The FICO score for drugs; First of its kind clinical decision tool now includes 600,000 ratings
Sermo, the largest global social network for physicians, today announced major growth in physician ratings of pharmaceutical drugs on its one-of-a-kind Drug Ratings platform. With 625,000 individual ratings across several criteria submitted exclusively by physicians as of March 2018, Drug Ratings is the largest unbiased, global database of physician feedback on drugs.
“Doctors have always sought out the experiences of their peers to inform their practice of medicine, and Drug Ratings offers our members the ability to share and find aggregated feedback in real time. Sermo was founded with the mission to revolutionize real-world medicine by connecting doctors and enabling the global sharing of medical information. Drug Ratings is putting this strategy into action every day on our network,” said Sermo CEO Peter Kirk.
Using Drug Ratings, Sermo’s community of global physicians has submitted more than three million data points, including ratings and comments on more than 2,100 pharmaceutical brands. In excess of 40,000 physicians have submitted ratings, and more than 60,000 have used the platform to search for ratings from their peers. The database now holds over 35,000 unique comments on physicians’ opinions on both new and established pharmaceuticals.
“I have often looked to my peers for their input and experiences, to inform my treatment plans and deliver the best care to my patients. Real world medicine is very different than clinical trials, making peer recommendations important to physicians. Drug Ratings brings this collaboration to scale in an unprecedented way,” said Dr. Howard Barenfeld, a U.S. pediatrician.
Statistics support the importance of peer influence in medicine. A poll of more than 2,900 Sermo physicians found that 83 percent reported that the opinion or feedback of a fellow physician has changed their perception of a drug. Further, 80 percent trust recommendations of a very large number of doctors with real-world experience with a drug, over the recommendations of a small number of key opinion leaders and academics. Underscoring physicians’ trust in the system, 84 percent believe Drug Ratings will lead to better patient outcomes.
“When it comes to finding information about prescription drugs, doctors are often limited to what’s provided by the manufacturer. In my experience, that does not capture the full picture of how patients experience drugs—including possible adverse effects, how much they pay out of pocket, and how well they work in the real world. Drug Ratings offers us the perspective and experience of our peers—which complements the information we get from product monographs and clinical trials,” said Dr. Len Antiles, a U.S. urologist.
Launched in May 2017, Drug Ratings is the only global peer-to-peer prescription drug review system sourced exclusively from verified licensed physicians. Drug Ratings gives physicians the ability to research, rate, and share their direct experience on the efficacy, safety, tolerability, accessibility, and adherence of specific drugs.
About Sermo & Sermo Drug Ratings
Sermo is the leading global social network for physicians where 800,000 fully verified and licensed physicians from more than 150 countries talk real-world medicine, review what peers think of different treatment options – including ratings and comments on prescription drugs – collectively solve cases, respond to healthcare polls, and earn honorarium from surveys.
Sermo is also the world’s largest healthcare professional (HCP) polling company. The Sermo research network is comprised of 1.8 million HCPs and includes 40 percent of the U.S. physician population. Most of the 700,000 surveys Sermo conducts annually are among specialist physicians – over 70 percent of physician members are specialists. Learn more at https://www.sermo.com.
Drug Ratings was developed by Sermo and Sermo physicians. The statistical methodology behind Ratings was developed and verified independently by biostatistics consultants led by Lee-Jen Wei of the Blue Null Consulting Group.