Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Payer
Pharma
Firms
Provider
(e.g.,
physician)
Patients
Regulators
Fig. 1.3
Players and relationships in the pharmaceutical market
Pharmaceutical companies must take into account these two confl icting charac-
teristics/attributes of pharmaceutical drugs as they extract maximum value from
their innovation. This task requires careful management of the fi rm's relationship
with three key players—patient, provider (e.g., physician), and payer—as well as
the relationship among themselves, within an environment controlled by the regula-
tors (Fig.
1.3
).
Pharmaceutical drug purchase is a joint decision made by the user (patient) and
gatekeeper (physician or other healthcare provider). In this relationship, the gatekeeper
has the fi nal decision-making power on what drug a patient should use. However, on
the other hand, the patient is not completely powerless, although his or her power
differs across therapeutic areas (Ding and Jehoshua
2008
) and countries. In most
countries, a patient can easily “fi re” his or her gatekeeper by switching to another
physician. A patient can also passively protest by either not getting the prescription
fi lled or not using the drug according to the recommended schedule (noncompliance).
This patient-gatekeeper relationship is evolving and has changed substantially over
the last 10-20 years, largely due to the availability of information about the drug
itself and about other patients' experience and knowledge. Such information is
now available to any individual who is willing to spend half hour on the Internet
Search WWH ::
Custom Search