Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care: Germany

Provides an overview of evidence-based policy making in the German healthcare system. Focuses on the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, which evaluates comparative effectiveness of drugs and medical services for decisions on coverage

The Interplay of Personal Selling and Direct Marketing: An Exploratory Study in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Beyond dispute, personal selling represents the dominant and most effective promotional element in industrial settings, but its costs are quite substantial. Against this background, sales managers are forced to reexamine alternative approaches for servicing and informing customers in order to justify the productivity of their industrial selling mix. In this context, the complementary use of direct marketing to field selling becomes a primary concern as it allows for confidentiality and personalization of the message in contrast to mass communication while it provides information at a lower cost than does personal selling. However, no study has empirically investigated the interplay of personal selling and various direct marketing instruments with regard to several contextual factors determining the preferred use of direct marketing over personal selling so far. Thus, focusing on business-to-business transactions, this study’s objective is to deepen the understanding of the direct marketing and personal selling interplay. Due to limited empirical insights to this area, an exploratory research design is adapted. Results indicate that the advantageousness of direct marketing in comparison to personal selling is determined by customer-related, internal and external contextual conditions. Further, a well-designed interplay helps to improve selling productivity, brand awareness and customer satisfaction – and thus business unit performance. --

Negotiating healthy trade in Australia: health impact assessment of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Drawing on leaked texts of potential provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, this health impact assessment found the potential for negative impacts in the cost of medicines, tobacco control policies, alcohol control policies, and food labeling. Overview The Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) has been working with a group of Australian academics and non-government organisations interested in the health of the Australian population to carry out a health impact assessment (HIA) on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) negotiations. In the absence of official publicly available drafts of the trade agreement, the health impact assessment drew on leaked texts of potential provisions and formulated policy scenarios based on high priority health policies that could be affected by the TPP. The HIA found the potential for negative impacts in each of the four areas under investigation: the cost of medicines; tobacco control policies; alcohol control policies; and food labeling. In each of these areas, the HIA report traces the relevant proposed provisions through to their likely effects on the policy scenarios onto the likely impact on the health of Australians, focusing particularly on vulnerable groups in the Australian community. The report makes a number of recommendations to DFAT regarding the TPP provisions and to the Australian Government regarding the TPP negotiating process

Transformers: African American Women Leaders in the Pharmaceutical Industry

This qualitative study documents the experiences of African American women leaders in the pharmaceutical industry in the context of the transformative leadership model. Transformative leadership is a theory that recognizes that the success of individuals and organizations (including pharmaceutical companies) may be impacted by material realities and disparities that exist in a larger societal context. Consequently, transformative leaders seek to promote change (Shields, 2011). Eight African American leaders were interviewed regarding their leadership experiences in the pharmaceutical industry. The interview text was then coded based on the seven tenets of transformative leadership. The results indicated that, collectively, all participants exhibited all tenets, with each participant illustrating at least four of the seven tenets. Three tenets were common to all participants. They included tenet one (acknowledging power and privilege), tenet three (deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge frames), and tenet seven (demonstrating moral courage and activism). While African American women leaders in the pharmaceutical industry represent a small percentage of industry leadership, they are impactful leaders and contributors to its transformation. The findings have relevance to both scholars and practitioners in management leadership generally, as well as to leaders within the pharmaceutical industry

Population variability in animal health: Influence on dose-exposure-response relationships: Part II: Modelling and simulation

During the 2017 Biennial meeting, the American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics hosted a 1‐day session on the influence of population variability on dose‐exposure‐response relationships. In Part I, we highlighted some of the sources of population variability. Part II provides a summary of discussions on modelling and simulation tools that utilize existing pharmacokinetic data, can integrate drug physicochemical characteristics with species physiological characteristics and dosing information or that combine observed with predicted and in vitro information to explore and describe sources of variability that may influence the safe and effective use of veterinary pharmaceuticals

Pig farmers’ perceptions, attitudes, influences and management of information in the decision-making process for disease control

