Doctors shutting out sales reps
pharmafile | October 29, 2003 | News story | |
Doctors are making a conscious decision to give up less of their time to see sales reps, according to a new survey.
Increasing demands from patients has led to one-third of doctors putting aside less time than they did two years ago to see industry reps, says research by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.
Two-thirds of patients regularly conduct their own research to ensure they get the best treatment and nearly one-third of doctors have been asked to prescribe drugs about which they have insufficient knowledge or which are unsuitable for the patient's condition, according to the consultants' research.
The firm suggests that pharma companies could address patients' increasing desire for information by providing doctors with better support and, where allowed, developing closer links with consumers.
Alasdair Mackintosh, Head of Global Life Sciences Marketing & Sales Practice at CGE&Y, said: "Pharma companies need to develop a more collaborative relationship with physicians to help ease this load, for example, by increasing the number of channels for communicating with doctors and enabling them to access specific information via self-service channels".
The international survey of 4,000 consumers and nearly 1,500 doctors found that an increasingly informed patient population is in turn placing the pharma industry's relationship with doctors under strain.
Pharma companies' communications with patients was a cause of concern for 65% of doctors surveyed and many commented on the marketing bias to information they themselves received from sales reps.
Paul Nannetti, Life Sciences Global Sector Leader at CGE&Y, said: o"Cmpanies need to dramatically transform their approach and put the customer at the heart of everything they do, whether that customer is the physician, the patient or the payer".
The report, 'Prescriptions for the Smart & Lean Pharmaceutical Company' suggests pharma companies should reinvent product portfolios to provide a value-added service and be more aware of and responsive to consumer and market changes.
