The MAPS Americas 2026 meeting in Denver delivered a clear signal that Medical Affairs is at an inflection point—operationally, technologically, and strategically. Across 118 sessions over four days, leaders, practitioners, and cross-functional stakeholders aligned on a shared reality: Medical Affairs is moving beyond a support function and becoming an AI-enabled strategic engine. The program also underscored the practical implications of a fast-changing healthcare environment. AI is shifting into day-to-day use, real-world evidence (RWE) is becoming a core asset, and omnichannel engagement is now a build-to-scale capability. Together, these themes point to an expanded Medical Affairs remit that draws on policy, access, and implementation science.
OPEN Health is excited to provide this briefing on the topics that matter from MAPS Americas 2026. We leveraged AI in the development of this article, reflecting our commitment to use advanced tools to integrate insights more effectively.
Major Themes
1. AI as the Dominant Disruption: From Exploration to Execution
AI appeared across nearly every domain of Medical Affairs, with debate shifting decisively from “Should we?” to “How do we scale responsibly?” The agenda highlighted:
- Operational bottlenecks, particularly compliance, with repeated cross-functional deep dives on Scientific Information on Unapproved Uses (SIUU) and the Medical–Commercial boundary
- Agentic AI, with sponsored sessions presenting autonomous, action-taking AI as ready for field medical workflows today, and not just a future concept
- Human-centered AI, including a keynote talk positioning AI as a tool for rehumanizing healthcare and advancing precision medicine
- AI-driven insight acceleration, where “minutes, not months” emerged as the new strategic expectation
Take-home message:
AI deployment will define competitive advantage. The emergence of agentic AI, real-time analytics, and AI-enabled training suggests competitive differentiation will hinge on early operationalization. Companies that build compliant, scalable AI frameworks will move faster from insight to strategic action.
2. Real-World Evidence Generation Becomes a Strategic Core Competency
The growing importance of RWE was evident across sessions emphasizing methodological rigor, credibility, and operational readiness:
- Introduction of advanced methods such as Inverse Propensity Score Weighting, signaling rising expectations for Medical Affairs methodological fluency
- A renewed focus on clinician trust, highlighting the behavioral and educational challenges associated with communication of RWE
- Discussion of rare disease registry innovation as a pipeline-aligned priority
- Emphasis on early dissemination frameworks aimed at closing the evidence-to-impact lag
Take-home message:
Innovations in RWE will influence evidence generation and HCP engagement strategies. Methodological advances, registry innovation, and new dissemination expectations will push Medical Affairs to:
- Align early with HEOR to ensure RWE strategies incorporate regulatory, payer, and HCP communication requirements
- Invest in RWE communication training for field and medical communications teams
- Align study design with implementation science to ensure evidence changes practice
3. Omnichannel Execution: From Vision to Operational Reality
The industry is aligned with omnichannel value but struggling with scalable implementation:
- Sessions moved from “why” to “how” to architect channel mixes, integrate congress touchpoints, and connect field interactions with digital ecosystems
- Modular content development surfaced as a foundational need for sustaining channel velocity and consistency
- Congresses were reframed as strategic scientific exchange moments, with ROI expectations rising
Take-home message: Omnichannel will require infrastructure, not inspiration. Modular content, data integration, and operational governance are now recognized as blocks to scale. The gap is no longer conceptual but is architectural.
Keynote Speakers
The conference featured two powerful, inspiring keynote addresses, one by Susanna Gallani, Tai Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and the other by Stephen Hahn, CEO of Nucleus RadioPharma and former FDA commissioner.
In her keynote, “Volume to Value: How AI Can Rehumanize Healthcare,” Dr. Gallani framed AI as a way to strengthen human connection by reducing clinician administrative burden, supporting an “AI-empowered doctor” model. She urged the field to measure what patients actually experience (eg, function, pain, and daily activities) over time, through the use of expanded data (from wearables, smartphones, EHR, claims) to generate clinically useful insights.
“We can free up time for the physician to actually focus on the patient …and really get into the details of the humanity of their condition.”
Dr. Hahn, in his talk, “Fostering Innovation, Access for All and Rebuilding Trust in Medicine,” presented the accelerated COVID-19 vaccine timeline as a proof of concept for faster development pathways beyond emergencies, while emphasizing the need for appropriate safeguards. He highlighted persistent gaps in diversity across clinical trials and described representation as a scientific requirement, not a compliance exercise, to ensure accurate efficacy and safety profiles across populations. Inclusion was also framed as foundational to developing trust, particularly among historically underserved communities.
“There is a scientific and moral imperative to make sure that our studies are representative of those folks who get the disease… It is a component of good science… it’s also a component of building trust.”
The challenge to Medical Affairs from these two keynote speakers is clear: move faster, stay rigorous, and keep the patient experience in full view.
OPEN Health at MAPS Americas 2026
OPEN Health has been a strong partner to MAPS conferences over the years. Our commitment was continued at MAPS Americas 2026, as we contributed practical, skills-focused programming designed to help Medical Affairs teams close the know-do gap. OPEN Health leaders collaborated with industry partners across six sessions to share actionable frameworks.
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Behavioral science‘ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ custom_id=” av_uid=’av-mkzuq90b’ sc_version=’1.0′]
Applying Behavioral Science Skills to Elevate Field Medical Engagement
Led by Jill Condello (SVP, Medical Strategy, OPEN Health), with Melissa Fudge and Travis Branham (AstraZeneca)
This workshop explored how behavioral science can elevate scientific exchange. It illustrated that how evidence is structured, framed, and delivered directly shapes physicians’ engagement and recall. Techniques such as memory sequencing, associative encoding, and reflective prompting help clinicians process information more effectively and carry it forward into patient care. Reframing Medical Affairs interactions as behavioral moments creates opportunities to reduce cognitive load, strengthen clarity, and uncover deeper insight by “listening like a scientist.” AI-supported tools can be used as accelerators, helping teams practice conversations safely, quantify listening behaviors, and refine scientific narratives.
