Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Study: More Docs Limit Sales Rep Access

via Daily Advantage from PharmaLive.com

"A new study is reporting that in another setback to field sales groups, there's a clear trend that more physicians are requiring appointments from reps or limiting their access altogether. Between June and December 2008, the percentage of physicians who require appointments advanced from 31.4 percent to 38.5 percent. Also, the percentage of physicians who forbid sales-rep access altogether rose from 22.3 percent to 23.6 percent, the study says."

Over 75% of physicians still meet with sales representatives. Even though over 70% of prescriptions should be for generic medications nearly 100% of the samples and "comparative" drug information come from brand-name drug representatives. Physicians want and will use good information, but it must meet a few criteria:

  • Trusted information: "fair & balanced" information focusing on total health care & societal costs; "what would I do for someone I loved who was living on a tight budget?"
  • High utility: Their time is money, so send concise information targeted to their prescribing patterns; do not blast all information to everyone
  • Peer comparisons: I was initially surprised when nearly all physicians to whom I sent information requested that I add a comparison to their specialty peers; it seems that these comparisons help ensure them that any changes in prescribing habits would be the right thing to do, it helps validate the information we provide
My question to you: who would be the most trusted source of comparative drug information?

No comments: