According to the survey, 76% of doctors are willing to see a sales representative from a drug or device maker any time or any day, while 17% of doctors refused to see sales representatives at any time.
The survey also found that 14% of group practices have a general policy to restrict access to physicians at all their office locations, and 20% of physicians restrict access at all their office locations. The survey covered 230,000 medical practices representing 640,000 docs nationwide.
However, another study conducted by Verispan, a provider of health care information and services, found doctors preferring electronic detailing and e-promotion to face-to-face detailing. The study interviewed 1000 doctors, of whom 47% felt e-promotion on par with face-to-face detailing, and 50% said that they were more likely to prescribe a drug which they learned through e-detail.
According to the study, 10% of doctors opted for electronic detailing instead of in-person representative visits in 2007. The study also found e-detailing to be much popular among the relatively less experienced doctors than their seniors.
PharmExec.com has quoted, Heather Alba, associate product manager at Verispan, as saying: “Given the regulatory conditions concerning reps having access to docs, e-promotion is a good alternative to promoting towards physicians. If they can’t be there in person, reps can still invite physicians to engage in an activity online. This is just another way to reach out to physicians that pharma does not have access to.”