Elizabeth Rolla is a director of product marketing at Norstella’s MMIT, joining the company in April 2021. She works closely with the product management team to commercialize MMIT’s new products and releases across all channels, helping to inform our product enhancements. By conducing Voice of Customer interviews, Rolla works to understand client pain points and unmet needs to shape new value messaging around MMIT’s solutions.
How did you join MMIT?
Before joining MMIT, I spent about eight years on the market access agency side. I worked closely with our pharma customers to launch their products into the market. I would help clients figure out the unmet needs across various disease states, and I also conducted payer advisory boards and message testing to help clients build their payer value propositions. That would all come together for me to create materials the account managers would use to communicate the clinical and economic value of a drug to payers and PBMs to ensure their product was available to those patients who needed it most.
What does your day-to-day usually look like?
No day is typical! I might have a customer call to gain feedback on a new product we’re launching, create communications on our new releases, or work with the commercial enablement team to train the sales team on a new product, talking about its value and the market need. I also work really closely with the marketing team to make sure we have the appropriate materials and messaging across our channels, whether it’s our website, social media or email communications.
What projects are coming up in 2023 that you’re most excited about?
We’re doing a lot of innovation at MMIT. That’s the main theme of 2023. The market access landscape is changing and becoming more complex and our clients’ needs have changed as well. We as a product organization are focused on how we can evolve our current solutions to address the emerging needs of our clients.
What’s been your career highlight to date?
I think it’s what I’m working on now. In the past, MMIT hasn’t always consistently communicated new features or product changes. One of the things I’m doing on the product marketing side is building a system where customers are aware of updates either through our tools or via email. We’re going through a high-intensity period of new product development, so I’ve been working on getting as much client feedback as possible and talking to a wide swath of clients to make sure what we’re building will address their current business challenges and deliver significant value to their organization.
What are some noteworthy market access trends clients need to be aware of?
I would say clients are looking for a more comprehensive view of access. It’s not only policy and formulary data, there are other datapoints that can affect access, from site-of-care to diagnostic testing. For example, there are cases with oncology products where a drug might be covered, but a required test won’t be. That is ultimately impacting access, so our clients need that 360-degree view. Claims is another huge one. A payer’s policy might say X, Y and Z, but that’s not what’s actually happening in the real world, and our clients need a more transparent view.
Where do you see MMIT this time next year?
We’ve done a great job of providing standard coverage data, but now we’re shifting toward how we can provide a more comprehensive view of access. I think with new data elements and our partnerships, we’ll be closer to realizing that mission.
What do you like most about your job?
I love interacting with customers, understanding their needs and figuring out what is most valuable to them.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Pre-kids, I was a pretty avid scuba diver. I’ve been a lot of different places, from the Cayman Islands to Bonaire to Curaçao. Post-kids, I love napping! My son is two-and-a-half years old, so he’s very active.
