Pharma cos. hold more events

More and more, physician meetings and events are becoming an integral part of pharmaceutical promotion, according to the Physician Meeting & Event Audit by Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin.

In 2000, a projected 314,022 events took place, 11% more than in 1999. Physicians accepted almost half (48%) of all event invitations in 2000, about the same rate as in 1999.

Some trends from the audit:

•Â Interest in the topic was the biggest motivator for accepting invitations, cited by 72% of attending doctors. Also important were a convenient location (49%) and honoraria (46%).

•Â Specialists most likely to accept invitations were allergists/immunologists, ear/nose/throat specialists and endocrinologists. However, these specialty groups generally received fewer invitations. Least likely to attend events were cardiologists, primary care physicians and pediatricians.

•Â Since the PMEA was launched in 1993, continuing medical education credits have consistently remained a conundrum. About a quarter of 2000 event invitations offered CME credits, but doctors were more likely to accept invitations to meetings without CME (52%) than invitations to meetings that offered credits (44%). Possible reasons for this: Physicians have access to CME credits from many other sources, and given their limited available time, are more likely to be attracted to events for their social or entertainment value.

•Â Branded products were the topic of 77% of all events, while 8% of events were on general therapeutic areas and 15% were on company image.

•Â More than half of the attendees of restaurant and hotel meetings (51% and 55%, respectively) said they intended to begin or increase prescribing of a promoted product. However, only 47% of physicians who attended events at other locations indicated that they would boost prescribing.

The complete report is available through Scott-Levin (www.scottlevin.com). PR