About This Episode
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Every practice owner has seen it happen: a new device or injectable launches, and the doctor on every panel, press release and brand post is someone down the road. In this episode, host Don is joined by Megan Driscoll, CEO and founder of EvolveMKD, a New York agency specializing in healthcare, aesthetics, dermatology and prestige beauty, to show how brands actually decide which physicians front a launch.
Megan breaks down how a physician shortlist gets built, from clinical investigators and key opinion leaders to digital and earned-media footprint, and what brands check before they commit: reputation, patient-first content, a real and engaged audience, consistency across six to eight months of posts, and a clean compliance and brand-safety record. She also explains why disclosure requirements are the law, not the brand's choice, and how to go into negotiations prepared.
Then she flips to the practice owner: what to do this quarter to get a medical director on the list, from meeting brand marketing teams at industry events to building local PR, plus why being selective and partnering only with brands you use in your practice protects patient trust. Her closing advice: treat becoming a thought leader like a second full-time job.
Read the full conversation
Introduction & Episode Setup
Don opens on a familiar sight: a new device or injectable launches, and the doctor on every panel, press release and brand post is someone down the road. Most owners assume it is luck or who you know; the episode argues it almost never is.
Host Don Adeesha welcomes Megan Driscoll, CEO and founder of EvolveMKD, a New York agency specializing in healthcare, aesthetics, dermatology and prestige beauty, who for more than two decades has advised brands and worked with the physicians and key opinion leaders who front their launches.
The conversation covers how a brand builds its physician shortlist, what gets a doctor chosen or passed over, and how to position your practice to become the one brands call first; the episode is sponsored by Ekwa Marketing.
[View Transcript]
Every practice owner has seen it happen. A new device or an injectable launch. And the doctor on every panel, press release and brand post is someone down the road. Not you. Most owners assume that was luck or who you know. But here we are today to argue that it almost never is. Welcome back to the Business of Aesthetics podcast. I'm your host Don Adeesha and to help us understand how brands decide which physicians they put in front of the world, we are joined by Megan Driscoll. Megan is the CEO and founder of EvolveMKD, a New York agency specializing in healthcare, aesthetics, dermatology and prestige beauty. For more than two decades, she has worked inside this decision advising brands and working with the physicians and key opinion leaders who front their launches. Today we are discussing what actually happens when a brand builds its physician shortlist. We are talking about what gets a doctor chosen and what gets them passed over and how to position your practice to become the one brands call first. This episode is brought to you by Ekwa Marketing.
Megan, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for having me, Don.
How a Brand's Physician Shortlist Actually Gets Built
Megan says physicians sometimes think the process is magic, but a company working with an agency typically starts with its clinical investigators, because you want medical professionals with product experience when educating potential patients, the media and influencers.
The list then expands to key opinion leaders: faculty at relevant meetings, people who have been published (even on topics beyond the brand) and are well known in the category, and educators. Her team also checks each doctor's digital and earned-media footprint, including whether they are regularly quoted and speak to the right audience, not necessarily the biggest one.
The list is reviewed with the client and each physician is slotted into the activities they are best suited for. Her agency also looks for early-career physicians who have built a cult following or growing peer respect, because brands want a diversity of voices.
[View Transcript]
Absolutely. It's a pleasure to have you here, Megan. Now, let's go straight inside the room. When a brand is getting ready to launch a new injectable or device and needs a physician to put in front of it, how does that shortlist of names actually get built?
That's a great question. I think sometimes the physicians or extenders think that it's a little bit like magic, but actually typically what a company will do and you know working with an agency like mine will start with their clinical investigators, right, because you always want medical professionals that have some experience with the product, especially if you're going to be educating potential patients, the media influencers about it. So we'll start there with that clinical investigator list. And then what we'll do is we'll expand and we'll look at who are really the KOLs in that industry. So who's on faculty at some relevant meetings, who's been published, even if it's not about necessarily our brand, but they're like well known in the category, who's an educator in the category. And then of course, depending on the activity that we're looking to involve healthcare professionals in, we'll also look at their digital and earned media footprint. So are they regularly quoted? Do they have a nice digital footprint? Do they have an engaged audience? It's not necessarily the biggest audience, but you wanna make sure it's the right audience. Are they speaking either to other doctors? Are they speaking to your target consumer? And then we'll kind of look at that, that whole list that we get together with our client and we'll kind of slate them in for activities that we feel that they're best suited for. A lot of times too, what my agency does is we'll look at physicians that are maybe starting out in their career, but that have built either like a cult following or are starting to gain a lot of respect amongst their peers. And that's a great way for us to kind of introduce, you know, new talent and new expertise to the market. Cause you do want a diversity of voices, talking about, you know, the different sides to your product and its benefits.