When physicians want thoughts on a certain drug, it’s not uncommon for them to stop a trusted colleague in the hallway and ask about its efficacy. But what if none of their colleagues are knowledgeable about the drug?
That’s not a problem anymore. SERMO, a physician social network based in New York City, New York, has revealed its new physician-to-physician “Drug Ratings” tool.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
SERMO and its physicians created Drug Ratings, and the methodology for it was formed by biostatistics consultants led by Lee-Jen Wei of the Blue Null Consulting Group.
With the tool, physicians can not only research specific drugs, but also rate and share their experiences with the tolerability and accessibility of certain drugs. They can comment on everything from the drug’s safety to efficacy to adherence. Instead of relying solely on clinical trial data, physicians can utilize information from colleagues who are well-versed in the drug’s effects.
In the beta release, Drug Ratings, which is searchable by drug name, had over 250,000 ratings and 20,000 comments from physicians around the world.
Dr. Heidi Moawad, a neurologist, participated in the beta testing of Drug Ratings about one month ago. “The main thing I thought was it was easy to use and relevant,” she told MedCity in a phone interview. “If you want to know something about a particular drug, it would be easy to type it in and get feedback from other physicians.” This doctor-to-doctor feedback, Moawad said, is what physicians consider “most trustworthy.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Moawad said that so far, she hasn’t found anything she disliked or thought could be improved about the tool.
Dr. Linda Girgis, a family practitioner and a member of SERMO’s advisory board, shared a similar sentiment. “This is revolutionary for doctors — we trust our peers’ experiences most and often refer to each other when deciding what to prescribe,” she said in a statement. “Drug Ratings lets us hear from more of our colleagues, from all around the world in real time.”
Moawad’s and Girgis’ thoughts are backed up by the findings of an April 2017 SERMO poll of nearly 3,000 physicians across the globe. The poll found 80 percent of surveyed physicians trust the advice of a large number of real-world doctors with product experience more than the advice of a small group of academics.
Drug Ratings is crucial at a time like this because physicians “have very important concerns when it comes to safety and efficacy,” Moawad said. “When you see doctors are consistently saying the same thing, whether good or bad, it helps with the decision-making.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article referred to “SERMO” as “Sermo.”
Photo: Sezeryadigar, Getty Images
