How to Select a Consensus Company to Support Your Evidence Plan
Expert consensus is playing an increasingly vital role in today’s healthcare decision-making. It can often be used to inform clinical guidance, support regulatory submissions, address variations in care, or align healthcare stakeholders behind a common vision. As organisations across pharma, life sciences, and health policy seek to strengthen their evidence generation and stakeholder alignment strategies, many are turning to a specialist provider – a consensus company – to generate expert opinion insights.
Choosing the right consensus company is critical to ensuring that the research will produce valid data and a study that can have real-world impact. So, what exactly should you look for in a consensus company to ensure you gain strategic value from the process?
1. Structured Methodology and Protocol Excellence: A capable consensus provider is process-oriented
A skilled consensus company should offer a clear, structured process for capturing and aligning expert opinion, with the flexibility to tailor that process to each project’s specific objectives and scope. Reputable providers should be experienced in multiple methodologies such as:
- Nominal Group Technique (NGT) – A structured, often in-person method for generating and ranking ideas, ideal for prioritising options when group discussion is key but time is limited.
- RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method – Combines literature and expert judgement to assess the appropriateness of clinical practices, widely used in guideline development.
- Delphi and Modified Delphi – Anonymous, multi-round surveys designed to refine expert views, reduce bias, and build robust consensus across generally geographically dispersed participants.
When selecting a consensus company, assess their ability to confidently recommend the right method for the challenge being faced and to apply it effectively, considering:
- Study Design – How are questions framed to meet objectives?
- Expert Selection and Engagement– What ensures a balanced, credible panel that maintains interest throughout the project?
- Data Handling – Are tools secure, and do they capture the type of data needed, for instance including both quantitative and qualitative data?
Beware of broad consultancy firms that may offer to conduct a consensus study without having previously invested the requisite time in designing and refining processes. For example, all Delphi consensus providers will use what are called ‘modified Delphi methods’ and the methodology will differ from one to another. A reputable Delphi consensus provider will have an established and proven protocol in place (albeit with flexibility to meet a range of objectives), crucial for navigating the complexities of a project efficiently.
2. End-to-End Project Ownership and Efficiency A capable consensus provider excels in project management
Consensus-building can be a complex process involving multiple stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables. A consensus company should offer seamless project management to take pressure off the project’s internal team and allow them to focus on strategic oversight. Your ideal consensus company shoulders the burden of project management (almost) entirely. Their proposal should outline expectations and time commitment required from you and from experts at each point of the project. A competent provider will be able to demonstrate strong stakeholder satisfaction with the way that projects are conducted in addition to the outputs they produce.
This could include:
- Managing timelines and ensuring high response rates among experts.
- Maintaining communication with steering committees or advisory panels throughout the project lifecycle.
- Having communications plans in place with clients to gather the required input at the right time.
- Risk management plans to help identify and mitigate challenges such as panel recruitment issues, lack of consensus, survey fatigue etc
Look for testimonials or case studies that reflect successful project delivery and strong collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders including HCPs participating in the consensus studies.
3. Publication Success & Scientific Rigor: A capable consensus provider has a solid track record
Structured consensus is about generating credible evidence. This means the consensus outputs should meet scientific standards to be worthy of peer-reviewed publication. A qualified consensus company should:
- Have a proven track record of publishing consensus studies in respected journals.
- Follow established reporting standards such as GRADE, EQUATOR , or the ACCORD guidelines (the first formal reporting guidance for all consensus-based research).
- Demonstrate familiarity with ethical publishing practices (e.g., ICJME, GPP guidelines).
- Know how to co-author with stakeholders and handle medical writing responsibilities effectively.
Publishing in high-quality journals significantly increases the chances of impact of a study and it is a strong indicator that the consensus company meets the quality expectations of the scientific community. Peer-reviewed publications play a crucial role in enhancing a study’s recognition and perceived legitimacy, but gaining acceptance in top journals can be challenging, with around 60% of manuscripts facing rejection as peer-reviewers only accept studies of sufficient quality.
When evaluating a consensus company, you should expect to see multiple case studies (not just one or two) that demonstrate their ability to reproduce desired outcomes time and again with the specific method they will employ. So, If you are interested in doing a Delphi study, enquire a Delphi consensus provider about the number of Delphi studies they have published.
4. Strategic Insight & Dissemination Support: A capable consensus provider is an expert team (usually in-house)
Many vendors can help run a meeting or distribute a survey. But an established consensus company goes beyond execution, acting as an expert advisor, tailoring their approach to address unique challenges and opportunities. This requires their team to understand the healthcare system, including clinical pathways and broader market dynamics:
- Can they help define a strategy around the evidence you aim to generate?
- Are they able to translate consensus findings into clear recommendations and action plans?
- How do they share findings with stakeholders, including clinicians, policymakers, and patients?
- Do they offer guidance on integrating findings into clinical practice or policy?
Robust consensus studies demand a cross-functional approach that integrates stakeholder engagement, evidence synthesis, and scientific communication. A consensus company with in-house expertise across these areas can deliver more efficiently and cohesively, eliminating the need for multiple external vendors.
The ideal consensus provider focuses on meaningful dissemination to drive real-world impact. They should understand longer-term objectives and be able to design, deliver, and communicate a study effectively to support lasting change in healthcare. Do enquire about the tangible impact of previous studies and associated campaigns delivered. For example, you should consider asking a Delphi consensus provider:
- How did care pathways change?
- How did clinical best practices adapt?
- What was the impact on policy?
A consensus provider that demonstrates an in-house team with the range of strategic counsel, project/stakeholder management, and scientific communication skills is essential to smoothly and expertly navigate the project from inception to implementation.
5. Ethical and Regulatory Compliance: A capable consensus provider is effortlessly compliant
In highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and health technology, adherence and compliance to specific regulations such as those established by PhRMA in the U.S. or ABPI in the UK is essential. When evaluating a provider, you should enquire about:
- How they handle anonymity, confidentiality, and conflict of interest.
- What data security protocols they follow.
- Their understanding of industry codes of practice (e.g., ABPI, PhRMA).
- Their approach to compliance when publishing or sharing findings with external audiences.
Even in projects that are not classified as formal research, credibility still relies on rigour and transparency. Your consensus company of choice should take this seriously and demonstrate a clear track record of compliance. Look for those who uphold ethical and regulatory standards that are specific to medical research and that demonstrate a commitment to good practice. Additionally, upholding impartiality (independence as facilitator) and recognizing sources of potential bias is paramount to safeguard the integrity of the consensus-building process and subsequent outputs.
Compliance extends to communication practices, and the requirement to ensure that information conveyed to stakeholders within and outside of the project complies strictly with regulatory guidelines. You might want to ask potential consensus providers about their awareness regarding those guidelines and enquire about how their processes respect them in practice.
In Summary
Choosing the right consensus company is about more than operational delivery. It’s about selecting a strategic partner who can deliver high-quality evidence, align your stakeholders, publish in respected forums, and help you drive real-world change.
Look for a provider with a robust methodology, proven results, publishing success, and in-house expertise. The right partner won’t just run your study they’ll help you translate it into meaningful impact across healthcare.
Download our Check list to help you choose the right consensus company
About Triducive
At Triducive we deliver consensus-led evidence that gets published and supports change, collaborating with medical affairs and other teams in life-sciences all around the world. With a strong background in healthcare, we have been delivering 130+ Delphi consensus to date, helping to change practice and guidelines, improve pathways, and support payers’ decisions. Get in touch to learn about how a consensus study can help you achieve your objectives.