Complexity of Medicare Part D continues to confuse, providing opportunity for pharma to help educate, according to new GfK Market Measures research.EAST HANOVER East Hanover is the name of the following places in the United States of America:
Alleviating seniors' confusion over the plethora of plan choices available to them is key to helping encourage enrollment in Medicare Part D plans. As seniors turn to physicians for guidance in this area, pharmaceutical manufacturers may have an opportunity to educate both audiences on the navigation of Part D. Nearly half of the CMS-approved Medicare Part D plan sponsors participating in the latest study from GfK Market Measures indicated they may welcome some manufacturer support in the form of general, strictly objective educational efforts. MCOs fear that without guidance and mentoring, confused seniors may subsequently delay choosing from among the new prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, plans, for which enrollment began on November 15, 2005 and ends on May 15, 2006. They also express concern that current Medicare Advantage members may not understand the difference between a Medicare Advantage plan and a stand-alone prescription drug plan. Consequently, these members may make a selection which could result in automatic dis-enrollment from their current managed care medical coverage and placement back into Medicare fee-for-service medical coverage. Plan sponsors will look to educate and promote to seniors on these and other issues through a mix of advertising channels, as well as through personalized communications, but sponsors must first re-engineer their marketing practices, which have traditionally been focused at intermediaries such as employee groups or human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. departments. GfK Market Measures' research shows that MCOs suggest unrestricted educational grants or support of public information campaigns as favorable forms of assistance from manufacturers, in addition to their direct development of objective educational initiatives. Research respondents were cautious to emphasize these campaigns must be strictly impartial and thoroughly brand-neutral, however. "Plan sponsors are cautious about looking to pharma for any educational support, and some remain vehemently opposed, but the greater need to help seniors sort from among the thousands of plan choices and make an intelligent decision for enrollment is an overriding issue MCOs face," said Larry Olson, Director of GfK Market Measures' Consumer Health Practice. "It calls for an enormous education initiative and pharmaceutical manufacturers, which are so adept at patient and physician marketing and education efforts, may be well-armed to assist in this area." Other key findings of the research reveal that manufacturers of branded products can expect even fiercer competition from generics, though generic-only policies will probably not be employed under Part D, except perhaps for prescription coverage in the "donut hole." Also, manufacturers will face added pressure as they vie for preferred formulary formulary /for·mu·lary/ (for´mu-lar?e) a collection of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions. National Formulary see under N. for·mu·lar·y n. status once four- and five-tier designs and coinsurance A provision of an insurance policy that provides that the insurance company and the insured will apportion between them any loss covered by the policy according to a fixed percentage of the value for which the property, or the person, is insured. are introduced and used to manage the utilization of more expensive specialty medications and experimental drugs. MCO Pharmacy and Medical Directors Share Their MMA (Microcomputer Managers Association, Inc.) A membership organization with chapters throughout the U.S. that was devoted to educating personnel responsible for personal computers. It disbanded in 1996. Mma - A fast Mathematica-like system, in Allegro CL by R. Fateman, 1991. Insights The GfK Market Measures MMA research--The Impact of MMA on Managed Care Organizations--is based on in-depth telephone interviews with 22 pharmacy directors and 11 medical directors from 27 MCOs representing at least 100,000 members each. In addition, decision-makers from 6 large Pharmacy Benefit Management A Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) is a third party administrator of prescription drug programs. They are primarily responsible for processing and paying prescription drug claims. firms (PBMs) participated in the study. The research was conducted between October 5 and November 10, 2005. The current MCO study is the second of two waves. In addition to the MCO studies, GfK Market Measures has also conducted research with other key stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. affected by Part D--physicians and patients. While results from Wave 1 of those studies were released in October, Wave 2 results will be available in March of 2006. About GfK Market Measures (formerly NOP (NO oPeration) See no-op. World Health) GfK Market Measures provides healthcare clients with a unique mix of custom and syndicated solutions to support the full marketing continuum, including market assessment, brand tracking, sales force effectiveness, healthcare consumer and product launch applications. GfK Market Measures is a proud member of the GfK U.S. Healthcare U.S. Healthcare is a now-defunct healthcare company. The logo had an apple. The merger with Aetna In 1996, the company merged with Aetna, calling it Aetna U.S. Healthcare. The U.S. Healthcare apple logo was next to the Aetna name, and U.S. Healthcare under it. U.S. Companies, the largest provider of custom healthcare marketing research services in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . For further information please visit www.gfkmarketmeasures.com. For more details on this study or to schedule an interview with a GfK Market Measures executive, please contact Jessica Makovsky, Group Vice President of Communications, GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies, at 215.283.3200 x372 or jmakovsky@gfkushc.com. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion