SK&A Blog
Mary Waldron
Snooping to Support—Not Scam—Physicians
by Mary Waldron
January 4, 2010
Healthcare data providers took a bullet last month when the Los Angeles Times ran a story that illustrated their practice of mining and selling physician prescribing data as a move that promotes manipulative pharmaceutical sales-rep tactics that may “distort decision-making and fuel prescribing of new, high-priced drugs.”
Though the article touched on commentary suggesting that prescribing data is used for other purposes, more attention to the benefits of prescription data is warranted.
Many buyers of healthcare data use the information to better target physicians by medical conditions they treat and drugs they prescribe to promote causes and events that enrich the quality of doctors and the healthcare industry.
According to a report of SK&A’s 2009 sales for its prescription data service, PrescriberPlus, approximately half of all PrescriberPlus customers purchased prescription data to promote CME (continuing medical education) programs and clinical trials.
Healthcare marketers need to be well-versed in the areas doctors focus on. It would obviously make no sense to promote CME programs, clinical trials and other positive opportunities to the wrong types of physicians. Otherwise, time, money and resources are wasted for healthcare marketers—and not to mention growth opportunities for doctors and benefits for the public.
Prescription data has also proved to benefit doctors and the public during times of health crisis. Most recently, prescription data was used by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to track the treatment of H1N1 and other influenza viruses, according to a press release. State public health officials are also accessing the information to monitor their regions’ possibilities for H1NI outbreaks, according to InformationWeek.
Let’s face it. There’s a reason why only three U.S. states have banned this type of data from being sold. The benefits of prescription data clearly outweigh any negative connotations, and until state officials realize this, the advancement of various areas in healthcare will be stifled.
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