Factors that impact doctor's perception in Bangkok, Thailand.

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry invests heavily in promotion, and it uses a variety of promotional strategies to influence physicians’ prescribing decisions. Within this research, medical representatives are the key personnel working in promoting the medicines. One significant consequence of the interactions between physicians and medical representatives is a conflict of interests which may contribute to the over prescribing of medications and thus negative effects on patients’ health and economics. There is limited detailed information published on the reasons why physicians interact with medical representatives. This study aims to qualitatively explore physicians’ perceptions about interactions with medical representatives and their reasons for accepting the medical representatives’ visits. In-depth interviews were used to gain a better understanding of physicians’ perceptions of medical representative visits. A total of 12 physicians from private hospital were interviewed.