Thursday 3 January 2013

What are the Forms of E-detailing?

As e-detailing has taken the pharmaceutical world by storm, more and more pharmaceutical companies are making diligent use of this detailing procedure to deliver well-constructed messages to physicians. This detailing procedure not only sets up a solid platform to lure the attention of physicians but also provides a great opportunity to cut costs, maximize time of sales force and enhance physician prescribing.

Moreover, pharmaceutical companies can take their pick from the different forms of detailing procedure to construct and deliver messages that capture the attention of physicians. What are the different forms of this detailing procedure?

Virtual live e-detailing
In this type of detailing procedure, a webcam, a PC with preloaded software, and other incentives are provided to doctors. The doctor is able to establish contact with the sales representative of a pharmaceutical company through a number, and this can be done for certain number of times that is defined before. Most importantly, this type of detailing allows the doctor to take control over duration and timing of the session. Doctors are also in a position to interact with representatives through audio and video in real time. This paves way for cost-effective interactions with physicians which can also be extended for a longer duration.

Scripted e-detailing
This is another type of detailing procedure used by pharmaceutical companies to get closer to physicians. In this case, physicians are made to view interactive screens, made possible through intranet or internet site. Though this option doesn’t provide the chance to establish live interaction with doctors, it allows physicians to contact a sales representative through a telephone or email. Pharmaceutical companies make use of this model to deliver messages that are clear and well-structured and that are longer when compared to usual calls made by representatives. This model is also one of the effective options for a company that wants to enhance prescription of drugs that get featured in the detailing procedure.

Detailing via portal
This is yet another option where the detailing is presented through portals that cater to the physicians’ community. The advantage of such portals lies in the ability of the portals to allow access to doctor communities, where pharmaceutical companies can make use of this option to deliver product-specific messages or sponsorship marketing messages. Though portals provide access to such communities, impact of messages delivered through this medium cannot be interpreted easily. But, this is one real option to gain access to the most hard-to-reach physicians.

By picking the right option from the different forms of e-detailing, pharmaceutical companies can reap rewards out of this detailing procedure.