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Is sponsoring Epocrates references for healthcare professionals allowable under PhRMA marketing guidelines?*
Effective July 1, 2002, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have voluntarily adopted new ethical marketing guidelines. (see table below) The goal of these guidelines is to ensure that relationships with healthcare professionals "benefit patients and enhance the practice of medicine". These guidelines specify that items which benefit patients may be given to healthcare professionals as long as they are not of substantial value ($100 or less).
Epocrates Essentials Deluxe, Epocrates Essentials, Epocrates Medical Dictionary, Epocrates Rx Pro, Epocrates Coder and Epocrates Online premium clinical software applications, are examples of clinical tools that fit within the new PhRMA guidelines. Please read below for a list of key points regarding the new PhRMA regulations and Epocrates.
| PhRMA Marketing Guidelines | Epocrates Software |
|---|---|
| Interaction must benefit patients and enhance the practice of medicine. | Harvard study, published in JAMA, indicates that "50% of Epocrates physicians reported averting 1-2 medical errors per week". Every year, Epocrates software potentially helps to avoid millions of medical errors. |
| Interactions should ensure that healthcare professionals have the latest, most accurate information available regarding prescription medicines. | JAMA review states that Epocrates "is a remarkable advance over older methods of keeping a drug reference up to date" |
| Items given to healthcare professionals must not be of substantial value ($100 or less). | Epocrates Medical Dictionary costs $20/one year. Epocrates Rx Pro and Epocrates Online Premium each cost $60/one year. Epocrates Coder costs $70/one year. Epocrates Essentials costs $75/six months and $149/one year. Epocrates Essentials Deluxe costs $199/one year. |
| Gift certificates redeemable for medical books on patient care could be provided if they are not of substantial value. However, open ended gift certificates are not allowable under PhRMA guidelines. | Epocrates' product license program allows reps to buy licenses that are ONLY redeemable for copies of Epocrates mobile or online clinical references. According to PhRMA, software and medical books are similar. |
| Marketing of products should ensure that products are used correctly for maximum patient benefit. | Epocrates Essentials Deluxe, Epocrates Essentials, Epocrates Medical Dictionary, Epocrates Rx Pro, Epocrates Coder and Epocrates Online Premium provide the latest information on dosing, diagnosis, drug interactions, diagnostics and more to help clinicians provide the best possible patient care. |
*Promotional guidelines may also vary by pharmaceutical and biotechnology company
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