Healthcare Legislation is Rapidly Affecting Pharma Marketing
New Channels and Opportunities Available
Federal funding for physician utilization requirements and emerging healthcare technology will continue to change the way pharmaceutical marketers reach physicians. The federal government continues to use its leverage to drive the adoption of technology in healthcare. The development of Health IT is in the best interests of all parties involved—physicians, patients, managed care, the government, and yes—pharma. Yet, understanding how these new regulations affect physicians’ daily workflow is the first step toward being able to integrate these new channels into a feasible and successful marketing strategy. Here are the basics of what you need to know:
ARRA: Paving the Way for New Marketing Channels
The economic stimulus provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 is intended to bolster all aspects of the economy, including healthcare. The plans are laid out to build new community health centers, expand the healthcare workforce, increase the federal share of Medicaid costs and implement widespread use of technology in the healthcare environment. In fact, federal funding will provide $19 billion for Medicare and Medicaid Health IT incentives over five years.
The American healthcare industry is in the early stages of a transition that will change the way healthcare is researched, delivered, paid for, marketed, prescribed, tracked, and consumed. Healthcare costs are out of control, many blockbuster drugs are going off patent, managed care influence is becoming more pronounced and millions of previously uninsured Americans will join the ranks of the insured.
As the demand for healthcare grows, the HCP’s time becomes more scarce – and valuable. Physicians are uniformly short on time, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information released on a daily basis and resistant to “hard-sell” sales messages from pharma and other healthcare companies. Digital marketing strategies that are integrated into the physicians’ workflow, gives HCPs more time and the power to do more.
MIPPA: Creating Incentives for ePrescribe
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), creates financial incentives to encourage Medicare physicians to adopt technology that will allow them to prescribe electronically, often called ePrescribe. Since the beginning of 2009, physicians have been receiving a two percent increase in payments, which will phase down to 0.5 percent in 2013. However, in 2014 and afterward, physicians that have not implemented the technology will lose two percent of their payments.
In the ePrescribe system, healthcare providers (HCPs) can check for drug interactions, drug dosing, formulary compliance, as well as send prescriptions electronically to the pharmacy. This system saves HCP’s time, enhances productivity, improves patient safety and simplifies the prescription renewal process.
With 62% of physicians already adopting an ePrescribe system, or will be adopting by the end of the year1, pharmaceutical marketers have an opportunity to reach HCPs with brand messaging at the point-of-prescribing.
Physicians Interactive (PI) has partnered with Allscripts ePrescribe, the nation’s most widely used ePrescribe software, to co-develop the Infoscript, a sponsored ad link that delivers key messages to your prescribers directly in the ePrescribe system.
HITECH: Incentivizing the Use of EHR
The HITECH Act, part of the ARRA of 2009, authorizes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to incentivize the use of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) to providers who can demonstrate “meaningful use” beginning in 2011 until 2015.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs), or computerized patient records, have been developed to streamline the workflow in healthcare, increase safety and reduce healthcare costs. It is estimated that through EHR, Medicare will receive about $23 billion of the potential savings per year, and private payers will receive $31 billion per year2.
As EHR usage among providers becomes commonplace, clinical and financial insights generated through the use of EHR will become effective in helping to determine better decisions for patient care. These insights will be utilized by providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies and the patients themselves. These insights will be helpful as healthcare payment models shift from “fee-for-service” to “pay-for-performance” models that will be focused on the common goal of improved patient outcomes.
For example, if a pharmaceutical company is in the business of providing treatments for hypertension patients, the new insights generated by the EHR will allow that company to focus more clearly on improved patient outcomes instead of selling more medication. If the focus is off of selling more medication and more a shared goal of improving outcomes, the EHR insights gathered from monitoring the patients blood pressure and other vitals, tracking their medication adherence, and comparing their lab results over time will help providers, payors and pharmaceutical companies work effectively together to impact the patient’s good health.
Meaningful Use: Ensuring Technology Utilization
Merely purchasing an EHR system and transferring information from paper into digital form does not provide clinicians the most benefit from using such technology and thus, the federal government set up standards on July 13, 2010. In order for providers to receive the incentives offered by the HITECH Act of 2009, they need to demonstrate “meaningful use” by means of three main components:
- The use of a certified EHR in a meaningful manner (e.g.: e-Prescribing);
- The use of certified EHR technology for electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of health care; and
- The use of certified EHR technology to submit clinical quality and other measures.
Pharmaceutical marketers can be ensured that clinicians are, in fact, using the EHR technology to its fullest extent, incorporating its use into their everyday professional workflow.
Physicians Interactive®, the leader in delivering multi-channel integrated eMarketing campaigns, has partnered with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, the leader in the ePrescribing and EHR markets to offer pharmaceutical marketers the ability to message physicians at the point-of-prescribing and integrate this channel/tactic in a broader integrated campaign. In fact, 50% of all ePrescriptions in 2009 originated through an Allscripts system.
For more information on emerging channel solutions, please contact Physicians Interactive at 800-794-6757 or info@physiciansinteractive.com.
1 Manhattan Research, v.10
2 Hillestad, Richard et al.: “Can Electronic Medical Record Systems Transform Health Care? Potential Health Benefits, Savings, and Costs”, Health Affairs, 2005
