Physicians have many sources of medical information from which to choose, but the credibility and importance of each varies significantly.

2005-04-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

by Hugh G. Davis, Senior Instructor , Kriger Biopharmaceutical Career Training Program www.kriger.com , info@kriger.com

This article has been published by the International Biopharmaceutical Associationwww.ibpassociation.org

The project is sponsored by KRC CRO and training services ( www.kriger.com ) and ClinQua CRO (www.clinqua.com )

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Physicians are facing financial pressure: declining managed care and government reimbursement, coupled with rising malpractice insurance costs, is forcing them to increase their patient loads.

In the U.S. since 1995 the physician population has grown just 15%, according to the American Medical Association (AMA), while over the same period, the number of pharmaceutical reps has grown 94%, to more than 81,000. A recent study found that high-prescribing physicians receive three to five times as many calls from sales reps as they did 10 years ago. This competition for physicians’ time is fierce and a health strategies group study found that only 7% of pharmaceutical rep visits lasted longer than two minutes. Also, half of rep calls last less than two minutes (known as the classic "doorknob detail"), and a full 43% of visits never get past the receptionist with at least 35% of physicians are not seeing pharmaceutical reps at all.

New strategies, intended to complement traditional direct-to-physician tactics, are needed. Efficient alternative channels are now available, and their potential reach and integration with current channels will build a broader, more effective marketing platform for the future.

Physicians have many sources of medical information from which to choose, but the credibility and importance of each varies significantly. AC Nielsen/HCI’s ongoing tracking of the importance of information sources has found that in many cases, pharmaceutical companies have relied heavily on sources that are not rated highly by physicians. Expanding the breadth of communication channels to provide greater physician value and credibility is critical for the future of pharmaceutical marketing.

Potent technologies in point of care e-prescribing (or electronic prescribing) and related integrated drug reference tools are on the verge of becoming the most powerful marketing tools yet devised. These technologies allow marketers to reach physicians at the moment of truth, when physicians are making the prescribing decision.
The use of PDA- and Internet-based practice management and patient care tools has shown a dramatic jump in the last year, jumping from 11% to 16% of physicians using the Internet according to one survey.

While many promising technologies have failed to realize their potential, the momentum behind e-prescribing appears to be virtually unstoppable. The point-of-care e-prescribi ng concept and technology initially gained acceptence as a medical practice tool, and now the other key players in the health care system are recognizing the significant benefits of e-prescribing and are making adoption a priority.

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, Inc. (NCPDP), an accredited standards development organization, has established standards for the purpose of transmitting prescription information electronically between prescribers and dispensers. The major pharmacy benefits managers, Merck-Medco , Advance PCS , and Express Scripts , formed RxHub in 2001 to accelerate the adoption of electronic prescribing. The major pharmacists groups, The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and The National Community Pharmacists Associations (NCPA), formed SureScript Systems in 2001 for the same purpose. Even a major employer coalition, Leapfrog Group , is promoting the adoption of electronic prescribing to help reduce medication errors.
A few hurdles still stand in the way. Several U.S. states still do not allow prescriptions to be transmitted electronically, and federal law does not yet allow electronic controlled substance prescriptions. But this fact is likely to change in the face of lobbying, current legislative initiatives, and other pressures. The bottom line is that electronic prescribing is virtually inevitable with such a broad consensus among all the major stakeholders.

Every health care stakeholder receives benefits from e-prescribing. Patients can get more time with their physicians, greater convenience in the prescription process, and, most importantly, improved medication safety. For the pharmacies, the NACDS estimates as much as 30% of pharmacists’ time is spent verifying prescriptions. Productivity cost savings could be dramatic. The accuracy of e-prescribing also reduces prescription errors and liabilities. Payers benefit from improved formulary and treatment protocol compliance.

But it is physicians who have the most to gain from e-prescribing. New e-prescribing applications can reduce medication errors, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce practice costs.

Electronic prescribing systems can have a significant impact on practice and clinical efficiency by dramatically reducing pharmacy call backs and streamlining the prescription renewal process. According to one study, 69% of prescribers say e-prescribing has had a positive impact on improving their overall efficiency; 79% reported e-prescribing has had a beneficial impact on delivering better patient care. The study also found that 16% of physicians currently use e-prescribing, nearly a 50% jump over 2001’s level. An additional 21% of physicians expect to use e-prescribing in the next 18 months, and various estimates have projected an adoption level of greater than 50% by 2005.

MARKETING IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Physicians have many sources of medical information from which to choose, but the credibility and importance of each varies significantly.