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Meetings Coordinated Through PreferredTime Increase 88 Percent Per Month

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 12:00 CDT

Medical offices and pharmaceutical reps using company's sales representative scheduling service report significant savings, more effective interactions, reduced aggravation

PreferredTime, Inc., a company dedicated to reducing waste in the healthcare system by making interactions between the medical provider and pharmaceutical communities more efficient, today announced that the number of visits coordinated through its rep scheduling service has increased at a rate of 88 percent each month since the service's nationwide launch in May. The service helps pharmaceutical representatives and medical offices coordinate visits at times and in ways that both parties prefer.

"We founded PreferredTime to improve interactions between offices and reps and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive," said Stefania Nappi, CEO of PreferredTime. "Our medical office clients are spending more time on patient care and less time managing rep traffic. Our pharmaceutical clients are no longer waiting for hours in lobbies and parking lots. They're having more productive visits with physicians. As a result, they're actually reaching many more docs per day."

"PreferredTime has taken the headache away for us," said Denise McKeon, practice administrator, Capital Medical Associates, Carson City, NV. "It's opened up our lobby. I used to have 4 or 5 or 7 reps waiting there at a time. We have 6 docs and 200 different reps coming through regularly. PreferredTime has saved us a lot of time and hassle - easily 10-12 hours a week of time saved that we used to use trying to schedule and manage the reps."

PreferredTime has seen significant interest in its rep scheduling service among medical offices and pharmaceutical representatives. Since national launch of the service in May, the company has more than doubled the reach of its 16-state pilot program. PreferredTime now supports medical offices in 34 states. Additionally, there has been a 35 percent monthly increase in the number of pharmaceutical representatives signing up for the service. Currently, sales representatives from nearly every pharmaceutical firm are using PreferredTime's service.

Leading analysts have noted that PreferredTime's rep scheduling service is an important prescription for repairing communication between medical offices and pharmaceutical sales representatives. Charles Firneno, a consultant manager with LifeScience Insights, attributes the rapid acceptance of PreferredTime's services to their ability to repair the breakdown of the current saturation-selling model.

"A conflict exists at the front desks of U.S. physicians' offices," said Firneno. "All parties to the doctor/drug company union agree that the marriage has gone sour. Pharma sales reps are forced to wait in line for the chance to see a 'high prescriber' while physicians decry the income lost to saturation selling in the form of a seemingly endless series of details often describing the same brand. The physician's front desk staff is left to manage this unhealthy relationship by keeping the reps at bay. Clearly the industry is ripe for a new solution that will heal the doc/rep rift."

PreferredTime's solution is available nationwide and is free to medical offices. Pharmaceutical representatives can use PreferredTime's Basic service for free or can upgrade to the company's Pro service for $24 a month.

PreferredTime is a neutral, independent company - not owned by or affiliated with any pharmaceutical or healthcare entities. The company never compensates physicians for participating in any sales activities and its services are in full compliance with all guidelines of the American Medical Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the HHS Office of the Inspector General.

About Preferred Time

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, PreferredTime is dedicated to reducing waste in the healthcare system by making interactions between the medical provider and pharmaceutical communities more efficient. PreferredTime's rep scheduling service allows pharmaceutical representatives and medical offices to arrange visits at times and in ways that both parties prefer. PreferredTime is privately held, neutral, and independent. It is not affiliated with any pharmaceutical or healthcare organizations. PreferredTime never compensates physicians for attending any sales activities, and its services are in full compliance with all guidelines of the American Medical Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the HHS Office of the Inspector General.

Source: Business Wire

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