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Verispan Reports: Approximately Half of Physicians Satisfied With the Number of Pharmaceutical Sales Reps

Posted on: Monday, 18 December 2006, 15:00 CST

According to Verispan's Sales Force Effectiveness 2006: The Physician Perspective, 52% of physicians overall indicated that the current number of pharmaceutical sales reps calling on them is appropriate. Exceptions included emergency medicine specialists (43%), general practitioners/family medicine/doctors of osteopathy (43%) and general surgeons (42%).

Twenty-six percent of physicians overall thought there were more reps than necessary or far too many in the field. Physicians who reported seeing the highest average number of reps per week were also among the most likely to report that there are too many reps currently calling on them. Forty-one percent of GP/FM/DOs and 35% of internists reported that there are more reps than necessary or far too many in the field; they also reported a higher-than-average number of reps seen per week (10 each).

General surgeons (54%), emergency medicine physicians (49%), anesthesiologists (42%) and orthopedic surgeons (40%) most frequently reported that there are fewer reps than necessary or far too few currently calling on them. Notably, each of these physician groups reported seeing an average of two or fewer reps per week.

Verispan's newest Strategic Study, Sales Force Effectiveness 2006: The Physician Perspective (SFE 2006), provides clients with a "customer survey" of physicians that adds an additional factor in the efficient allocation of resources -- what physicians feel makes a rep effective. The study also provides a look at some of the "whys" behind physicians' ratings/rankings of pharmaceutical sales forces.

About Sales Force Effectiveness 2006: The Physician Perspective

Since 1998, Verispan has produced groundbreaking studies on the productivity and effectiveness of sales forces in the pharmaceutical industry. These studies have provided critical benchmarking information based on survey responses from sales representatives and the physicians they target.

Sales Force Effectiveness 2006: The Physician Perspective not only focuses on topical issues of interest in the pharmaceutical industry, but also on "tactical" data characterizing current rep approaches to physicians. The study asks respondents to dissect the detail, reporting on the amount of time reps spent on various detail components (e.g., product-specific information, competitive product comparisons, sample delivery, etc.). Respondents also rate the effectiveness of specific tactics and the impact those tactics have on prescribing.

Web-based and mail-based questionnaires were fielded in August 2006, surveying practitioners across 16 specialty audiences. Specialists surveyed were targeted based on level of detailing activity and client interest. Target quotas were established by specialty and were adjusted to reflect known response rates, with the goal of capturing a representative sample from each specialty. Study respondents totaled over 4,000 and included the following specialties:

Anesthesiology

Neurology

Cardiology

Obstetrics/gynecology

Dermatology

Oncology

Emergency medicine

Ophthalmology

Gastroenterology

Orthopedic surgery

General practice /family

Pediatrics

medicine/osteopathic medicine

Psychiatry

General surgery

Pulmonology

Internal medicine

For more information about Sales Force Effectiveness 2006: The Physician Perspective or other studies in Verispan's Strategic Studies suite, please contact Tara Hamm at (267) 685-4300; tara.hamm@verispan.com.

Verispan: The True Measure of Healthcare

Verispan, a healthcare informatics joint venture of Quintiles Transnational Corp. and McKesson Corp., provides a broad array of information products and services to the healthcare industry, including sales targeting and compensation products; market research audits; healthcare profiles; comprehensive managed care offerings; primary market research; data integration, warehousing and mining; data analysis and consulting; direct mail; list services; disease management studies; clinical trial investigator targeting and protocol recruitment evaluation; healthcare outcomes; and cost/benefit analyses, among many others. Verispan is also the nation's leading provider of patient-centric longitudinal data, with dozens of products used by clients spanning the industry.

Headquartered in Yardley, Pa., Verispan employs over 500 dedicated healthcare information professionals. The company's Web site is www.verispan.com.

Source: Business Wire

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