The Australian general practice landscape is changing and so should pharma’s playbook. For years, pharmaceutical companies have focused their energy on reaching doctors. But the real gatekeepers of access, time, and influence increasingly sit just outside the consulting rooms: Practice Managers.
They may not prescribe drugs, but they decide who gets in the door, when, and on what terms. In a system under pressure, that power is only growing.
1. The Shift in Power Dynamics
Trust ranked as the third most influential factor when doctors choose between clinically equivalent PBS-listed medicines. Only price and patient choice ranked higher. Commercially and reputationally, trust is now a differentiator the industry can no longer afford to overlook.
Practice Managers are no longer the silent administrators keeping schedules and invoices in order. They’re strategic operators, balancing workforce shortages, compliance demands, and financial viability.
They determine whether a rep visit fits within the practice’s workflow or whether it’s dismissed as another distraction.
As one Practice Manager in AusDoc’s Practice Manager Survey put it:
- “Everything comes through me, reps, suppliers, policy updates. If it doesn’t add value, I say no.”
That sentence sums up a shift the industry can’t afford to ignore. Time and operational efficiency have become the new currency in general practice and practice managers control both.
2. Rethinking Engagement: From Persuasion to Partnership
Traditional engagement from the 15-minute visit, brochure or samples drop-off, the clinical update over coffee feels increasingly out of step with the way practices run today.
What practice managers value most isn’t persuasion; it’s practical support. They respond to suppliers who understand and respect their environment, those who can help them work smarter, not harder.
Practice Manager quote:
- “We’re not against reps or pharma,” one manager said. “We just need the visit to make sense, to fit into our day, not disrupt it.”
That means the days of easily “getting past the gatekeeper” are over. The future belongs to companies that work with the gatekeeper, that recognise efficiency, compliance, and digital integration as strategic levers of trust and respect.
3. Adding Real Value: Pharma’s Opportunity
This isn’t bad news for pharma, in fact, it’s an opportunity hiding in plain sight.
The survey data shows widespread frustration with outdated systems and rising admin loads. Many Practice Managers reported being swamped by non-clinical tasks that drain both morale and productivity.
Pharma can play a new role here, not as a visitor, but as a partner in practice optimisation. That could mean:
- Providing workflow-friendly education tools such as short e-learning modules
- Offering tele-detailing and on-demand digital updates that respect clinic schedules
- Supporting compliance-friendly documentation or ready-to-use patient information packs that align with regulatory needs
- Offering downloadable patient resources that can be easily shared in consultations or via clinic websites, helping doctors educate patients without adding to their administrative workload
- Move from push to pull by creating dedicated access to Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) during business hours, so GPs can quickly reach qualified experts for clinical discussions, clarifications, or therapeutic insights without waiting for a scheduled rep visit
As one practice manager put it:
- “If you can give me something that saves the doctors time, I’ll prioritise it.”
The key insight: saving time is adding value.
4. The Road Ahead: Relationship Intelligence
The most successful pharma teams of the next five years won’t just know which doctors prescribe what, they’ll understand how the practice as an integrated ecosystem operates.
That means mapping influence beyond the GP: Reception and Administration teams, Nurse Practitioners and crucially practice managers.
The new engagement question isn’t, “How do we reach the doctor?” It’s, “How do we fit seamlessly into the way this practice works?”
Those who can demonstrate empathy for operational realities, from scheduling pressures to IT frustrations, will build trust-based access where transactional models once stood.
5. The Strategic Imperative
Pharma trying to reach the doctors must evolve from messenger to enabler. The companies that thrive in this environment will be the ones that:
- Treat practice managers as partners, not obstacles
- Integrate efficiency and empathy into their engagement design
- Offer solutions that help practices save time, meet compliance demands, and support patient outcomes
This isn’t a soft skill shift; it’s a strategic one. As practice operations grow more complex, their leaders will decide who has access to doctors, when, and how often. The sooner pharma recognises that dynamic, the stronger its foothold in primary care will be.
Conclusion
Practice managers are the quiet power brokers shaping the future of GP engagement. Ignoring them risks irrelevance; partnering with them opens doors to smarter, more sustainable relationships.
For pharma, the message is clear: stop trying to get past the gatekeeper and start working with them to keep the practice open.
Contact us
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Source
AusDoc’s Practice Manager Survey, Oct 2025 (n = 77)
This article was written with the assistance of AI