AssureHCP matches prescriber data with eligibility for marketing and sampling programs

Compliance with marketing restrictions—especially for pharma companies operating under corporate integrity agreements—is a constant source of concern for field sales and marketing teams. There are numerous approaches to maintaining compliance processes, but aligning these with customer relationship management (CRM) and multichannel marketing (MCM) programs is a challenge. Now, J. Knipper and Co. (Lakewood, NJ) hopes to reduce some of those challenges by offering a system and database that qualifies healthcare providers to receive drug samples, promotional materials and messages, and similar HCP interactions. J. Knipper is the largest sample-distribution company in the US, and has substantial business in fulfilling mail campaigns and similar marketing efforts for pharma clients.

The new service, AssureHCP, builds off Knipper’s existing status as one of a dozen or so licensees of AMA database, considered by many to be the most reliable source of master data on physician identities and licenses. But Knipper brings in other data sources, and is bidding eventually to become a master data management vendor in full, according to Mike Laferrera, president of the company. “AssureHCP is an extension of the compliant processes we already provide for sampling accountability, and now with our proprietary software we can offer these validation and certification processes with fewer ‘moving parts’ to pharma marketing managers.”

Depending on the drug, the marketing approach and the pharma company, communications between manufacturers and prescribers can be restricted to those with appropriate affiliations, DEA licenses, medical specialties and Medicare-service eligbility. Knipper provides this validated information via an online portal; it also qualifies prescribers by “categories of risk” by state and federal guidelines—said by Knipper to be an industry first. Data can be integrated into CRM programs down to individual program levels.

The new service debuted at the PDMA Sharing Conference, a gathering of industry sample-accountability managers, today.