Strategies for Increasing Drug Inquiry Response Efficiency
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Drug Informurion J o u m l , Vol. 34, pp. 1041-1047, 2000 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING DRUG INQUIRY RESPONSE EFFICIENCY CHARLES F. CURRAN, PHD Director, Professional Affairs, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri
The drug inquiry response process in the pharmaceutical firm is examined by the types of drug inquiries for which responses are provided. Inquiries are categorized according to their general nature, the time value of the information requested, the difficulty in conducting the literature analysis or in securing required internal data, and the complexity of the evaluation and internal review procedures used in preparing responses. Strategies are suggested for reducing the time required for generating satisfactory responses according to each of these inquiry types. Key Words: Drug information; Response effectiveness
INTRODUCTION DRUG INFORMATION DEPARTMENTS in pharmaceutical companies typically receive a wide variety of inquiries. This paper seeks to evaluate the drug inquiry response process on the basis of the types of inquiries that are received from health care professionals (HCPs) and the degree to which the drug information department is organized to expeditiously respond to these inquiries. In the sections below, factors that affect the quality andor the rate of response to inquiries are examined, the primary inquiry types are categorized, and suggestions are provided for improving response rates for each basic inquiry type.
FACTORS AFFECTING RESPONSE QUALITY AND SPEED The rapidity, quality, and depth of information provided to HCPs is based on several factors, including the following:
Reprint address: Charles F. Curran, PhD, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 13600 Shoreline Drive, St. Louis, MO 63045.
1. The accessibility and logical organization of information, 2. The extent of drug information summarized in readily usable formats (such as summary texts, summary tables, bibliographies, response scripts or standardized letters) and its appropriateness for immediate use in providing responses, 3. The overall daily inquiry load handled by the responding drug information department professional, 4.The general knowledge base of each individual responding to inquiries, and hisher relative knowledge versus specific knowledge of the pharmaceutical firm’s product line, 5 . Each responder’s skill level in obtaining drug information from primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in various formats, including hard-copy, CD-ROM, and online formats, 6. Each responder’s ability and experience in summarizing and supplying drug information in a format and manner useful to the inquirer, 7. The drug information department’s performance standard for responding to drug inquiries,
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Charles F. Curran
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inquiries is to streamline the process of documentation. Standardized responses are typically prepared for frequently received inquiries, and consist of previously prepared letters and/
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