How will pharmaceutical communication with physicians evolve? #pharma #hcsm #hcsmeu #health20fr #hcsmeufr

How will communication between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians evolve? Various forces are at work to reduce the numbers of sales reps deployed in the field: the economy, the excesses of recent years, reduced access to physicians by the doctors themselves, the internet.

 The article referenced on the left describes the case of AZ in the US who eliminated its 850 person Nexium fieldforce and replaced them by a call center of approximately 300 people, coupled with a web site from which doctors could order materials and samples. The articles concludes by saying that AZ will continue to reduce costs in this manner.

However, in the 3 months since the article was published, there have been 21 comments -- thank you social media-- a number of which make the conclusion less clear. 

• The main point is that "Do not call requests" are growing.
• •  Only 30% of US physician practices receive the calls freely, according to one of the telemarketers who commented. 
  • Another one notes that to get a doctor to call back, he leaves information about a party being organized. I don't know if this is tongue-in-cheek, but it seemed serious.
  • A fourth commenter suggested that calls should only be made at lunchtime when doctors are available and not during patient appointment hours
  • A fifth and sixth person plug e-detailing after hours (or without accompaniment) instead of telemarketing by phone.

In any event, the bottom line is that contacting physicians to provide information that is not needed or wanted at the moment that it is being offered must quickly become a thing of the past. Just in time information on the web combined with access to a personalized company representative who could link the physician to a colleague, if need be, would seem to be the way to go. Comments?

Comments

[DrV]

As a gastroenterologist I no longer have any control over what PPI I prescribe. So why should I spend time on the phone with a rep? Pretty simple really.