In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, digital employee experience (DEx) is more than just a buzzword—it’s an essential aspect of organizational success, particularly for professionals like medical writers. DEx refers to how employees interact with the tools and technologies provided by their employer, from software applications and hardware to online services and platforms. For medical writers, whose work relies heavily on these tools, a positive digital experience can make or break productivity.
Why Digital Employee Experience Matters for Medical Writers
Medical writers often juggle various tasks, from drafting IND applications and clinical documents to submitting Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) applications. A seamless digital environment ensures these tasks can be completed efficiently and without unnecessary friction. Here’s why DEx should be a top priority:
1. Optimized Tools Enhance Productivity
Medical writers use software tools like Microsoft Office for document creation, co-authoring, and publishing. Well-managed DEx ensures that tools run smoothly, updates are automated, and tech issues (like crashes or software incompatibility) are minimized. Efficient use of these tools is crucial, whether you’re managing AI-powered medical writing platforms or leveraging CTD templates (eg, FDA IND templates) for regulatory submissions.
2. Automation and AI: The Future of Medical Writing
Digital transformation is reshaping the field of medical writing. The rise of generative AI (GenAI), machine learning in medical writing, and AI-driven medical writing systems means that more mundane tasks like document formatting, eCTD submissions, and content generation are becoming automated. This shift toward AI-enhanced medical writing not only speeds up the submission process but also helps maintain consistency and compliance. A robust DEx will make this transition smoother, allowing writers to focus on higher-level tasks that require human expertise, such as clinical report writing or interpreting medical research data.
3. Improved Collaboration Across Teams
Many medical writers collaborate with teams on clinical trial writing, regulatory documents, and document QC, formatting, and publishing services or tasks. A solid DEx enables seamless collaboration by making sure that cloud-based tools and secure file-sharing platforms work flawlessly. When digital tools operate efficiently, collaboration becomes easier and less stressful, enhancing the overall working environment.
Defining Productivity in Medical Writing
In the context of medical writing, productivity is not simply about generating large volumes of content—it’s about creating high-quality, accurate, and compliant documents in an efficient manner, meeting both regulatory requirements and tight deadlines. Here’s what productivity really means for medical writers:
1. Accuracy and Compliance
Medical writers must produce documents that are not only scientifically accurate but also aligned with regulatory standards, such as those set by the FDA, EMA, Health Canada, or other regional health authorities. Productivity, therefore, involves balancing speed with precision, ensuring that submissions are free from errors and adhere to stringent guidelines.
2. Efficient Document Creation
Productivity in medical writing is also about minimizing time spent on repetitive tasks, such as formatting, cross-referencing, and version control. Leveraging automation in medical writing, AI-powered medical writing, and adaptive content generation can significantly reduce time spent on these tasks. While not all medical writers own a business, they all work in a business, and at the end of the day the efficiency of those contributions can make or break that business.
3. Collaboration and Workflow Management
Productivity is often a team effort in medical writing, involving collaboration across multiple departments, including clinical, regulatory, and quality assurance (QA) teams. A productive medical writer not only produces high-quality content but also ensures smooth coordination with these teams. Effective use of digital tools for collaboration and seamless workflows help medical writers manage the entire lifecycle of document creation and lift the productivity of the group overall.
4. Timely Submissions
Deadlines are a critical factor in medical writing productivity. Whether submitting an Investigational New Drug (IND) application or finalizing documents for a New Drug Application (NDA), delivering on time is essential. Anything that can be done to maximize planning and reduce risk—as well as minimizing opportunity cost—for a submission is going to be a win.
Collaborating with IT to Optimize DEx for Medical Writers
Medical writing leaders play a crucial role in ensuring that their teams have the best tools and environments to excel. A strong DEx doesn’t happen by accident—it requires ongoing collaboration between medical writing teams and IT departments to measure current DEx metrics, plan necessary upgrades, and minimize disruptions.
1. Understand Current DEx Metrics
Medical writing leaders should engage with their IT departments to understand what DEx measures are already in place and what else is available; are there tools that monitor software performance, such as tracking app crashes, system downtimes, or lag times with critical applications? Can logs and reports of those experiencing repeated issues be sent out automatically to managers and IT? By gaining visibility into these metrics, leaders can better understand the pain points their writers may face when interacting with systems and software. Not all employees will vocalize their frustrations with tech—for a variety of reasons—so having insight into potential hurdles is a critical success factor, especially in tech-forward medical writing departments. After all: If you make the investment in technology to enhance productivity, having objective proof of it, as well as documentation of areas for improvement, can only be a good thing.
2. Plan Upgrades for Essential Tools and Minimize Disruptions
As technology evolves, so do the needs of medical writers, particularly as more teams transition to advanced intelligent authoring or AI-enabled systems. Regular check-ins with IT can help plan upgrades to tools, ensuring that systems are optimized for high performance. Timing is everything, especially in the fast-paced world of regulatory writing; leaders should work closely with IT to ensure that necessary system maintenance or upgrades are scheduled during off-hours or non-critical project phases. IT and medical writing leaders should collaboratively schedule these upgrades during low-impact times to avoid disrupting critical deadlines like IND submissions or clinical trial application (CTA) filings, ensuring that productivity remains uninterrupted.
By actively collaborating with IT to optimize DEx, medical writing leaders can ensure their teams work in a seamless, efficient, and frustration-free digital environment. This not only enhances medical writer satisfaction but also contributes to faster, more accurate submissions.
Common Tools IT Professionals Use to Measure, Report, and Improve Digital Employee Experience (DEx)
IT professionals deploy a variety of tools to ensure that employees have a seamless and productive DEx. For medical writing teams, these tools are essential for monitoring performance, addressing system issues, and optimizing digital workflows. Here’s a breakdown of the types of tools and their functions:
1. Device and Application Management Tools
These tools allow IT to monitor and manage the performance of devices and applications used by medical writers. They provide real-time insights into system health, software usage, and potential issues like slow response times or system crashes. With these data, IT can make informed decisions on necessary updates and fixes, ensuring that tools critical to medical writing run smoothly.
2. End-User Experience Monitoring Tools
These tools focus on measuring how well digital tools are performing from the user’s perspective. They track things like application speed, crash rates, and user feedback. By understanding the user experience, IT can proactively address pain points and optimize the digital environment to support better productivity, minimizing disruptions that can hinder a medical writer’s workflow.
3. Feedback Collection and Analytics
IT departments often deploy tools that collect direct feedback from employees about their digital experiences. These tools allow medical writers to report issues in real time and provide data that can be analyzed to understand broader trends in tool performance and user satisfaction. This information helps IT teams prioritize fixes and improvements based on the most pressing needs.
4. Error Tracking and Performance Analytics
Error tracking tools allow IT to identify issues with software and systems as soon as they arise. They provide detailed information about bugs, crashes, and other technical problems, enabling IT to deploy quick fixes and reduce the impact on daily workflows. For medical writing teams, this ensures that systems critical for tasks like document creation or submission processes remain reliable and efficient.
5. Patch Management and Software Update Systems
To keep digital tools up-to-date and secure, IT professionals use patch management and update systems that automate the deployment of software patches and upgrades. This ensures that the tools medical writers rely on are running the latest versions without introducing unexpected downtime.
6. Digital Experience Monitoring Platforms
These platforms provide a broad view of the entire digital environment, capturing data from across the network to monitor system stability, performance, and overall user satisfaction. They allow IT to detect potential issues before they impact productivity, ensuring that medical writing teams have a reliable and optimized digital workspace.
By using these types of tools, IT professionals can effectively monitor and improve DEx for medical writers. This helps ensure that the technology used by these teams is reliable, secure, and well suited to their needs, ultimately boosting productivity and minimizing interruptions during critical tasks.
The Role of Digital Tools in Elevating Medical Writing
Medical writers today work in an environment that is more connected and technology-driven than ever before, and timelines are built around the assumption that everything is working smoothly. By investing in high-quality DEx, companies can ensure that writers have access to the latest tools and that no one is suffering through using ineffective tools in silence. This leads to more efficient workflows, reduced errors, and faster submission processes. Furthermore, a positive DEx enables writers to make use of emerging technologies that are set to revolutionize the field.
Conclusion: Why DEx Should Be at the Forefront of Medical Writing
A strong digital employee experience allows medical writers to leverage advanced tools without the constant disruption of tech issues. When managed well, DEx improves both productivity and job satisfaction, creating a more supportive environment for medical writers to produce high-quality work.
Ultimately, DEx isn’t just about making life easier for medical writers; it’s about empowering them with the tools they need to excel in a digital-first world.
