comScore Announces Availability of comScore/ImpactRx Physician Behavioral
Measurement(TM) Solution
First-of-its-Kind Intelligence Tool Illuminates Impact of Physicians' Digital
Media Usage on Prescription Writing Behaviors; Helps Marketers and Advertisers
Communicate Pharmaceutical Benefits to Key Influencers
RESTON, Va. and MT. LAUREL, N.J., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore,
Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, and ImpactRx, a
pharmaceutical insights company, today announced the availability of the
comScore/ImpactRx Physician Behavioral Measurement(TM) solution, the only
digital measurement solution that connects physicians' online and mobile
behaviors to their actual prescription writing activities. This solution is
carefully designed to comply with health privacy laws and regulations, and at
no time is patient identifiable information provided by physicians to comScore
or ImpactRx. The solution provides pharmaceutical marketers, advertising
agencies and site publishers an unmatched view into physicians' use of digital
media, helping them optimize their marketing and business strategies.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO)
"With physicians increasingly utilizing digital media for support in
researching and administering effective healthcare, there is a growing need to
understand how their use of such media influences their decision-making," said
John Mangano, comScore vice president of pharmaceutical marketing solutions.
"By directly relating doctors' Internet use to their prescribing behavior, the
Physician Behavioral Measurement solution provides the industry with
actionable insights that are crucial in this highly competitive market."
Physician Behavioral Measurement Solution Not Subject to Recall Bias
Unlike survey-based methodologies, which are subject to recall bias, the
Physician Behavioral Measurement solution uses comScore's proprietary
panel-based methodology that allows it to passively observe the actual digital
behavior and prescription administration activity of a representative panel of
U.S. physicians that have given ImpactRx and comScore explicit permission to
track their behavior. This data is free from HIPAA regulated information such
as patient-level data. These observed behavioral insights are then
supplemented with survey research to help better understand the physicians'
attitudes and intentions that influence their behavior.
The Physician Behavioral Measurement solution provides pharmaceutical
marketers and agencies with valuable insights into how physicians use the
Internet, including what sites they frequent, their level of online engagement
and search engine usage, as well as how these behaviors influence their
prescription writing activity. Through these insights, marketers and agencies
can make more informed decisions when allocating online dollars to effectively
target and reach physicians, as well as understand how competing
pharmaceutical brands are reaching and engaging with this audience. Publishers
benefit from the ability to better quantify their reach and engagement among
health care providers in comparison to competing sites, providing them with
sophisticated third-party audience data to help prove their value and attract
more advertising dollars.
"The ability to look at physicians' behaviors apart from the total Internet
audience provides a level of granularity not previously available in the
industry," said Richard Altus, CEO of ImpactRx. "The availability of this
depth of analysis will raise pharmaceutical marketing to a new level of
sophistication and efficiency."
"There have been a lot of self reported online physician studies but we have
been looking for a study based on actual online behavior," said Eugene Becker,
SVP, director of measurement and analytics at MRM Worldwide. "This is a great
leap forward."
About ImpactRx
Founded in October 2000, ImpactRx's physician networks are the source of an
unprecedented intelligence capability for tracking the promotional initiatives
of the pharmaceutical industry and for measuring their impact on physician
prescribing behavior. Based in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, ImpactRx is a private
company with investment financing provided by Mediphase Venture Partners
(www.mediphaseventure.com), Oxford Bioscience Partners (www.oxbio.com), Merck
Capital Ventures and Omega Funds.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital
world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more
information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
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SOURCE comScore, Inc.
Sarah Radwanick of comScore, Inc., +1-312-775-6538, press@comscore.com; or
Marie Fortier of ImpactRx, Inc., +1-856-273-0221 Ext. 138,
mfortier@impactrx.com
