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But prescription drug plan could be a hard pill to swallow.

When asked to rate pharmaceutical companies, physicians most value three attributes: commitment to research and development, credibility and educational orientation, according to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's Pharmaceutical Company Image 2000 study. According to the report, doctors overall ranked Pfizer Inc., New York; Merck & Co. Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ; and Glaxo Wellcome Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, as having the strongest commitment to research and development. For the study, Scott-Levin surveyed physicians in 27 specialties, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, HMO medical directors and pharmacists.

For Michael Dorfman, a pediatric sales specialist with Wilmington, MA-based Ascent Pediatrics Inc., the most rewarding part of his job is watching his professional relationships grow. "I enjoy the rapport with the doctors and the staff and seeing how, as the relationship develops, your sales increase as well," said Dorfman, who has been in pharmaceutical sales for over six years and spent the last three with Ascent.

President Clinton issued an Executive Memorandum directing the Medicare program to revise its payment policy and immediately begin to explicitly reimburse providers for the cost of routine patient care associated with participation in clinical trials. The order also directs Medicare to take additional action to promote the participation of Medicare beneficiaries in clinical trials for all diseases. These actions follow a recent Institute of Medicine report recommending policy changes to encourage greater use of clinical trials by older Americans and the completion of a review of administration policy.

New York-based Standard & Poor's ratings outlook for the health insurance and managed care industries in 2000 is stable. However, according to the company problems persist in certain regions of the country, particularly New England, Texas and Florida.

According to "The Strategic Advantage: A Competitive View of Managed Care Sales Forces," a new survey released by Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin, managed care decision-makers have named the managed care sales forces of SmithKline Beecham, Philadelphia, and Forest Laboratories, Inc., New York, the "most empowered."

President Clinton released a new report from the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council showing that rural beneficiaries tend to have a greater need for prescription drug coverage but have fewer coverage options. Their incomes are lower, access to pharmacies is more limited and out-of-pocket spending is higher. The report highlights the fact that the private prescription drug coverage options available to rural beneficiaries are not only severely limited, but are extremely expensive.

California continues to lead the nation in HMO enrollment, with 55% of the state's population participating in an HMO plan, according to a survey released by Medical Data International, Santa Ana, CA.

Compensation is the top driver of job satisfaction among pharmaceutical sales representatives, according to "Sales Force Productivity & Effectiveness 2000," a study conducted by Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin. But money isn't everything. An overwhelming majority - 95% of more than 700 reps surveyed - said the quality of their company's products is either very important or extremely important to both their motivation and their ability to succeed in the marketplace.

The Food and Drug Administration may consider restrictions on how the abortion drug mifepristone may be administered if it is approved, a move that could have an effect on the number of doctors who are willing to prescribe it.

The U. S. Supreme Court decided unanimously that health maintenance organizations cannot be sued for providing physicians with financial incentives to keep costs down. The case, Herdrich v. Pegram, involved a woman who complained of abdominal pain only to be told that she would have to wait eight days for an ultrasound. Her appendix subsequently ruptured, causing peritonitis. Upon recovery, she sued her HMO in state court, claiming that they had violated their fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The House Committee on Commerce conducted a Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on counterfeit bulk drugs to inquire into the Food and Drug Administration's oversight into foreign drug imports.

In an analysis of 22 pharmaceutical companies that merged between 1988 and 1999, Boston-based CenterWatch found that clinical research spending and productivity declined sharply in the three years following a merger.

The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it is taking new steps to strengthen federal oversight and increase the accountability of researchers conducting clinical trials with human subjects in order to protect the safety of individuals participating in all clinical trials.

The quality of our voice can say more about us then the words we speak.

The art of consultative selling.

The traditional boss-employee relationship has been replaced by a model in which the partnerships between managers and their employees - as well as those among managers across the organization - are a vital tool for enhancing performance.

A "Health Policy Report" published in the New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 342, no. 20) questions the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and contract research organizations in clinical research.

How the job has changed over the years.

Independent Maine governor Angus King signed into law a bill that would allow the state of Maine to collectively bargain for pharmaceutical prices. The bill that passed is different from a bill previously rejected by King in that it does not use Canadian prices as a yardstick. The new bill requires pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily bring prices down to levels the federal government pays, which is currently discounted up to 15.1% from retail prices. The state will implement a mandatory pricing reduction to mirror the government's discount. These mandatory discounts could be put into place as early as July 1, 2003.

To reduce serious influenza-related illness and death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that all persons aged 50 and older receive an annual flu shot. Previously, the recommendation had included annual vaccination for all persons aged 65 and older, but the CDC found that up to a third of those 50 to 64 have chronic medical conditions that put them at increased risk for flu-related complications and death.

Pfizer, Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb top the list of companies with the most effective sales forces according to a new study profiling pharmaceutical sales representatives and the factors that motivate them.

The top 10 things reps can do to irritate physicians.

The Department of Health and Human Services added the cancer-fighting drug tamoxifen to the ninth edition of its report on carcinogens. The report, which is prepared every two years by the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Washington, identifies substances, such as metals, pesticides, drugs and natural and synthetic chemicals, and mixtures and exposure circumstances that are known or are reasonably anticipated to cause cancer and to which a significant number of Americans are exposed.

New guidelines for the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (vol. 132, no. 9) and the April 2000 issue of Postgraduate Medicine Special Report, respectively.

Tips for successful speaker programs.

Whether browsing through magazines or watching television, one doesn't have to look long in order to find a direct-to-consumer advertisement for a prescription medication.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS known as UNAIDS announced that five pharmaceutical companies and United Nations organizations are exploring ways to accelerate and improve the provision of HIV/AIDS-related care and treatment in developing countries.

Advice for those new to pharmaceutical sales.

President Clinton, Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) unveiled a report by Washington-based Families USA, a non-profit lobbying organization, which shows that, on average, the price for the 50 drugs most commonly used by seniors increased at nearly twice the rate of inflation during 1999. "For over a year now I have been arguing that we as a nation ought to use this historic moment of strength and prosperity to meet our long-term challenges, especially the challenge of helping all our seniors afford prescription drugs that can lengthen and enrich their lives," said President Clinton on the day the report was released. "More than three in five American seniors today lack affordable and dependable prescription drug coverage. Today's report shows that the burden on these seniors is getting worse."