Taking back control

The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) was founded in 1947. Here, its president, professor Annamaria Iagnocco, explains how the league has evolved new revenue models, streamlined processes, and put its members back at the heart of the association.

AMI Historically, what revenue models has EULAR relied on?
AI Traditional revenue models, as with all medical research organisations active in Europe, comprised an annual congress and education courses. The annual medical congress is traditionally the highlight in the year for the rheumatology community, bringing together experts from around Europe and the world with delegate numbers reaching 15,000 for in-person events up to 2019 and reaching 18,000 for the first, fully virtual congress by EULAR in 2020.

AMI What was the catalyst for diversifying revenue models?
AI Legislation was a key driver, with the need to get the patient voice correctly represented in all that EULAR represents. The need and ability to accommodate an ever-increasing virtual environment, so the general drive around digitisation that affects all industries, was significant. With near archaic processes and structures in place in IT systems and project management, the organisation was year on year falling behind the required pace needed to keep up with the developments across societies, everywhere.

With an increasingly inter-continental interest in EULAR, and an increasing need for flexibility in working times and structures, there was also a growing demand for the use of online tools, services, and offerings for higher volumes of audiences – and audiences that were increasingly geographically and time-zoned dispersed. The structures and approaches of old were therefore unable to guarantee the organisation the need it had to be fit for the future.

AMI What new revenue models has EULAR introduced?
AI To meet these new demands, the redevelopment of the core offerings within the education area of EULAR, the EULAR School, were addressed. Online and live courses had been offered in the same structure and framework for well over a decade; starting in 2018, EULAR supported the development and implementation of a new dedicated online learning platform. Changes within the organisation’s project management teams were also made, bringing knowledge and resource into the organisation, versus housing activities with external suppliers, to support the smooth execution of the training courses. Through doing this there was opportunity for EULAR to directly make its own decisions – and to measure the outcome of those decisions thanks to the introduction of new and highly agile IT hard and software, supported by an in-house IT expert.

At the same time, assessing the existing structure and management of the annual medical congress for the first time in almost twenty years meant that there was a chance to redesign the organisation’s most important annual event. A full assessment of internal and external structures and approaches, as well as hearing the needs and expectations of the network, provided the basis on which to build an entirely new and highly streamlined approach using solid expertise and market competitive solutions.

All these changes took place before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the first lockdown hit in March 2020, EULAR stood ready and resilient to ‘turn the ship’s course’, implementing an immediate switch to a fully virtual environment for almost 90 per cent of EULAR’s educational and congress offerings within eight weeks following the announcement of the first lockdown in March 2020.

Finally, the organisation’s governance structures were also addressed, with the introduction of a new membership model in 2020, allowing for the first time, the ability for individuals – and not just national societies and organisations – to have access to EULAR membership.

AMI How were the new models received by EULAR members?
AI Acceptance has been positive. As with any change process, there has been the need to adequately communicate the reasons and need for change right along the process. While challenges have presented themselves, and this has happened at points where implementation has looked different from concept design, which is perfectly normal in any change management process, this has been overcome through a very high level of communication with different stakeholder groups to find common solutions.

The win-win approach with which the new business models have been pioneered and introduced has therefore helped to bring all aboard and take decisions together, resulting in a positive outcome that serves the needs of EULAR’s members and the entire rheumatology community globally.

It has been at the heart of those leading the changes to ensure that each stakeholder is aware that these changes are designed to feed directly back into finding solutions for those suffering the diseases. Keeping this purpose at the core of everything we do has been essential.