31 Jan HOW SPEAKER BUREAU FEES WORK IN HEALTHCARE AND MEDICINE
Speaker bureau fees can be considerable, but often make sense, given that talent agents and bookers play a critical role in the healthcare industry, connecting life science companies to physicians, nurses and other medical experts to lead educational programs. But how do booking agencies get compensated for their specialized services managing end-to-end keynote programs? The short answer lies in speaker bureau fees.
Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers work with speaker bureaus to educate medical professionals on their latest treatment options and appropriate product usage. Talent agency bureaus maintain extensive databases of leading specialists around therapeutic areas who can present to their peers based on expertise and experience.
Once a life science company engages a speaker bureau for an education initiative, medical experts are recruited, trained, and deployed to deliver valuable peer-to-peer instruction through venues like conferences, dinner talks, virtual webinars and more. Behind the scenes, speaker bureaus also coordinate contracts, insurance, travel, technology, payments and strict compliance protocols.
For all the complexity speaker bureaus orchestrate between medical speakers and pharmaceutical/life science clients, speaker bureau fees are relatively straightforward. They are typically charged in one of three models:
- Program fee based on scope of services
- Per physician fee for recruitment and management
- Honoraria split where the bureau retains a percentage of the speaker payment
The program fee model assesses charges based on the full range of tasks involved in that specific education initiative, from planning to recruiting to logistics and reporting. Per physician fees are a simple fixed rate for each healthcare provider the bureau sources and oversees.
Honoraria splits entitle the speaker bureau to a pre-defined percentage of whatever compensation the client provides directly to the doctor or nurse speakers in their network for services rendered.
No matter the pricing structure, speaker bureaus simplify the complex coordination and compliance processes between pharmaceutical/medical device companies and physician experts. Speaker bureau fees essentially allow life science manufacturers to outsource this intensive legwork so they can concentrate energy on product development and core commercialization needs.
