profession
Fewer drug reps mean shorter visits with physicians
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 11, 2011
Drugmakers continued to cut their pharmaceutical sales forces last year, and the amount of time the remaining drug reps are spending with physicians has fallen since 2006, according to a March report by SK&A, a physician profiling firm.
The country's top 10 drugmakers cut their drug rep sales forces by 14% from 2009 to 2010, according to the SK&A's "2010 Sales Rep Visits and Product Detailing Report." Though 28% of detailer visits to internists ended in less than five minutes in 2006, that figure rose to 43% in 2010. Among specialists, the proportion of drug rep visits done within five minutes jumped from 15% to 31%. Sampling also fell. Among physicians categorized as "nonprescribers" of a drug, the percentage who did not take samples or brochures rose from 27% in 2006 to 40% in 2010.
The data are based on an ongoing survey of 2,480 physicians and other health professionals.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/04/11/prbf0411.htm.