Healthcare Providers' Expectations From Pharma Sales Reps

By Author: Giselle Fernandes
Total Articles: 23
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Pharma’s relationship with physicians and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) is a vital part of the complex healthcare delivery equation. However, a lot of HCPs view the relationship as being somewhat one-sided. They feel that the only thing pharmaceutical companies want is sales. But there is much more value that pharma can bring to the table.

In this informative article, Dr. Stephen Engle, MD, provides a physician’s perspective on how pharma can improve its relationship with HCPs. And to help pharma sales teams better understand how they can add more value, Dr. Engle discusses:

Using the American Medical Association’s Steps Forward program as a model for improving HCP engagement.
The types of information and services pharma reps can provide that HCPs would find helpful.
The benefits to clinical practices that pharms reps should emphasize when interacting with HCPs.
It’s happened to all healthcare providers (HCPs): we receive a contact request from a pharmaceutical sales representative and immediately roll our eyes upward. Next, we start plotting how to avoid responding to the request ...
... from the rep; we just don’t have time to listen to more drug sales pitches.

That’s why instead of focusing 100% on sales, pharmaceutical reps should consider ways they can improve the day-to-day of an HCP. If reps prioritized value-added services during their visits, HCPs would look forward to meetings rather than dread them. Of course, pharmaceutical companies still need to sell their products; that’s how they stay in business. But if reps emphasized how they can help improve patient care during their sales pitches, HCPs would feel differently about meeting with them.

HCP medical offices are the primary resource patients have for qualified professional information about drugs. Therefore, it stands to reason that HCPs want to keep current about drug information and provide patients with the most cost-friendly and user-friendly prescriptions. Pharma reps can be a prime source of information and assistance to HCPs in meeting these objectives.

The American Medical Association (AMA) created the Steps Forward™ program to provide “a collection of engaging and interactive educational toolkits that are practical, actionable “how-to” guides to transform and improve your [HCP] practice.” Because of the importance of pharmaceutical-related issues with clinical practices, the Steps Forward program includes a section on collaboration with pharmacists. Although written specifically pertaining to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, this section of the AMA’s Steps Forward program can also be viewed within the framework of benefits to HCPs when working with pharma reps. Using the Steps Forward program as a model, I’d suggest that pharma reps can improve their reach by being aware of and addressing the following with HCPs:

Identifying the specific beneficial role pharma reps can play in HCPs’ practices.
Learning from HCPs what they view as characteristics that make pharma reps good matches for HCPs’ individual practices.
Determining how to integrate pharma reps into HCP practice workflows the best way possible.
Assisting HCPs with evaluating and monitoring the (hopefully positive) impact pharma reps have on their clinical practices. This can include clinical patient outcomes, patient prescription cost benefits and other areas. While a particular clinical practice may be smaller and not have time to do formal impact studies, even informal impact monitoring may be informative and eye-opening for HCPs.
There are several different types of information and services pharmaceutical companies can provide that HCPs would find helpful. These include the following, and there are likely others, pertaining to the therapeutics the company manufactures and/or sells