PITTSBURGH, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vision Integration Partners LLC in partnership with ITPI (Information Technology Professionals Inc.) debuted Drsvp.com, a web-based technology that optimizes the communication between physicians and pharmaceutical companies that sponsor medical education events. The web technology was unveiled with much enthusiasm at the American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida on October 14-17, 2004.
The web site, Drsvp.com provides a secure online environment where physicians can view and reply to pharmaceutical company sponsored medical educational events posted on the medical professional’s web-based dynamic calendar. This revolutionary application will significantly reduce pharmaceutical companies’ administrative and marketing costs paid to third party vendors, as well as their representatives’ time-off territory, now required to coordinate such events. More importantly, busy physicians are able to find all of these events on one site, reply to the event, view the speaker credentials, set preferences, get directions and even give instant feedback to sponsoring companies before and after the event.
Several hundred family physicians eagerly signed onto the free service during the three-day American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Convention in Orlando, FL last week. Many of the attendees commented that the service was a welcome tool for busy physicians because it significantly reduces the mailings and faxes that are currently the mode of communication for theses events.
“The ability to view all of the educational programs on one site and reply to them instantly is a valuable service that has simplified the current process and will reduced staff interruptions, giving me more time to see my patients.” said Dr. Malcolm Berger, a neurologist from Brackenridge, PA who was one of several physicians who participated in a pilot program with Drsvp.com.
Drsvp.com also addresses ethical matters within the pharmaceutical and medical fields. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, (PhRMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have developed strict guidelines that regulate how information can be disseminated between pharmaceutical representatives and health care professionals. As it relates to medical education, Drsvp.com assists in supporting these guidelines by serving as an independent clearinghouse for educational forums utilizing pre-approved templates. Vision Integration Partners’ spokesman says the company anticipates that those organizations such as PhRMA the AMA will agree that Drsvp.com makes sense for the entire industry and their members.
“Pharmaceutical sales representatives must sacrifice a considerable amount of time out of their territory to plan, organize, and subsequently recruit physicians to attend company sponsored educational events,” said M. J. Meinert, founder of Vision Integration Partners. “The increased administrative duty involved in this process takes away from the representatives’ time in front of physicians when they should be discussing their product, instead of recruiting the physician for the next educational event.”
Many pharmaceutical companies leave it up to the representative to make up their own invitations to events without prior legal approval, a practice that can result in legal exposure and uncontrolled administrative costs. Drsvp.com allows them to manage invitations, speaker logistics and surveys all on one site.
Likewise, busy physicians and their staff members are faced with multiple program requests from virtually every major pharmaceutical company and must spend a significant amount of time and staff resources dealing with the numerous phone calls, unsolicited faxes and unscheduled representative recruitment visits. Drsvp.com provides a single comprehensive solution for both parties to interact for a fraction of what most companies are currently spending on these programs.”
Drsvp.com has already generated interest from several major pharmaceutical companies still spending a great deal of resources on multiple third party vendors and individual web sites. While many of the pharmaceutical companies have established in-house programs to publish their education events, physicians and their staff are still left to interact with these companies independently through multiple vendors and channels. This fragmented process results in an increase in time and paperwork for both parties. Drsvp.com provides an integrated solution to pharmaceutical companies’ existing platforms yet without the advertisements. Pharmaceutical companies and physician groups who are not yet members of the site can simply contact Vision Integration Partners at mm@visionintegration.com.
Vision Integration Partners LLC
CONTACT: M. John Meinert of Vision Integration Partners, LLC,+1-724-321-0914; or Tom Meinert of W. J. Green & Associates, +1-412-281-5555