Field sales force model to increase adoption of a novel tuberculosis diagnostic test among private providers: evidence from India

Abstract

BackgroundImpact of novel high-quality tuberculosis (TB) tests such as Xpert MTB/RIF has been limited due to low uptake among private providers in high-burden countries including India. Our objective was to assess the impact of a demand generation intervention comprising field sales force on the uptake of high-quality TB tests by providers and its financial sustainability for private labs in the long run.MethodsWe implemented a demand generation intervention across five Indian cities between October 2014 and June 2016 and compared the change in the quantity of Xpert cartridges ordered by labs in these cities from before (February 2013–September 2014) to after intervention (October 2014–December 2015) to corresponding change in labs in comparable non-intervention cities. We embedded this difference-in-differences estimate within a financial model to calculate the internal rate of return (IRR) if the labs were to invest in an Xpert machine with or without the demand generation intervention.ResultsThe intervention resulted in an estimated 60 additional Xpert cartridges ordered per lab-month in the intervention group, which yielded an estimated increase of 11 500 tests over the post-intervention period, at an additional cost of US$13.3–US$17.63 per test. Further, we found that investing in this intervention would increase the IRR from 4.8% to 5.5% for hospital labs but yield a negative IRR for standalone labs.ConclusionsField sales force model can generate additional demand for Xpert at private labs, but additional strategies may be needed to ensure its financial sustainability.

The Drivers of Business Performance: Does Sales Force Strategy and Network Capability Matter?

“…On the other hand, Deo et al (2020) argued that more important than the number of staff at the booth is their ability to interact quickly with clients (visitors) and respond to their inquiries effectively, thereby Fang & Ding (2020) suggested adequate training. Liu (2019) presented a model with antecedents and consequences for exhibitor booth personnel commitment consisting of exhibitor pre-exhibition decisions regarding human resource commitment to a particular trade show.…”