To Promote, Educate or both

As a marketer of pharmaceutical products one of things I deal with on a daily basis is the question how do we can our message out to our key customers, the patients that are in need of our products and their key influencers, the doctors and nurses that help them get better?

Many doctors especially pediatricians and family practice physicians have told me personally that their business is not the same as it was a decade or more ago when they entered practice. Increased malpractice insurance costs on top of other business expenses have raised their costs. Pressure from insurance companies has lowered their revenue per patient. In order to make a living they need to see many more patients per day. Sometimes they only are able to spend several minutes with each patient.

Then there are all the pharmaceutical reps that try to see them ….

Some see a drug rep as an intrusion. Some block reps from seeing them. Some only accept samples signing for them while a representative watches from a distance. Others see them as one information source for new products and therapies. Unfortunately as time time pressures increase the number of health care professionals willing to talk to a representative is decreasing.

In this go, go, go world how do doctors learn about new products and/or new techniques for treating disease? Sometimes from their patients – their patients see an ad and ask for a prescription. This begs the question do patients know what they are asking for? In some cases yes but how many consumers ask for a product solely on the number of times they have seen the ad? How many prescriptions are written to satisfy a customer and not necessarily for medical need? Ads are very expensive. How do smaller companies with limited budgets but innovative products get their word out?

One way companies have been using to educate medical professionals is Continuing Medical Education (CME). This is an educational program (in print, a seminar, a web cast, etc.) that is usually organized by a medical group not affiliated with the sponsor. A pharmaceutical company may sponsor an activity but usually does not control content.

Some have criticized pharmaceutical companies from sponsoring CME. I don’t know if CME is the best way but it is one way to get the word out about promising drugs and therapies. Dr. John Lechleiter, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Eli Lilly (www.lilly.com) wrote a very good piece in my home town paper the Indianapolis Star over the weekend. I’ve pasted it below. Please look it over.

My question to you (the public) is how should we (the pharmaceutical company) educate you on new drugs and therapies? How can a small company get its word out? Doctors don’t like drug representatives filling up their waiting rooms – how can we reach you, educate you, allow you to make informed decisions?

I’m all ears – that’s what makes my job interesting and exciting.

Until next time – All the best!

Roland



My View: John C. Lechleiter
Lilly seeks education, not 'dose of influence'

The Indianapolis Star
July 15, 2007

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707150325&template=printart


The Indianapolis Star as well as scientific journals, legislators and other media outlets around the country recently examined the pharmaceutical industry's financial support of continuing medical education for doctors. This attention has raised more questions than answers, as The Star's June 24 headline ("A dose of influence?") certainly demonstrated.

My goal is to offer some answers and share an insider's viewpoint that draws on the experiences and practice of Eli Lilly and Co.

Pharmaceutical companies such as Lilly are an important source of financial sponsorship for continuing medical education programs. Since medical knowledge grows constantly, doctors are required to complete CME programs on a regular basis in order to remain licensed. And patients, of course, benefit greatly from having doctors who are up-to-date on their fields of practice.

At Lilly, we're quite proud to support CME. Earlier this year, in fact, we became the first drug company to publish an online database of all our grants to medical societies, academic centers, patient organizations and other health care-related institutions (see www.lillygrantoffice.com) -- which includes our support for CME. We earned some praise for this from U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley, who encouraged other companies to do the same. We agree that openness is the key to avoiding misunderstandings.

Is it a "dose of influence" with doctors that Lilly seeks by making these funds available? No. It is clearly in the interests of our business that doctors do not stop learning when they leave medical school, but rather stay on top of new treatment options that produce better results. But we do not, and cannot, determine the specific content of CME programs that we support -- let alone influence the subsequent treatment and prescribing decisions of the doctors who attend.

That's because, first of all, our payments are made to the organizers of CME sessions, who in turn are solely responsible for the content of the programs. We don't choose the curriculum or the speakers, so we could not use this funding -- even if we were inclined to -- as a means of elevating our products or rewarding doctors who like to prescribe them. Second, we can't determine which doctors will attend a CME program. And finally, decisions at Lilly about saying "yes" or "no" to requests for CME grants are made by our medical department -- mostly doctors themselves -- without any role for our sales and marketing functions.

Doctors are not weak-willed marionettes; they're savvy, well educated and quite fierce about using their own judgment. Lilly shares a compelling interest in a having a community of physicians with the latest knowledge and skills -- which is why we will continue to support CME as part of our contribution to the overall quality of health care in the United States. But our products will rise and fall on their merits -- namely, their efficacy and safety in the treatment of patients.