Watch the Novel Cohorts podcast with special guest- Skip Olson from Olson Strategies
In this episode of the Novel Cohorts Podcast, Graticule CTO Dan Housman speaks with Skip Olson, founder of Olson Strategies, about Implementation Science- an emerging discipline focused on translating medical innovations into real-world patient impact.
Skip shares how breakthrough therapies, even with strong clinical evidence often struggle with adoption due to behavioral, structural, and operational barriers across healthcare systems. Using some examples, he highlights the implementation gap between what science knows and what practice does-and how pharma can systematically address these barriers early during trials. The conversation also explores the role of EHRs, AI, and collaboration models in scaling implementation efforts and ensuring patients benefit from medical advances faster.
Some key learnings:
Implementation Gap: Even highly effective drugs can face slow uptake due to behavioral and system-level barriers
Start Early: Identifying and addressing implementation barriers as early as Phase II/III can improve launch success and ROI
Behavior Change is Central: Uptake often depends on prescriber habits, workflow integration, and patient and payer acceptance not just more efficacy data or evidence
Role of EHRs: Electronic Health Records can help detect care gaps, map real patient journeys, and identify points where uptake falters
AI as an Enabler: Generative AI can help surface likely barriers, summarize insights from literature, and accelerate root-cause analysis
Scaling Solutions: Focus first on universal barriers across systems, and work with medical and patient associations to expand adoption at scale
Business Case for Implementation Science: Systematic investment can yield large financial and patient-impact gains by turning evidence into practice faster
Want to dive deeper into Implementation Science?
Explore articles and upcoming global events to continue learning and connect with the community:
Research Articles
- Are you implementation ready? An alternative patient and healthcare-centered model for pharma
- How pharma can amplify product value with implementation science
- The triple win – implementation science benefits patients, healthcare systems and industry alike
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