Browsing by Subject "lääkemarkkinointi"

Obesity is a growing health challenge in Finland. Despite the fact, that obesity is recognized as a chronic disease, it remains underdiagnosed and undertreated. In the past few years, two new anti-obesity drugs have entered the market to support the lifestyle changes Anti-obesity medication would be a natural option to support lifestyle changes, but physicians have not widely adopted the medication in their treatment patterns. The aim of this study was to understand, what are the abilities of primary care physician (PCP) to treat obesity, considering their knowledge, resources and, local care pathways. In addition, the study sought to determine the most important factors, that are involved in the initiation of anti-obesity medication. The study was conducted as a semi-structured thematic interview. A total of nine PCPs from all over Finland were interviewed for the study. Of these, three worked on the private sector and six on the public sector. The interviews were conducted during October-November 2020. The framework of the interviews was built based on the previous studies and information within a pharmaceutical company specializing in the treatment of obesity. The content was analysed with inductive content analysis. PCPs interested in the treatment of obesity raised the topic of weight quite easily in various situations and some of them mentioned that they even find it easy to bring up the subject. However, the subject is mainly brought up when the patient already has some weight-related comorbidities. Preventively, weight is less often talked about, especially because of a lack of human and time resources. Currently the most comprehensive care pathways and interdisciplinary teams are in occupational healthcare. In occupational healthcare, resources are perceived as adequate and the interdisciplinary teams works well. In most healthcare centers, a separate care pathway for the treatment of obesity had not been built. In general, knowledge of the obesity treatment was considered adequate, but education on the biological basis of obesity is needed. Most of the PCPs knew about the new anti-obesity drugs and had positive attitude towards them, but they did not prescribe the drugs themselves. The most significant barrier to prescribe the anti-obesity drugs, was the price of the products and the lack of reimbursement. In addition, experience with anti-obesity drugs is limited and the need for education is high. Currently, occupational health physicians have better abilities to treat obesity in terms of care pathways, interdisciplinary teams and, resources than PCPs in public healthcare. The conditions are also better for the implementation of pharmacotherapy as resources and care pathways enables proper lifestyle guidance alongside pharmacotherapy. Prior to reimbursement, pharmacotherapy may not be a realistic option in the public sector, and the conditions for proper lifestyle guidance alongside pharmacotherapy are not sufficient in all locations.

Digital technologies have brought new prospects also in pharmaceutical industry and marketing. Communication between different interest groups has become faster and more convenient. There has also been development of new marketing methods utilizing digital technology. E-detailing, mobile applications and social media sites are examples of novel ways to market medicines and disseminate medical information. The aim of this study was to find out how doctors see electronic detailing (e-detailing). The study was carried out by electronic questionnaire, which was answered by 45 Finnish doctors. Doctors who participated in this study had attended e-detailing organized by Pfizer before. Roger's innovation diffusion model was used in drawing up the questions and as theoretical framework of this study. The results of this study showed that doctors regard e-detailing mainly positively and they intend to participate e-detailing also in the future. About one fourth of the doctors, who answered, think that e-detailing is more useful than traditional detailing. In general, doctors do not prefer e-detailing to traditional or group detailing. They also attend e-detailing more seldom than other forms of detailing. In addition, doctors see that e-detailing is more additional value than substitute for traditional detailing. According to this study e-detailing can be a useful tool for pharmaceutical companies mainly because it is a convenient and effective way to contact doctors. The biggest challenges of e-detailing are lack of personality and difficulties in changing timing of arranged detailing sessions. All in all, novel marketing methods may enable that pharmaceutical companies can take doctors' different needs into account. On the other hand, controlling the totality demands that pharmaceutical companies have a functional CRM-strategy and uniform communication.