This is a trend occurring more frequently, not only in hospitals but also within large physician groups in various areas across the country. The most successful manufacturers have actually taken less of a sales approach with these restrictive systems and more of an account management approach. Regional account managers work closely with various administrators (e.g. Pharmacy Director, Quality Director, Risk Management, C-suite, hospitalists) within these systems to understand the priorities of the organization. To address some of these identified priorities, the manufacturer will develop and implement programmatic solutions that form the basis of a partnership between the manufacturer and the system. In return, the physician group or hospital will provide sales representatives access to physicians within the system.

Recently, many of the solutions have focused on some of the most relevant trends within healthcare, such as evidence-based medicine, continuity of care, quality improvement, and adherence, to name a few. To complement this account management approach, senior executives (e.g. VP, Managed Markets; VP, Institutional Sales and Marketing) from the pharmaceutical manufacturer are getting more personally involved by meeting with some of the largest, most important customers. These executive meetings help to place the right level of emphasis and priority on the relationship and identify areas of mutual interest and common ground for collaboration.

Finally, non-personal promotion is also being used more often by managed care marketers to reach prescribers and formulary managers within these restrictive systems. E-mail campaigns, Webcasts, and podcasts are more frequently used today to reach these important decision-makers with brand promotion and education. In doing so, partnering with various managed market associations or journals adds credibility to the program and helps in recruiting efforts to ensure maximum participation.