|
 Preserving the Personal Touch
In Drug
Sampling
By David Vaczek
Physicians and consumers favor traditional sampling practices,
even though e-sampling solutions are providing alternative channels
for sample ordering and for disbursement of vouchers and coupons.
And though inefficient distribution often leaves doctors with too
few or too many samples, drug firms' spending on sampling has not
diminished. These findings were reported by speakers at the recent
Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council's Annual
National Symposium on Patient Compliance.
 "When the PDMA rules [requiring the tracking of sample
distribution] went into effect in 1988, there was a lot of
discussion about getting out of sampling. But industry, if anything,
has increased its sampling," reported Ronald Buzzeo, the chief
regulatory officer at BuzzeoPDMA (Richmond, VA).
Conference panelists said that e-sampling is gaining momentum in
supporting cost-effective sample targeting and tracking. Marketers
for example, can attract physicians by bundling e-sampling with
resources such as e-detailing and continuing medical education
(eCME). Consumers will print out more sample vouchers as they engage
online resources for healthcare information. Pharmacies can then
capture voucher redemption data providing marketers with insights on
sample disbursement.
Yet doctors and consumers appear to be
committed to traditional methods. Doctors prefer to have samples
delivered by sales reps. And sample packets handed out by physicians
often influence whether patients will fill a prescription, according
to survey results presented by DataMonitor (New York
City).
Fully 60% of doctors want to get samples through
personal sales visits. Only 20% favor printing vouchers for patients
to take to pharmacies, and just 10% prefer validating vouchers
printed out by patients, the survey found.
 Though 40% of doctors said they
prefer to order sample packets over the Internet, this may be
largely contingent behavior. Fully 71% of doctors cited too few drug
samples and unpredictable supply as drawbacks of traditional
sampling.
"Ordering samples online is becoming more common to make up for
gaps in supply. Voucher use by doctors and consumers is much less
common than Internet ordering, because it is not really getting at
the problem of unsteady sample supply," said DataMonitor ehealth
analyst Kim O'Malley said.
"We will see sample vouchers and coupons playing a bigger role,
but it is not based [today] on physician or consumer demand. What we
are seeing is a trend by doctors toward "making do" [with vouchers]
when the preferred option isn't available," she adds.
The
Association of American Medical Colleges this year weighed in on the
side of healthcare groups that oppose sampling, terming samples "a
powerful inducement for physicians and patients to rely on
medications that are expensive, but not more effective."
Yet
many physicians favor samples for establishing patient
relationships, for reducing patients' costs, and for starting off
therapy. DataMonitor found that sample packets are among the top
factors affecting doctors' prescribing. While less influential than
patient histories and formulary lists, they outweigh sales rep
presentations, patient requests, and e-detailing.
 Samples have a
pronounced effect on prescription-filling behavior. When consumers
were asked under what circumstances they would be most likely to
fill a script, 30% said they would most likely fill it if they
received a drug sample from the physician. (Fifty-seven percent said
they would fill it regardless of how they received the drug.) Only
10% said a voucher from a doctor would influence them, and even
fewer would be swayed by self-printed vouchers.
What are the
prospects for making sample distribution to consumers more
efficient? Samples are not used efficiently when doctors use them to
provide a course of therapy, and they are wasted on patients that
would fill a prescription anyway. DataMonitor analyzed consumer
responses based on factors including age, gender, employment,
income, and wellness. It found "no difference" between the groups
prone to fill a script regardless of how they receive the drug, and
those most likely to fill a script with a sample.
O'Malley
says that eHealth records that progressively capture patients'
medical histories and incorporate ePrescribing records will support
sample targeting by individual.
"Doctors will make decisions based on the patient's prescription
filling record and individual health record, tracking past behavior
through time on a patient-by-patient basis. We will see a lot of
money going into behavioral research. Medical students will be
taught to recognize signs of compliance and non-compliance, and how
to pro-actively address these," O'Malley says.
As drug
marketers sustain their sample spending, contract packagers are
devising solutions to support DTC programs. Howell Packaging
(Elmira, NY) prints a unique access code under a zip strip on each
individual sample wallet in a solution it is developing with several
pharma firms, says Joseph Lally, marketing manager, packaging for
pharmaceuticals.
The code permits one-time access to a secure
Web site where the patient would establish a password for future
access. Through the Web site, brand managers can provide the patient
with support materials relative to the therapeutic category, and
engage in permission-based marketing.
"This concept aligns well tactically with the shift of
pharmaceutical DTC spending to support Internet strategies. Patients
feel more comfortable using and exchanging personal information on
the secure, limited access site. You are building a Web audience of
the most important type-a group that has opted to be marketed to,"
he says.
Using e-sampling solutions, drug marketers can
surmount the hurdle of inefficient sample distribution, providing
that doctors are willing to participate in e-marketing programs.
E-sampling will likely grow as an alternative distribution channel,
since doctors' Web use is rapidly advancing in other areas, such as
research and e-prescribing. Yet drug marketers will not relinquish
the opportunity for sales reps to engage doctors on drug benefits.
And physicians and consumers seem to value the opportunities that
derive from traditional sampling methods.
David
Vaczek
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