Despite the bad rap drug representatives seem to get, a recent survey done by Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions found that almost three-fourths of oncologists agree that sales representatives play an important role in their new-product education.
As the cancer market continues to skyrocket, oncologists are starting to lean on the sales reps for information on the latest drugs and study data, as well as assistance in helping their patients to afford their life-saving medications.
According to the study, more than two-thirds of oncologists (71%) said that pharmaceutical sales representatives “play an important role in helping me learn about new drug products.”
Just under half (44%) of oncologists reported that in addition to medical journals and medical conferences, they rely upon sales representatives to learn about new drug therapies. This is compared to 42% who report relying on internet searches and 50% who report relying on clinical support platforms. Interestingly, while a total of 60% of participating oncologists reported relying on key opinion leaders to learn about new drug therapies, 86% of oncologists age 40 and under rely on key opinion leaders, a significantly larger number than older oncologists.
Oncologists are also generous with their time, with more than 90% allowing pharmaceutical representatives some access to their practices (48% of respondents allow full access and 45% of respondents allow limited access). When it comes to restrictions and limited access, 64% of respondents only permit scheduled appointments, 34% allow visits only at specified days or times, and 25% limit the visits based on frequency.
“Oncologists appreciate the pharmaceutical companies and they rely on them, particularly when it addresses a high unmet medical need,” said Joe DePinto, president of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions. “Pharmaceutical companies are a go-to, but physicians have access to more and more information, just like consumers, and there are multiple vehicles and they are clearly using all of them,” DePinto said.
When it comes to value adds offered by pharmaceutical representatives, patient access and assistance programs (64%), followed by providing staff education (42%) and providing patient education materials (24%), were the key benefits listed by the 170 community and hospital cancer doctors surveyed.
The survey also asked about the preferred type of content oncologists want from pharmaceutical companies, beyond clinical and safety trial data. The top answer was patient outcome studies based on real-world evidence (24% of respondents), followed by comparative effectiveness studies (20%).
“There continues to be growing interest in real world evidence,” DePinto said, “Two-thirds of the respondents said real world evidence is necessary to inform treatment decisions—that’s substantial.”
Interestingly, when asked about delivering samples and/or patient starter kits, only 19% of respondents said that currently adds value to their practice, while 27% said they would like representatives to add that value to their practice.