DON’T: Lead by talking about your product—Once you’re in the office, you only have a few short minutes with the Doctor. Don’t lead by bashing him over the head with your product. Instead, lead by getting to know his problems and needs, what the pain points are in his practice, or what hurdles he has to navigate daily. If your product doesn’t provide a solution to his problem, then leading with all that product info is wasting his very valuable time – and yours.

DO: Know about the clinical problem your product is designed to address—The Doctor has let you know what her pain point is or what problem she needs solved. Now you need to be able to talk about how your product addresses that problem and how it will make things easier for the Doctor. If you’re in pharmaceuticals, you need to be able to intelligently discuss the disease states your product addresses. If you’re selling software or a device, you need to be able to communicate the benefits to her practice, whether in cost savings or increased efficiency.

DON’T: Proclaim yourself to be an expert on the Doctor’s field or specialty—If there is one thing a Doctor is sure of, it’s that he knows more than you about his field or specialty. Don’t take the sales call as an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge about oncology or pediatrics. Be a resource presenting some new information, but don’t claim to be an expert.

DO: Be a product expert—There shouldn’t be a question a Doctor asks about your product that you can’t field on the spot, off the top of your head. Anticipate what questions a Doctor might ask about your product and then have the answers ready. If you can’t tell the Doctor which plans will cover your product and the co-pay associated with it, she is not going to have time to wait for you to you look it up.

DO: Be able to explain clinical literature—In addition to being able to answer questions about your product, you’ll also be expected to be able to discuss the clinical studies associated with your product. Doctors are a skeptical bunch, especially when presented with data offered by sales people. Be able to relate the clinical study information you present to a patient problem, and be able to show how the data you present relates to solving that problem.

Furthermore, these Nurses are averaging about 4.5 hours per week accessing information via mobile devices. They also favor Apple products as their mobile devices of choice, with 48% of respondents owning or planning to own an iPhone and 45% owning or planning to own an iPad. To read the entire report, download it here. 

Firms engaging in marketing to Nurses specifically will leverage these insights into Nurse usage behavior to create products that speak directly to their needs. Savvy pharmaceutical and healthcare device marketers are already creating a number of mobile offerings to cater to the growing desire for healthcare information delivered via mobile device — from apps to mobile versions of websites and beyond.

As this research reveals, Nurses’ greatest use of digital media is for educational purposes. Consequently, healthcare marketing organizations hoping to influence purchase decisions among this segment would be wise to create streamlined educational offerings via their websites and apps.

Some of the most successful medical apps that have been created are medical reference apps sponsored by Big Pharma. While most of these apps create a favorable impression of the company who created them, they’re not specifically designed to sell a product. Rather, they’re created for educational purposes, making them attractive resources for Nurses on the go.

Firms hoping to recreate these successes with Nurses will undoubtedly create digital media offerings catered specifically to the Nurse’s usage pattern. As they go online via mobile devices to seek the latest treatment information, healthcare marketers would be wise to create comprehensive online resources that give the most relevant and timely information about whatever field they specialize in. By providing unbiased digital resources, marketers create a favorable impression of their company, thereby creating a likelihood that other, more sales-based communications will be seen and consumed by nurses on the go.

As increasing numbers of Nurses and Nurse Practitioners access healthcare information online, it’s imperative that any marketer hoping to be successful in influencing purchase decisions among them in the coming years create streamlined and engaging online content designed to educate first, and sell second. Those late to the party or who spend too much time touting the greatness of their products are bound to lose among this info-centric group.

Marketing to Physicians is a relatively straightforward affair, as Doctors’ primary concerns are with efficacy and safety. Conversely, Hospital Administrators, who hold many of the purse strings and play a major role in any purchase decision, are more concerned with cost and should be communicated with accordingly. 

Any successful healthcare marketing program will target two audiences, Doctors and Hospital Administrators. Many larger companies have begun segmenting their sales forces so that some are trained to address the concerns of Doctors, and others are trained to address the cost-focused concerns of Hospital Administrators. 

