Perceptions of young adults as to the future of health care in the 21st century.

This study assessed the perceptions of the need for and quality of future health care programs of those who will be major users of medical services in the 21st century. Findings indicated that most recognize the importance of having medical coverage. While copayment costs were most important in health plan selection, less personal factors (e.g., ease of obtaining appointments) were more important than the plan's quality reputations and its physicians. Finally, few respondents thought the quality of physicians and hospitals would improve. Even fewer believed the range of services covered would be better, access to care would be easier to obtain, or that service would be more personalized. They also expect the costs of health care to escalate, and costs to have more impact on the availability of medical services.

Value of services provided by pharmaceutical companies: perceptions of physicians and pharmaceutical sales representatives.

Pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) are a key component of pharmaceutical companies' marketing strategies in that they are the link between the pharmaceutical company and the physician. PSRs provide various services in order to increase the physician's prescribing activity of their companies' products. Given the high cost of recruiting, training, and supporting a PSR, it is important for PSRs to understand the relative significance physicians ascribe to services provided. This study examined whether there is a gap in the perceptions of physicians and PSRs regarding the value of specific services provided by PSRs. Physicians and PSRs who attended medical meetings were surveyed. Results of the study indicated that there were significant differences in the perceived value between PSRs and physicians. Services which were perceived to be less important to physicians than to PSRs were new product detailing, old product detailing, providing product studies and research findings, PSRs serving as expert consultants, and recruiting physicians to participate in FDA approval drug studies. Services for which there were no significant differences of perceived value between the groups included free product samples and promotional luncheons and dinners.

Alternative medicine among college students.

The use of "alternative" medicine has become increasingly popular in the United States. Books devoted to alternative medicine, e.g., Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, have become best sellers. Nevertheless, relatively few research studies have focused on the subject. This study examined the role of alternative medicine among college students. Issues addressed included students' familiarity with, use of, and perceptions regarding unconventional health therapies. The study substantiated a phenomenon health care providers across the country are discovering: a growing number of Americans with interest and financial resources support the development of "mainstream" alternative medicine programs. Results of the study also suggest that well-respected traditional health care organizations would not suffer reputation damage if they were to offer such programs.

Health care in the 21st century: marketing's role in vertically integrated delivery systems.

Health care delivery has become one of the most significant economic and political issues of the 1990s. Historical efforts to reform the system to reduce costs while providing quality care to an ever-expanding population have not proven to be satisfactory. With attempts to restructure the industry for the 21st century come important implications for the marketing of health services. This article reviews the economics of the issues, historical efforts to control costs, and activities in the 1990s to restructure the industry. From this, implications for marketing's role in an evolving health care delivery system are described.

An examination of physician use of and attitudes toward closed formulary drug programs.

Efforts to control the rising costs of drug budgets has centered primarily on the use of "closed formularies"--systems in which a set of drug products are pre-approved for dispensing to those eligible for expense coverage. Controversy, however, has surrounded these systems with respect to their effectiveness in controlling costs and their impacts on the quality of care for recipients. This study examined California physician attitudes towards the California Medicaid program's use of a closed formulary and treatment authorizations which must be obtained in order to dispense drugs not on the Medi-Cal pre-approved list. A survey of physicians focused on the extent to which they sought to use non-formulary medications, their experience with formulary products that were not their drugs of choice, and the extent to which the overall system impacted their practices. Results of the survey indicated that the closed formularly discouraged physicians from dispensing drugs of choice. Furthermore, physicians often experienced adverse or sub-therapeutic results with formulary medications that they would not have expected had they dispensed their preferred medications.

Branded versus generic prescription drugs: perceptions of risk, efficacy, safety, and value.

Efforts to control the increasing costs of health care have created a major market for generic prescription drugs. The authors compare perceptions of the risks, efficacy, and value for the money of various brand name and generic prescription drugs to evaluate how well they will be accepted by current and potential users.

Marketing to public-aid recipients: an examination of pharmacy profitability.

Massive purchasing power, geographic outreach and defined buying methods often make public-aid recipients an attractive target market for pharmacies. Yet one must question how profitable such a target might be. This study shows that pharmacy profit levels for public-aid recipients below those earned in marketing to the private-pay patients may result in hidden benefits.