The objectives of this study were (1) to explore the factors involved in the decision-making process used by pig farmers for disease control and (2) to investigate pig farmers’ attitudes and perceptions about different information sources relating to disease control. In 2011 a qualitative study involving 20 face-to-face interviews with English pig farmers was conducted. The questionnaire was composed of three parts. The first part required farmers to identify two diseases they had experienced and which were difficult to recognize and/or control. They were asked to report how the disease problem was recognized, how the need for control was decided, and what affected the choice of control approach. For the latter, a structure related to the Theory of Planned Behaviour was used. Their verbal responses were classified as associated with: (1) attitude and beliefs, (2) subjective norms, or (3) perceived behavioural control (PBC). In the second part, five key sources of information for disease control (Defra, BPEX, research from academia, internet and veterinarians) and the factors related to barriers to knowledge were investigated. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. A qualitative analysis of the text of the interview transcripts was carried out using templates. Drivers for disease control were ‘pig mortality’, ‘feeling of entering in an economically critical situation’, ‘animal welfare’ and ‘feeling of despair’. Veterinarians were perceived by several participating farmers as the most trusted information source on disease control. However, in particular non-sustainable situations, other producers, and especially experiences from abroad, seemed to considerably influence the farmers’ decision-making. ‘Lack of knowledge’, ‘farm structure and management barriers’ and ‘economic constrains’ were identified in relation to PBC. Several negative themes, such as ‘lack of communication’, ‘not knowing where to look’, and ‘information bias’ were associated with research from academia. This study identified a range of factors influencing the decision-making process for disease control by pig farmers. In addition, it highlighted the lack of awareness and difficult access of producers to current scientific research outputs. The factors identified should be considered when developing communication strategies to disseminate research findings and advice for disease control

Reducing Unlawful Prescription Drug Promotion: Is the Public Health Being Served by an Enforcement Approach that Focuses on Punishment?

Despite the imposition of increasingly substantial fines and recently successful efforts to impose individual liability on corporate executives under the Park doctrine, punishing pharmaceutical companies and their executives for unlawful promotional activities has not been as successful in achieving compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) as the protection of the public health demands. Over the past decade, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have shifted their focus from correction and compliance to a more punitive model when it comes to allegedly unlawful promotion of pharmaceuticals. The shift initially focused on imposing monetary penalties and was arguably justified by the expectation that financial punishment would achieve a level of compliance that would reduce the need for correction. By exacting enormous fines from companies, the agencies presumably hoped that the costs associated with unlawful promotion would be too high to justify the monetary benefits of non-compliance. Unfortunately, however, that approach has not been entirely successful. Despite the growth in settlements and penalties, and the recent efforts to hold individual executives liable for corporate misbehavior, the intended impact of substantially increased compliance has only partially materialized. The upward spiraling of settlement amounts and the trend toward prosecuting repeat offenders indicate that a change in approach is necessary. This article argues that FDA and DOJ cannot justify a continued emphasis on punishment without more demonstrable improvement in compliance and corporate accountability. The article goes on to describe several proposals to refocus the agencies’ efforts to effectively address the impact of unlawful promotion on public health by returning to an approach that emphasizes the more traditional goals of correction and compliance. It also argues that any meaningful protection of the public health ultimately requires a broader public understanding of the issues surrounding unlawful promotion of pharmaceutical products and greater participation by patients; physicians; health care professionals; and others with an interest in, and the opportunity to, impact this area. Increasing the public’s ability and interest in monitoring companies’ promotional activities at every level will reinforce the benefits of compliance, which will better serve the public health goals of the FD&C Act

Current policy issues in the governance of the European patent system

The European Parliament has been working towards building a discussion platform and a resource for further policy actions in the field of intellectual property rights. The Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel has set the goal of further enlarging the area of investigation in light of recent policy developments at the European level. In particular, the current study covers current policy issues in the governance of the European patent system, such as the backlog issue, the enhancement of patent awareness within the European Parliament, patent enforcement, the regional dimension of intellectual property in Europe, patents and standardisation, the use of existing patents, and patents and competition. These issues were discussed in the conference with stakeholders from European to national patent offices, from private to public sector actors. As a result of the conference, it was stated the need for an IP strategy for Europ

Shared Value in Emerging Markets: How Multinational Corporations Are Redefining Business Strategies to Reach Poor or Vulnerable Populations

This report illuminates the enormous opportunities in emerging markets for companies to drive competitive advantage and sustainable impact at scale. It identifies how over 30 companies across multiple sectors and geographies design and measure business strategies that also improve the lives of underserved individuals