Case Studies

PhRMA

Scenario:

PhRMA Starting January 1, 2009, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) organization issued new guidelines for promotional products used in the pharmaceutical industry. They were created to eliminate excessive and expensive “gifting” between pharmaceutical companies and doctors. The new guidelines set forth two requirements for pharmaceutical promotional products:

  • All products must have an educational benefit
  • All products must be valued at less than $100

To comply with these new rules, a pharmaceutical company approached WOW! to implement a new solution. They needed an innovative promotional product that would serve as an inexpensive educational benefit for doctors and patients while simultaneously extending brand awareness and fostering new sales relationships.

Solution:

WOW! developed two programs to meet the pharmaceutical company's needs: for doctors and for patients. By answering any question about any topic, the WOW! personal assistance program already functioned as an educational service. WOW! took this concept and enhanced it with specific medical data by subscribing to the 6 most trusted and respected medical journals on the internet. Every personal assistant was then trained on how to effectively interface with the portals and the content, in order to streamline the process. The pharmaceutical company also supplemented the WOW! training with their own drug relevant information to ensure accuracy. Via a secure online portal, this content could then be updated in real-time by the pharmaceutical company, allowing the assistants access to the latest information.

The first program targeted doctors that were visited by pharmaceutical sales representatives on a regular basis. The pharmaceutical company wanted to connect with doctors in a unique way during their representative's sales visits; they wanted something that was educational, medically relevant, memorable, and easily stored in a wallet or purse.

WOW! created the Physician's Medical Information Access Card that gave doctor's access to a 24-hour-a-day service capable of handling any question regarding case studies, research, new medical breakthroughs, drug reactions, and other pertinent drug information. The live personal assistant that answers then gathers and transmits the pertinent data via phone, text message, e-mail, or fax.

The second program focused on educating the patients themselves. They were given VIP Information Access Cards that also offered 24-hour-a-day access to information about their prescribed drug. Since the drug in question was used to treat patients with respiratory ailments, additional information such as pollen counts, weather conditions, smog reports, and traffic conditions were provided to callers. A percentage of the cards were also customized for specific doctors, allowing them to provide their patients with contact information alongside complementary text. The greetings and closings on the call were also customized to incorporate the names of the patients' doctors. The customizations helped to create incentive for doctors to participate in the program.

Implementation:

WOW! allowed for further customization of the cards used in the programs. Those intended for doctors could be individually customized with the pharmaceutical sales representative's information just like any business card; those meant for patients would feature the doctor's office contact information.

WOW! also constructed an online portal for the pharmaceutical company that allowed its representatives and program managers to customize, review, and finalize card orders electronically from a centralized location.

Results:

The initial reaction by both the doctors and the patients has been overwhelmingly positive! Doctors and nurses rave about the versatility of the cards. Surveys have shown that most patients instinctively put the card directly in their purse or wallet. Patients understood the purpose of the card and have indicated intent to use the information service, which has made their doctors' jobs easier. The card customization portal was also a great success; over 70% of reorders have been specifically tailored to the pharmaceutical representative or doctor's office.

Overall, the WOW! program has allowed medical practitioners to nurture their personal relationships with their patients.