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Despite a booming national economy, private and public health insurance coverage continues to decline for Americans at all income levels, while American voters, who continue to view healthcare as an important topic, seem unmoved on the issue, according to two studies published in Health Affairs (vol. 19, no. 4).

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would provide prescription drug coverage under Medicare to seniors and the disabled. The bipartisan proposal calls for a public-private partnership to let senior citizens choose between competing plans for coverage that they feel best meets their needs.

There's no better way to attract a doctor's attention than to mention his or her name.

Between 55% (in Germany) and 93% (in the United States) of PCPs have accessed the Internet, according to I.MD 2000, a global study conducted by Montreal-based P\S\L Research. Projections made based on stated future intentions indicate that by the second quarter of 2001, between 75% (in Germany and Italy) and 97% (in the United States) of primary care physicians will have accessed the Internet.

The National Institutes of Health announced the formation of the international HIV Prevention Trials Network to develop and test promising non-vaccine strategies to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The global initiative will explore alternative measures, besides AIDS vaccines, that may be able to block or reduce infection with HIV. The network will constitute NIH's largest comprehensive multicenter network dedicated to this task, comprising core operational, data and laboratory centers, as well as research sites located worldwide in Africa (Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), Asia (China, India and Thailand), Europe (Russia), South America (Peru) and the United States.

Having the proper mindset and attitude makes it easier to sidestep potential career obstacles.

Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis, and Schering-Plough Corp., Madison NJ, were named number 38, 40 and 45 respectively on Fortune magazine's list of 50 Best Companies for Minorities. The list is compiled through a collaboration between Fortune and the Council on Economic Priorities, a New York nonprofit research organization. The results were tallied from surveys sent to all of the companies in the Fortune 1,000, plus the 200 largest privately held firms in the United States, of which 148 responded. Results were analyzed for how well companies stacked up against one another in 15 different quantitative and qualitative categories, from what percentage of new hires are minorities to whether the company ties performance reviews and bonuses to diversity goals. Special attention was paid to how many minorities are in leadership roles at each company.

Dealing with internal conflict.

The Food and Drug Administration is looking at taking a more active role in switching prescription medications to over the counter. Under the current system, manufacturers of the drugs play the most active role in determining which drugs change to OTC.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft guidance for changes to the adverse reactions section of prescription drugs. The document, which is available through the agency's Web site, suggests that the adverse events section be limited to information that can be helpful in treating, monitoring and advising patients.

Several large health maintenance organizations have announced that they are dropping out of the Medicare+Choice program, citing inadequate funding and overregulation. Humana Inc., Louisville, KY; Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Hartford, CT; Foundation Health Systems Inc., Woodland Hills, CA; and UnitedHealth Group Inc., Minnetonka, MN, among the largest plans, have announced that, as of Jan. 1, 2001, they will no longer be offering the supplemental insurance in many states and counties. Plan members in those areas will need to switch to higher-cost, traditional fee-for-service Medicare, which lacks a prescription drug benefit.

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.

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."

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 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.

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.

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.