Determinants of pharmaceutical sales representative access limits to physicians

Abstract

Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally relied on product-specific in-person calls to physicians (detailing) to market their drugs. However, US pharmaceutical sales representative access to physicians is decreasing, resulting in important changes in marketing strategy, sales force optimization and operations, and other processes. Despite these changes, no studies have examined the determinants of pharmaceutical sales representative access limits to physicians. We analyzed effects from prescription volume, managed care control, group practice size, urban location, and physician-level attributes for three product cases involving type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia covering 58,647 to 72,114 US physicians using an ordered multinomial logistic regression model. A database available to and used by US pharmaceutical companies was utilized that measures sales representative physician-level access limits. Results revealed physicians with moderate managed care control had greater access limits than physicians with high or low managed care control, as did physicians with higher prescription volume, in smaller practices, and fewer years since graduation. Access limits also significantly varied by specific urban location. The results fit a time allocation model explaining how physicians and sales representatives allocate their time, and suggest effects from physician adoption of newer digital channels for medical information and changing norms at medical schools toward industry representatives. Commercial implications of restrictive access limits for companies are discussed as well as future extensions of this research.

The unexpected consequences of generic entry

“…Their behavior can only be compatible with profit maximization if advertising elasticities are north of 0.2 in the case of constant returns to promotional effort, or significantly higher in the presence of steeply increasing marginal cost of detailing (M C AC). , and Manchanda, Rossi and Chintagunta (2004) provide convincing evidence of such fast decreasing returns to detailing, and Chressanthis et al (2014) document that detailing agents face increasing difficulties to access physicians.…”

Distribution and Patterns of Industry-Related Payments to Oncologists in 2014

“…Sole proprietors were less likely to receive industry payments and had lower annual payments than physicians who were not. This may reflect changes in pharmaceutical marketing in recent years (49,50), where targeting group practices has a greater influence on sales.…”

“…CMS excluded certain records because of delay-in-publication requests, many of which were likely for research related to proprietary drugs or devices (50). Therefore, we focused on general payments and ownership interests.…”

Sales promotion by wholesalers affects general practitioners’ prescription behaviours in Japan

“…Many previous studies on the determinants of MR promotional effectiveness have focused on cases in the USA and UK [16–19]. Few, however, have explored this issue in the Japanese context.…”

“…Many pharmaceutical companies have been forced to adopt new models for promoting and selling pharmaceuticals in a difficult environment [13]. Chressanthis et al [16] determined that, given the limited access to physicians, MRs tend to focus on areas where they can have the greatest impact on sales, while others have contended that brand prescriptions add to the cost of care with little or no added value [17]. Janko and colleagues [18] further found that family physicians appreciate the scientific content and objectivity of information provided by MRs.…”