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Ad boards‘ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ custom_id=” av_uid=’av-mkzv7zyb’ sc_version=’1.0′]
Maximizing Insight Generation: Smarter Advisory Boards and Novel Approaches
Led by Luis Perez (SVP, Growth Strategy, Global Medical Affairs & Communications, OPEN Health) alongside Lori Mouser (Daiichi Sankyo) and Rachelle Willette (Sanofi)
This workshop set out to strengthen insight generation across advisory boards, interviews, panels, and surveys. Selecting the right method affects insight quality: different scientific questions require different levels of interaction, depth, and independence. The session used case studies to illustrate how poorly structured advisory boards lead to limited participation and unusable outputs, whereas including formats such as 1:1 interviews and blinded panels often provide richer reasoning and uncover hidden evidence gaps. Insightful conversations require careful meeting design, pertinent questions, and allowing sufficient time for discussion. AI can serve as a practical enabler, supporting theme detection, clustering, real-time summarization, and mapping insights directly to strategy.
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Future SciComms‘ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ custom_id=” av_uid=’av-mkzvgte1′ sc_version=’1.0′]
Unlocking the Future of SciComms: The Power and Partnership of Science, People, and AI/Technology
Led by Charlotte Moseley (EVP, Medical & Scientific Services, OPEN Health) and Karen King (EVP, Client Services, OPEN Health) alongside Jung Lee (AstraZeneca) and Fran Paradiso-Hardy (Astellas Pharma)
This workshop looked at how digital is transforming scientific communications. The SciComms revolution sees it shifting from siloed, manual content development toward connected, cross-functional ecosystems. The presenters used case studies to demonstrate how inconsistent frameworks, fragmented data, and limited accessibility hinder global to local alignment. Robust frameworks such as the 5Ds (Discover, Define, Design, Develop, Deliver) are key digital enablers, but they must be supported by change management, new team competencies, and clear governance. Transformation is not only about tools but also about embedding new behaviors, improving collaboration, and building systems that scale.
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Patient Experience‘ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ custom_id=” av_uid=’av-mkzvovta’ sc_version=’1.0′]
Putting Experience into the Evidence: Including the Patient Perspective
Led by Jamie Kistler (President, Global Medical Affairs & Communications, OPEN Health), with Rebecca Vermeulen (Roche) and Hayley Chapman (Patient-Focused Medicines Development)
This workshop demonstrated how patient experience data (PED) is increasingly central to evidence generation. The presenters outlined regulatory definitions, global momentum, and the increasing expectations of the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, and health technology assessment (HTA) bodies that PED informs trial design, endpoint selection, benefit-risk evaluation, and post-approval decisions. To answer this challenge, PED must be generated through robust, fit-for-purpose methods and interpreted within meaningful patient partnerships. Tools such as the Global PED Navigator and guidance from the Patient-Focused Medicines Development (PFMD) organization demonstrate how multistakeholder cocreation improves representativeness, contextualization, and decision-making relevance.
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Congresses‘ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ custom_id=” av_uid=’av-mkzvsz1n’ sc_version=’1.0′]
Beyond the Booth: Maximizing Congress Impact Through Proactive Planning and Smart Engagement
Led by Brandon Boland (Global Client Partner, OPEN Health) and Nishal Patel (GSK)
During this workshop, participants were challenged to rethink congress participation as more than presence on a crowded floor. Visibility alone does not create impact. Meaningful outcomes require a campaign-oriented mindset that spans pre-congress preparation, in the moment engagement, and deliberate post-congress activation. Congress success depends on clarity of purpose, unified cross-functional planning, and a commitment to using insights to refine scientific narratives over time. Thus, each congress becomes a chapter in a broader scientific story, one shaped by audience needs and intentional follow-up rather than one-off interactions or fragmented execution.
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Omnichannel‘ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ custom_id=” av_uid=’av-mkzvsz1n’ sc_version=’1.0′]
Omnichannel in Medical Affairs: One Vision, Many Pathways
Moderated by Shauna Aherne (Global President, Enterprise Growth & Strategy, OPEN Health), with Donnie Wooten (AstraZeneca) and Nicole Taylor (Lilly)
This debate addressed the practical realities of implementing omnichannel strategies in Medical Affairs. Rather than presenting a single model, the session explored how organizations at different maturity levels navigate ideation, planning, execution, and insights. Data shared during the session highlighted the industry-wide gap between aspiration and execution, with most teams still developing proficiency and struggling to leverage data or demonstrate return on investment. Omnichannel is ultimately about decision-making, not channels. It requires a mindset shift toward digital and data fluency, early compliance partnership, modular content planning, and operating models that connect global strategy with local execution.
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Conclusion
MAPS Americas 2026 was a call to action for Medical Affairs professionals to deliver more insights faster, with stronger evidence and measurable impact. The organizations that will win are the ones that take AI, RWE, and omnichannel from one-off initiatives and develop them into repeatable ways of working. The challenge is moving from planning to activation: sharpening evidence strategies around outcomes that matter, modernizing content and engagement models, and building compliant governance that keeps pace with real-world decisions.
OPEN Health is already supporting clients as they move into this new era, helping them operationalize advanced strategies, plan integrated evidence generation, develop scientific communications, and execute omnichannel effectively. If you would like more information on any of the topics above, or would value a conversation about how we can help your Medical Affairs team seize these opportunities, contact us today.
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