Doctors and Pharmacists Want Major Pharma Industry Change in 2016, But Don't Expect to Get It, According to New Data From InCrowd

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Dec 21, 2015) -  Doctors, pharmacists, and managed care executives in the US want important changes to the pharmaceutical industry in 2016 -- including lower drug prices for patients, greater pharmacy reimbursement, and an expanded focus on patient-centered care. However they were strongly pessimistic about whether these changes will happen, according to new data compiled by InCrowd, a provider of real-time market intelligence to life sciences and healthcare firms. The results document the frustration within key constituencies in the pharma industry following a year of controversy over drug price hikes, M&A deals, patent protection via data exclusivity windows, and Presidential candidate proposals for expanded industry oversight.

"The discrepancy between what the industry wants, and what it thinks it will get, is stark," said Diane Hayes, PhD, president and co-founder of InCrowd. "Over half of respondents expected the exact opposite result of what they hoped to get, like wanting lower drug prices, and expecting there would be no change at all."

InCrowd asked members of its Crowd of 1.8 million of clinicians, pharmacy staff, and managed care providers, about important changes and innovations they wanted to see in the pharmaceutical industry in 2016 -- and at the same time, what changes they realistically expected. 

• Drug price concerns were the overriding theme of the microsurvey, with 45% of respondents wanted lower drug prices to patients. Yet while 34% of respondents said they would like to see better price control and lower prices in 2016, only 3% predicted they would see such changes.
  
  
• Better pharmacy reimbursement was identified by 13% of respondents as a top issue in 2016, yet over half of respondents who wanted this predicted either no change, or lower reimbursement. Similarly over half of respondents who wanted more patient-oriented care predicted either no change in this important dimension, or, in fact, less patient-oriented care.
  
  
• The #1 change that respondents realistically predicted they would see in the pharma industry during 2016 was -- little to nothing, at 27%.

"The data show how the pharma industry is largely on the same page as consumers and regulatory authorities when it comes to hot-button topics like drug prices, even if the data don't point the way to an immediate resolution," said Hayes. "Sometimes quantifying the size of the challenge is the first step to solving it."

The 3-minute microsurvey included 118 respondents -- 52 physicians, 59 pharmacists, and 7 managed care professionals -- fielded in December, 2015 using InCrowd's real-time platform. 

More insights from this study will be shared on a live webinar on January 12, 2016 at 2pm ET. Register here to participate. 

About InCrowd 

InCrowd provides real-time market intelligence from validated experts, connecting life sciences companies directly with prescribers, patients, and other screened and validated healthcare professionals around the globe. Our easy-to-use, proprietary, web-based application allows clients to ask questions of specific respondent groups -- "Crowds" -- in the form of 2-5 minute, online microsurveys. Responses are available in real time, with the needed answers delivered within hours or days, not weeks and months. Through its powerful, mobile, microsurvey methodology and analytics engine, InCrowd enables clients to reach 1.8M healthcare professionals on-demand throughout the United States and around the globe in 20 languages. 

For more information, visit www.incrowdnow.com.