The Faulty Equation: Time ≠ Value
Healthcare is waking up to a truth long understood elsewhere: value isn’t created by the time we spend — it’s created by the difference we make.
In an AI-enabled world, speed and insight are abundant — and often instantaneous. So why are we still paying agencies by the hour?
Inputs don’t equal impact
Time-based pricing assumes effort equals value. But today, a small strategic pivot or insight can shift market behaviour, drive adherence, or accelerate diagnosis, all in days, not months.
AI hasn’t just made agencies faster. It’s made old pricing models obsolete.
Outdated models punish progress
Still, many agency–client relationships cling to the rate card multiplied by estimated hours, a model that:
Penalises speed and efficiency
Encourages over-servicing and overthinking
Disincentivises proactive value creation
Worse, it reduces expert thinking to a commoditised unit of time.
Buy outcomes, not hours
Progressive healthcare leaders are reframing the agency brief from:
“What will this cost in time?” to “What is this worth if it works?”
That single shift changes everything.
It invites agencies to solve problems, not just complete tasks. It rewards results, not resource burn. And it better reflects what clients are really buying: regulatory fluency, behavioural insight, patient-centric ideas, and transformative thinking.
Speed is not a discount
AI allows agencies to compress what used to take weeks into hours. But that shouldn’t lead to lower fees, it should lead to higher value.
If an AI-enabled sprint uncovers an insight that prevents patient drop-off, unlocks access, or closes an equity gap, is that worth less just because it was fast?
Of course not. It’s worth more.
Start with: what does success look like?
Leading Pharma and Biotech players now begin agency partnerships by defining outcomes, not inputs.
They ask:
What are we solving for?
How will we measure success?
What’s that success worth?
Only then do they talk about fees — based on the value created, not the hours logged.
Rethink the commercial model
Progressive healthcare teams are already experimenting with smarter pricing models:
Fixed fee for clarity: one price for nailing the right strategy
Licensing IP: ongoing access to agency-built tools, content, or platforms
Success-based compensation: tied to patient engagement, uptake, or experience outcomes
Subscriptions for thought partnership: ongoing advisory and AI-assisted co-creation
Revenue sharing on innovation: when agencies bring IP or platforms that fuel commercial growth
This isn’t just about agencies — it’s about progress
Hourly pricing doesn’t just slow down agencies. It slows down healthcare.
When agencies are freed from timesheets, they can focus on what matters: solving problems faster, smarter, and with more impact.
The future belongs to healthcare players who stop buying time and start buying outcomes. Frontera Group
We believe in the power of Ability with Agility.
That’s the combination of a depth of expertise with the pace that today demands. We’re not just fast. We’re forward. And we turn potential into progress every day.
We thrive at the intersection of:
Research with Rigour – uncovering insights that don’t just describe the world, but change it.
Consulting with Clarity – delivering strategies that empower bold moves, not just tick boxes.
Creativity with Courage – driving impact through emotionally intelligent, behaviour-led campaigns.
All underpinned by behavioural science and powered by AI – the kind of intelligence that accelerates smarter decisions, faster.
Contact:
Annik Larsen, Director, Global Business Development
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ENABLING BETTER OUTCOMES, FASTER
3moWhatever agencies think - I wonder if this perspective is shared by procurement leads Annik? Lourdes Navarrete Keith Gentry (MBA)Karène Tialeu Jagpaul Sian, MCIPS Nitin Kapoor Trevor Reay MBA, FCIPS Florian Butnar Rob Welsh Richard Hollingsworth Beth Sheldon Artur Piotr Gniadkowski Justyna Kowalczuk ドーメン マーカスピーター Markus Dohmen Tabe Kuiters Helen Priestley Kate Castillo Sandra Rumbold Richard Silk
Seasoned Creative Director of copy who offers expert creative ideation and strategy for both pharmaceutical clients
4moVery good points Annik. If you're hiring us by the hour, you're not buying our real value, you're renting our time. But when you work with us based on outcomes, you're getting something far more powerful: ideas that shift behaviour, unlock access, and drive real change.