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Blog · Coverage and territory · Pharma

Ten questions a pharma commercial head asks, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a pharmaceutical commercial head puts to the field and market access teams, what is reach and frequency among accounts that can prescribe, which calls went to blocked accounts, did the formulary win pull through, which territories are balanced on writable potential, which samples moved anything, which accounts have open access and no call, what did the cycle plan say against what happened, where did access change this month, which reps are off plan, and what changed, each with the table from the call log, the access file and the prescription data, and the answer to send back.

The short answerA pharma commercial head's questions are about whether the field's effort reaches accounts that can prescribe, and each has a table from the call log, the dated access file and the prescription data: reach and frequency among open and restricted accounts; calls on blocked accounts per rep; pull-through after access changes against unchanged accounts; territories balanced on access-weighted potential; sample-associated change against the comparison group; open-access accounts with no call; off-plan calls and plan versions; access changes this month; reps off cycle plan; and the movements page. Every account is in one access state per month, and the answer to send back is reach computed over all accounts.

A pharma commercial head asks the field for reach and gets a percentage over every account, including the ones where the product cannot be written. The call log, the dated access file and the prescription data hold the honest version as tables. This guide is the ten questions, the tables, and the answer to send back.

The ten

# The question The table Identity Send back
1 What is reach and frequency where the product can be prescribed? Reach and frequency among open and restricted accounts, by territory Targets in four access states Reach over all accounts
2 Which calls went to blocked accounts? Calls on blocked accounts per rep, share of calls Calls by access state on the call date Call counts
3 Did the formulary win pull through? Prescriptions after the change vs unchanged accounts; called vs not Comparison group unchanged throughout Own change only
4 Are the territories balanced on writable potential? Access-weighted potential per territory; ratio; continuity Σ territories = region Prescriber counts
5 Which samples moved anything? Sample-associated change per territory and tier vs comparison Sampled plus unsampled per cell Own change only
6 Which open-access accounts have no call? Open status, no call this cycle, by category volume Same as 1 Uncalled accounts of all states
7 What did the cycle plan say against what happened? Planned vs actual calls by account, off-plan calls, plan version Calls in plan or off plan Activity totals
8 Where did access change this month? Access changes by plan and territory, dated Every change dated An undated access file
9 Which reps are off plan? Off-plan share per rep, with the accounts Same as 7 Calls per day
10 What changed? The movements page Every line cites Narrative

A worked exchange

Commercial head: What is reach where we can be prescribed? Response: Territory T-04: 61 percent among open and restricted, against 72 over all accounts. Nearly half its calls went to sixty-two blocked accounts. Tables 1 and 2. Commercial head: Did March's win pull through? Response: In T-04, yes: 85 percent of opened accounts called, plus 2.7 scripts against the comparison group. In T-11, 23 percent called and the called ones moved as much as T-04's. Thirty-seven open accounts nobody visited. Table 3. Commercial head: Are the territories balanced? Response: T-04 and T-11 are equal on prescriber count and unequal by two thirds on writable potential. Table 4, with the proposed map at 1.02 and 84 percent continuity.

Three tables, one region, one cycle.

Where it goes wrong

Reach over all accounts. Flattering, and wrong.

Access undated. Last quarter's formulary weights this quarter's calls.

Pull-through without the comparison group. The market credited to the win.

Territories balanced on counts. The rep with the blocked accounts set up to miss.

Every cycle, ten tables

Covirage produces the ten tables from the call log, the dated access file, the prescription data and the cycle plan, with every account in one state. The pharma page describes the setup, and the formulary status guide covers the dimension the first table depends on.

Questions people ask

Which question first?

Reach and frequency among accounts that can prescribe, because the same figures over all accounts are flattering and wrong, and everything the field does is judged against them. The access file dated to each month is what makes the denominator honest.

Do these need prescriber names?

No. Account identifiers, the access status per account per month, calls by rep and date, and prescriptions by account and week. The names stay in the source; every table is computed on identifiers.

What is the identity?

Target accounts equal open plus restricted plus blocked plus unknown, per month; calls equal calls on each access state; every access change has a date. A table that computes reach over all accounts regardless of state is sent back.