What drug information source influences doctors most? Perhaps not surprisingly, CME courses are more likely to win physicians over to new treatments, compared with pharma-sponsored dinners for doctors, sales-rep detailing and other formats.
Second in line? Conferences. They, too, have an educational flavor, what with the speakers at the head table and the audience sitting in rows, listening. According to a new survey, more than 50 percent of respondents said they intended to prescribe particular drugs after learning about them at conferences and CME courses. Dinner meetings with doctors were somewhat less successful, with 40 percent or more intending to prescribe afterward.
But sales reps should take heart: About 40 percent of doctors did say that, after face-to-face visits, they had a stronger desire to prescribe the product discussed. That beat out electronic communication by more than 10 percent; emails only boosted intent by 20 to 30 percent.
- read the story from Medical Marketing & Media
ALSO: AstraZeneca's ($AZN) decision to scrap payments for doctors to attend international medical congresses is ground breaking but necessary if the pharmaceutical industry wants to improve its tarnished image, said Richard Bergstrom, who heads the industry's European trade body. Report