Once you've decided on your ground rules, tell the pharmaceutical representatives, said Michael Toscano, president of the Michigan Pharmaceutical Representatives Society. We are not trying to knock down the door and see physicians willy-nilly. Just let us know what the ground rules are. Develop formal policy Physicians and medical groups that have formal policies in place for pharmaceutical representative visits are more satisfied with those meetings that physicians who do not, according to a study in the September 2000 Journal of Family Practice . For example, the Permanente Medical Group of Northern California has a well-established policy on visits from pharmaceutical representatives, said Sharon Levine, MD, associate executive director of that group.
Pharmaceutical representatives can meet with physicians only if the physician requests it.
They must sign in with the receptionist upon arrival and can give samples of only those drugs that are on the Kaiser Permanente formulary. Mick Mosebrook, senior vice president of sales for Pfizer Inc., recommended that doctors ask a lot of questions about a product's dosages, efficacy, side effects and contraindications. Rodney W. Sorensen, MD, chair of neurology at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wis., also suggested that doctors ask for copies of scientific studies on the drug. Back to top.