Marketers targeting Hospital Administrators should take an approach where the financial benefits to the hospital are put forth. Namely, healthcare marketers should highlight things like how much time will be saved by using the product, or how many more procedures can be completed in a day, or how likely this product is to reduce the probability that the patient will return to the hospital for the same malady. Addressing issues that affect the bottom line will be key for healthcare marketers in getting Hospital Administrators to sign off on a purchase decision. 

Going forward, one way that healthcare marketing organizations can adjust their messaging to capture the interest of Hospital Administrators is by incorporating secondary endpoints focused on cost and efficiency into any clinical trials that are undertaken. This way, while the major findings will be in support of convincing Doctors of the efficacy of the trial, secondary findings will speak to Hospital Administrators in areas of interest to them. 

As cost becomes an ever-increasing factor in any healthcare purchase decision, designing your messaging to include secondary decision-makers like Hospital Administrators will be imperative. 

Contact Healthcare Data Solutions today to learn how HDS products like HospitalPRO and PhysicianPRO can help you reach Doctors and Hospital Administrators efficiently and effectively.

The study also showed that 52% of respondents planned to apply for federal EMR incentive payments, up from 41% in 2010, showing that federal incentives may have an impact in EMR system adoption rates. 

The systems being used by Physicians who responded to the survey are described as being of two tiers. The first tier includes basic systems that are able to record and store patient history and demographics, compile health issue lists, clinical notes, medication and allergy lists, view images, and order prescriptions online. The other tier includes fully functional electronic health records systems, which include all of the basic functions, plus expanded capabilities. 

The adoption rates for basic electronic medical records systems increased nearly 9%, from 24.9% in 2010 to 33.8% in 2011. This significant jump in the most basic systems, coupled with the increase in adoption of EMR systems overall, show that the efficiencies created by these systems, coupled with federal incentives, are leading Doctors’ offices to adopt these new technologies at increasing rates. 

As the electronic medical records landscape changes, healthcare marketing organizations will tailor their software offerings to a greater number of Doctors’ offices, incorporating both basic and advanced features in order to create solutions for Doctors of every kind. 

Being able to effectively and efficiently target offices that have and haven’t adopted EMR technology will be instrumental in creating marketing programs for EMR companies going forward. Vetting a data partner whose information is complete and comprehensive will create a distinct advantage for EMR software companies going forward. 

Healthcare Data Solutions offers a variety of healthcare marketing lists, including electronic medical records adoption lists, which allow medical marketing organizations to accurately target a variety of healthcare segments, from doctors to pharmacists to dentists and beyond. To learn more about our electronic medical records adoption lists, or any of our healthcare marketing data, contact Healthcare Data Solutions today.

Big Pharma has taken notice of this trend and was among the first to begin the development of apps that not only influence a prescriber to choose one medication or treatment over another, but also provide value to healthcare providers and patients in the exam room. Borrowing heavily from the online realm, this form of content marketing – providing valuable information free of charge – has found a home with Big Pharma and will soon be the go-to tool for any savvy healthcare marketing organization.

Below is a sampling of 5 iPad apps from some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry that are changing the way that doctors and patients interact.

