications of AI more of a challenge than they would be for our friends in the consumer world.
Please share the top reasons you decided to proceed with ISO 20252 and ISO 27001 certification.
As a company, we’ve always done the big things the right way, including over-investing in process and technology so that we can give our clients the assurance they need that the data we collect is top quality. Today, increasing threats in cyber security and other spheres can no longer be addressed by a handshake assurance, and more and more companies are asking for third-party validation to prove that their vendors are reducing risk. For us, becoming certified to ISO 20252 and ISO 27001 came down to just two things: (1) It is a quick and reliable way to assure our current and prospective customers that we’re doing things the right way; and (2) It identifies gaps in our systems and processes that we didn’t know existed, reducing risk further.
What did you learn during the certification process that helped your company – processes, people, technology deployment?
We learned that the process takes longer than you’d think, even if you’re doing things the right way. Understanding controls, collecting evidence, and being able to speak to all of it is a big undertaking; it’s one thing to do it, and a completely different thing to prove it. It helped to invest in a consultant and a system that allowed us to manage a lot of the processes (OneTrust). We also realized how important it was to have complete buy-in from leadership. As CEO, ISO certification was one of my key initiatives, but it would have been hard if not impossible to get these certifications without our leadership supporting the effort with resources.
Any advice for fellow MRX company leaders who are concerned with data quality? How about data security?
Take data quality and security as seriously as if your business depends on it—because it does. Ask yourself the tough questions that clients should be asking, even if they’re not. Understand vulnerabilities and all possible vectors of threats and do everything possible to mitigate risk. All companies, customers included, are only as secure as their supply chain, and you don’t want to be the weak link that brings everything down. Unfortunately, the ROI on risk mitigation is never clear until you suffer from not having done enough, and by then it’s often too late.
What are your immediate (1 year) and long-term (5 years) goals for your company?
For the immediate future, we’re laser-focused on being the best possible primary market research operations partner for consultancies and agencies that service the life sciences space. We’re committed to delivering operational support and high service levels for companies that are tired of accepting mediocrity (or worse) from their suppliers. Five years is a long horizon, but we plan to do then what we’ve always done, delivering exceptional support to customers while staying on the cutting edge of technological developments in our industry.
What prompted you to join the Insights Association?
Being part of the Insights community means a great deal to us. Besides supporting all the amazing work that the Insights Association has done to lobby on behalf of our industry at the federal and state levels, we also love connecting with colleagues at events and being a part of all the important discussions taking place in our industry.