PDR Network (PDR), the provider of drug information with the Physicians’ Desk Reference and prescriber communications has merged with LDM Group, a leading provider of behavior-based prescription management programs.

The new entity will go forward under the name PDR, with Mark Heinold, who has been the CEO of LDM, as PDR’s CEO. Richard Altus, PDR’s former president and CEO, will join Lee Equity Partners, the majority shareholder of PDR, as an operating advisor.

“We are excited about the existing talent that PDR has and look forward to combining the existing management teams,” Heinold tells MM&M.

The merger provides the opportunity to create the largest EHR/EMR communication network, as it combines LDM’s strength in patient education and adherence with PDR’s ability to deliver trusted drug information to prescribers, Heinold says.

The combined networks of the two companies will reach 250,000 prescribers within their EHR workflows. The company additionally engages with over 800,000 prescribers through multi-channel digital reach, and features a network of 16,000 retail pharmacies

“There is little overlap between LDM’s and PDR’s networks so there is an opportunity for significant extended reach within the new network, and growth that is exponential and additive to the individual networks,” Heinold said.

“Communicating effectively within prescriber workflow is no longer a novelty or experiment—it is a must have channel for anyone who looks to connect with prescribers and their patients.

“We believe that PDR’s trusted prescriber-focused drug information and LDM’s proven patient health and drug information creates an unprecedented combination that can greatly improve both health outcomes and the efficiency of heath care communications,” he added.

The larger organization will be instrumental, Heinold says, in growing the pharmacy network side by levering pre-existing relationships between PDR and pharmacies, where PDR offers professional communication channels. LDM serves over 25% of retail pharmacies in the US with professional communications such as PharmacistCare and patient adherence products such as CarePoints and eCopay.

Along with the expanded ability to deliver messages within the prescriber workflow, the company draws on PDR’s knowledge of prescriber preferences and behavior and the companies’ collective knowledge of the best ways to deliver those messages.

The new PDR will offer a unique capability for providing the right messages at the right time to EHR prescribers, supporting pharmacy marketers, payers and others seeking to leverage EHRs and integrate with physician daily practice.

The behavior-based messaging capability, based on behaviors doctors and patients have demonstrated over time, employs a rules engine drawing on proprietary data to ensure highly relevant and highly clinical messaging is delivered at the right time, Heinold says.

The new PDR benefits as well from PDR’s suite of services for delivery of information outside of work flow. “PDR has always been at the forefront of relationships with providers (and) we will continue to leverage that provider base and the universe they have created,” Heinold says.

PDR earlier this year described plans to develop tools that can integrate PDR’s expertise into a healthcare provider’s daily workflow, and support pharma marketers looking to reach prescribers in a timely manner, in a program to broaden its offerings that began when Lee Equity Partners acquired the company in 2009.

PDR has just released the latest edition of the “PDR EHR playbook”, which shares key learnings, and LDM provides a similar introductory offering to help educate marketers about the EHR space, Heinold says.

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