Drug Marketing and Prescribing Behavior

According to MM&M, only about 10% of prescriptions are impacted by traditional marketing techniques such as detailing and sampling. This is based on the IMS study called the "Brand Excellence Study." Here's a very interesting snippet from the story: "Around 4% of physicians wrote 44% of all new-to-brand prescriptions tracked. Another 90% of physicians to whom roughly 60% of field force contacts and samples are allocated, generated less than 40% of new-to-brand scripts."

So what does this tell us about marketing practices? Will we see these small numbers plummet now that physicians no longer have branded pens, notepads, or other types of branded giveaways?

Business Schools for Physician Executives

If you're interested in business school to pursue an MBA (business administration), MMM (medical management), or MHA (health administration), then take a look at this: Top Business Graduate Schools for Physician Executives

The data is from Modern Healthcare's 2009 survey.

Improving Leadership Skills

We probably don't do enough to improve our personal leadership. The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) has some great courses on physician leadership, but only a small percentage of US physicians are members of ACPE. Even a smaller percentage are pursing a master's degree in either medical management (MMM) or business administration (MBA). So, if you can't enroll in a degree program, then you may want to try either Dale Carnegie Training or Fred Pryor Seminars & CareerTrack. Participation in these courses can strengthen your career and also help you refine important leadership skills.

Master's in Medical Management

What do these 4 universities have in common?

• Carnegie Mellon University
• University of Southern California
• Tulane University
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

They offer either a master's in medical management (MMM) or a master's in business administration (MBA). Plus, they are the four schools that are ACPE partners.

The ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) is an organization that fosters the growth and development of physician leaders. You don't need to have a master's degree to be an excellent physician executive. However, there are many benefits of formal education in professional leadership, management, and business.