In Memoriam Linda Ley Ciccarelli Linda Ciccarelli, VP and senior director of media services at Sudler & Hennessey, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, at her home in Wakefield, R.I. A founding member of the Association of Healthcare Media Directors (AHMD), Ms. Ciccarelli was a longtime leader in the field of medical media. She was past president of AHMD, a board member of the HMCC, and an active member of the Association of Medical Media. She began her career in healthcare communications as media planner and account executive at F. Scott Kimmich & Company. She later worked at Cline, Davis & Mann and at Sandler Communications. Healthcare Reform Physicians, Payers Disagree on Healthcare Funding Payers and physicians have different views on where savings will be found to support new healthcare initiatives. According to new KantarHealth research, payers believe that reducing what President Obama called “waste, fraud, and abuse" in hospital care will provide the majority of needed funding, while physicians point to prescription drugs as the prime source of potential savings. Previous research from KantarHealth found the percentage of U.S. doctors highly dissatisfied with pharma and actively generating negative word of mouth jumped from 12% to 19%. Other findings: • Although payers and physicians don’t see eye to eye on the funding source, they are in sync when it comes to their reactions to the proposal. When asked if they agreed with Obama’s proposed healthcare reforms, 50% of payers and 42% of physicians say they do not support the proposal. In addition, almost 30% of both groups believe they still need more information before making a decision. • Physicians are more concerned than payers about the effects of healthcare reforms, with 57% believing the proposal would have a negative impact on their businesses. About a quarter of physicians believe the impact would be positive, and just over 20% don’t think they would feel any effects, if the proposal is adopted. • Fewer than half of payers share doctors’ concerns that the reforms would negatively impact their businesses, and more than a quarter don’t expect to see any effect at all. Similar to physicians, about a quarter of payers expect a positive business outcome from the reforms. Physician Perspective Physicians Thoughts on Healthcare Just 2% of physicians surveyed by SurveyHealthCare thought pharmaceutical companies were the reason for high healthcare costs; in fact, 77% of physicians believe insurance companies and lawyers are the cause of these high costs. Other findings: n Almost 3 out of 4 physicians said the major problem in the United States today was the economy; 22% said the most serious problem was healthcare. n Only 18% felt that President Obama’s healthcare reform efforts would have a long term benefit for physicians. In addition, only 29% felt the Obama healthcare bill would have a positive impact on the public’s health. n Even with the problems with the U.S. healthcare system, 64% of physicians surveyed say the United States has the best healthcare system. The next highest country was France with 9%. n 76% of all physicians do not like drug ads on TV. n Almost 80% of those surveyed said they would become a physician again if they had the opportunity to do it all over again. n But only 39% said they would encourage their child or strongly encourage them to go to medical school. SurveyHealthCare surveyed 321 U.S. physicians in early September 2009. Tuning in… Featured Whitepaper In a Tight Economy: The Five Most Critical Clinical Research Factors Featured Thought Leader: Lawrence Reiter, Ph.D., Criterium Inc. Featured Webinar Reputation Strategies That Drive Market Results: Turning Your Good Name into Good Business Sponsored by: Kantar Health, Dec. 10, 2009 — 10:30 a.m. EDT Featured Thought Leaders: Mark Sales, Head of Global Stakeholder Management, KantarHealth; Amy Krane, Director, Healthcare Solutions, TNS Cymfony; and Gary Bartolacci, Senior Director, KantarHealth Log onto: www.pharmavoice.com/reputation