1. The Merck Manual: Professional Edition – The world’s most widely distributed medical reference book has gone digital for the iPad. Renowned for its focus and digestibility, the Merck Manual has been the go-to reference for many health professionals for years. The professional edition for iPad offers users access to the content anywhere (no internet needed), an intuitive browsing system, access to the full index of articles, browsing history and more.
2. Novartis Oncology Medical Information – With this easy-to-use app, doctors can view and download standard response documents for a variety of oncological inquiries. The quick and comprehensive search function allows doctors to find and email documents with the touch of a finger, as well as submit medical inquires directly to Novartis right from the application.
3. MedTrust/GSK Oncology Cancer Trials – This revolutionary app from GlaxoSmithKline and MedTrust Online provides doctors with lightning-fast mobile access to registered clinical trials information. With the ability to quickly search by cancer type, gender, age, trial status, study type and more, oncologists can quickly find – and then map – the nearest clinical trials and share them with patients in any setting.
4. AZ Quest Cardiovascular Clinical Trials – Similar to the oncology app above, but tailored for cardiologists, the clinical trials app from AstraZeneca UK allows doctors to search cardiovascular clinical trials, email information and stay up to date on developments in cardiology with a live cardio news feed.
5. Johnson & Johnson’s My Pregnancy Today – One of the most downloaded pregnancy apps available, My Pregnancy Today educates mothers-to-be on the progress of their pregnancy day by day, offering the ability to see high-resolution photos, how-to videos, nutrition guides, progress trackers and more from one all-inclusive pregnancy app.

In response, the CMS is now requiring Medicaid Part D sponsors to confirm the validity of Drug Enforcement Administration numbers on drugs listed in schedules II through V or map National Provider Identifier numbers to the prescriber’s DEA number. It also requires that sponsors confirm that the controlled substance is within the prescriber’s scope of practice to prescribe and that all identifiers are valid and active.

While the Final Rule allows for pharmacies to create their own verification system using DEA registrant files, the Social Security Administration death file, OIG and Medicaid program excluded provider lists, and the CMS National Plan & Provider Enumeration System database, it also allows for the contracting of third-party vendors to supply prescriber information and facilitate the validation process.

While the choice is left up to pharmacies as to how they meet these requirements, for many larger pharmacies, contracting with a third-party vendor will make the most sense as the number of claims these large pharmacies process coupled with the numerous databases that must be checked and maintained make creating an internal system of DEA and NPI validation inconvenient and cumbersome.

Pharmacies looking for a third-party validation partner to provide up-to-date prescriber data have been choosing Healthcare Data Solutions’ prescriber validation services. HDS’ comprehensive prescriber validation databases update DEA and NPI numbers to provide the most current and accurate prescriber validation information available, assuring pharmacies a dependable partner in Medicare Part D claims compliance.

Contact Healthcare Data Solutions today to learn more about how HDS products and services can assist with Part D compliance.

If it’s not, your email marketing campaign isn’t as effective as it could be. According to a recent study by David Greiner of Campaign Monitor, 1/5 of all emails are read on mobile devices. What’s more, that trend is on the rise—to the tune of 16% growth over the last two years.

Greiner’s study of over 3 billion email recipients shows that in the same time period, desktop email clients have lost 11% market share and that web-based email stayed about the same.

Where exactly have those users been going then? Predictably, they’re checking email on the iPhone, with a 71% share of the mobile email market, followed by the iPad at almost 15%. Android rounds out the top 3 with 8% of the mobile email market.

What does this mean for your email marketing campaign?

It means that if you aren’t optimizing your emails for mobile devices, you aren’t reaching about 20% of your email contacts. Sure, they may receive your email, but if you’ve failed to test your email campaign on the most popular mobile browsers, your carefully planned, well-written, visually striking marketing email isn’t having the impact that it should.

In addition, when you take into account the amount of incomplete data that resides in most data sets and the number of emails that don’t make it through spam filters, the efficacy of your email marketing campaign can (and should) easily be called into question.

If you’ve been testing your marketing emails on the most popular mobile devices, in addition to web-based and desktop clients, then you’re ahead of the game.

If not, you’re not capturing the attention of a significant (and growing) number of your most valuable customers.

Contact Healthcare Data Solutions today to learn more about how HDS’ email marketing products and services can help your healthcare marketing organization increase the efficiency of your email marketing program.

