The Future Of The Doctor-Drug Rep Relationship
Patient care is increasingly under third party control. And as a consequence I make fewer decisions regarding the brand of medication used in my patients.
So the role of a pharmaceutical rep comes into question. If I don’t choose which medication my patients will use, why would a representative call on me? And as American medicine becomes more centralized and standardized, I wonder how and why industry will connect with treating physicians. Pharma it seems is asking the same question: Of the core medications I prescribe, I see far fewer reps these days and our relationships are markedly different from a decade ago.
I don’t miss the pitch. But I find the element of human support to be important. For example, recently the FDA issued a black box warning for the concomitant use of Remicade and 6-MP. My representative visited to be sure that I was aware of the changes in the product insert. Sure the information was in my mailbox – along with 6 inches of pulp spam. It’s basic attenionomics: I’m more likely to hear a person than a letter. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*