Prescription drug promotion and prescribing behavior of physicians’ in case of Addis Ababa green licensed private hospitals
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Date
2017-06-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Pharmaceutical enterprises are using different promotional techniques in order to get Physicians’ attention. On the other hand, the healthcare regulatory authorities and other stakeholders in the healthcare industry are also working harder to balance the effect of pharmaceutical companies on physicians’ prescription behavior. In this condition, to win the hard competition pharmaceutical companies are using innovative marketing strategies and promotional techniques. Currently, to have an effect on physicians’ prescription decision pharmaceutical companies are using different promotional techniques. The purpose of this study is to assess the current prescription drug promotional techniques and assess its effect on prescribing behavior of physicians. Accordingly, the thesis assesses very important research questions on drug promotion in relation with prescribing behavior. Methodology used was all physicians practicing in green licensed private hospitals were considered as a study unit. A set of self-administered semi-structured questionnaires were distribute to those physicians. The findings revealed that the different promotional techniques that pharmaceutical companies are using have an effect on the physicians’ prescription decision. The level of effect depends on factors such as price and quality of the drug, specialty of the physician, and other factors related to the characteristics of physicians. The study also revealed that physicians have a positive perception about the information they have got from medical representatives. The study findings indicate that to be on the competitive edge, pharmaceutical companies need to understand the healthcare environment and the need of physicians. The study is Quantitative research using numerical analysis of data collected through questionnaire. This study recommends for pharmaceutical companies, the best promotional item to influence physicians prescribing behavior is free medical sample, whereas the promotional aid that influences the most is sponsorship to attend CMEs.
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Keywords
Medical representative, Physician, prescriber