GfK Market Measures unveiled a new tool designed to help pharmaceutical manufacturers to assess the value and impact of their managed markets sales and marketing activities. 
GfK claims that Managed Markets Monitor provides the industry’s first-ever continuous audit and tracking of sales force interactions through quarterly reporting from a panel of 40 managed care decision-makers who are collectively responsible for almost half of all commercially covered lives.  
Monitor engages the decision makers in routine reporting of specifics surrounding the frequency of sales force activity as well as feedback across five dimensions related to these sales call interactions. For example: who represented the manufacturer, specific products discussed, specific messages relayed, value of the exchanges and likelihood that the interaction will yield positive outcomes for manufacturers based upon the information relayed during the interactions. 
According to GfK officials, Monitor’s ongoing measurement of key account management sales force effectiveness enables manufacturers to determine whether strategies and programs are on targett. The first quarterly report from Managed Markets Monitor will not be available until early April 2009.
Sue Ramspacher, SVP, managed markets research at GfK, said that the growing influence of managed care on prescribing and dispensing makes understanding of sales and marketing activities directed to MCO decision-makers increasingly important.