A recent article in industry news outlet Drug Topics outlines some of the legal precedents that are shaping the discourse on PDMPs. Author Kathryn Foxhall notes that with the tide of legal arguments moving towards an increase in liability on the part of the pharmacist in drug interaction cases, most states will eventually move towards drafting laws that use prescription monitoring programs to curb fraudulently obtained prescriptions and doctor shopping, and that  pharmacists will likely have a legal obligation to administer those programs.

In addition, with the development of a national prescription medication program complete, many states are choosing to stay ahead of an impending federal mandate by voluntarily going online with the national program.

Independent and chain pharmacies in states without a current PDMP would be wise to follow the lead of those states voluntarily participating in the federal program by making procedural and structural changes to prepare for the impending institution of prescription drug medication monitoring programs.

As public and legislative eyes turn more toward the problem of opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse, it’s only a matter of time until every state is required – either by state or federal legislation – to participate in prescription medication programs. According to the latest information provided by the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, 35 states have fully operational prescription drug monitoring programs, 14 (including the District of Columbia) are partially operational and 2 have pending legislation. Forward-thinking pharmacies that begin planning for this impending legislation will be better suited to minimize the disruption of regular business as well as the cost of changeover.

Pharmacies can look to Healthcare Data Solutions to find the accurate prescriber data that is essential to creating an effective prescriber validation database and will ultimately be instrumental in complying with prescription drug monitoring programs that are on the horizon. Healthcare Data Solutions’ comprehensive and up-to-date prescriber validation databases are cleansed and updated weekly to provide the most accurate prescriber validation information available, assuring pharmacies a solid foundation of data on which to build their validation program.

Contact Healthcare Data Solutions today to learn more about how HDS products and services can assist with your state’s current or impending prescription drug monitoring program.

1. Because at least ¼ of your data is incomplete or wrong. According to an Aberdeen Group study of 176 organizations, respondents estimated that at least 25% or more of customer master data sets were incomplete or outdated.
2. Because it’s costing you money. Ovum estimates that bad data costs US businesses $700 billion a year in inefficiencies and lost customers. Misdirected communications, poor data management, and inaccurate data in your prescriber marketing lists are all factors that contribute to your healthcare marketing organization’s wasted budget dollars and missed revenue opportunities.
3. Because it’s costing you time. The aforementioned Aberdeen Group study estimates that it takes 13 hours or more to find and fix a single data exception or error, and respondents estimated that there is an average of 71 errors for every 1,000 data records. That means that if you were to undertake a cleansing of your healthcare marketing contact lists yourself, it would take you 923 hours to clean 1,000 records—time that you simply don’t have.

Fortunately, there’s a solution: HDS’ PrescriberPRO Database and Hygiene Services. HDS’ Research Center utilizes an evidence-based data model to drive a daily update process to ensure that the PrescriberPRO database remains the most accurate in the industry. Our Data Hygiene service can put your data through the same thorough testing, validation, and cleansing to ensure that your customer master data set is accurate, saving you both time and money. We’ll report back to you not only on the data you have, but also the data you are missing that we can append.

Contact Healthcare Data Solutions today to learn more about how our products and services can increase the efficiency and the efficacy of your healthcare marketing programs.

In addition to checking their email, physicians are increasingly using apps. There are apps available for looking up information on prescription drugs, clinical information on conditions and symptoms, medical guides and even medical calculators. In addition to these industry-specific apps, doctors are also using their smart phones to access social media sites and to dictate notes to email.

According to an article in the Washington Post, some physicians are even starting to use their smart phones to diagnose patients. One such physician, Neal Sikka, started doing this informally and is now conducting a study to see how accurate these diagnoses are. However, it is unlikely that this usage will become mainstream in the near future, as most physicians aren’t reimbursed for communicating with patients electronically. Read more about the study.

For now, it appears that email is the front runner. With nearly 1 million emails, HDS’ EmailPRO will enable you to market to these physicians regardless if they are using computers, smart phones or tablets. Use the 200+ data attributes to accurately target the exact audience you are going after.

For more information on the Spyglass study, click here.