Cegedim passes 8-million mark with validated, global identification of healthcare providers

In something of an industry first, Cegedim (Paris; US HQ in Bedminster, NJ) is commemorating its success in building a healthcare-provider database that has now crossed eight million--and counting. The achievement comes about, in part, through Cegedim's acquisition, two years ago, of SK&A Information, which manages a US-centric master list of HCPs (now over two million records), and combining it with its OneKey database service for Europe and elsewhere. But this isn't a simple mashup of two databases; both SK&A and Cegedim operate call centers that continually update HCP records during the year. Cegedim says that the international list complies, country by country, with privacy or governmental policies for recordkeeping. The SK&A data include state-level licenses, DEA or NPI identifiers, as well as practice-specific details.

Cegedim also recently announced one of its first multinational database buyers: Actelion Pharma, which is using the HCP data for 25 countries for its global marketing efforts. "In today's market, superior data quality is the most crucial advantage in fast growing emerging markets," said Christoph Schmidt, head of global commercial excellence at Actelion. "Now emboldened with better market knowledge, we can fully maximize our commercial potential in developed and nascent economies throughout our global footprint." Cegedim notes that Actelion is integrating OneKey data with its CRM tools, via an IT solution called OneKey Connect.

What can a multinational pharma company do with a multinational database, given that each country operates differently, and marketing materials are rarely universal (if only for language barriers)? One element is the fact that healthcare itself is becoming a cross-border activity; another is that clinical research occurs broadly across many countries. A possible third element is the institution of aggregate-spend or "sunshine" rules, which require pharma companies to report financial and similar transactions between themselves and HCPs; the US is not the only country establishing this system. But perhaps the main driver is the simplest one: pharma companies have traditionally had a difficult time maintaining up-to-date records of prescribers and other buying influences; with the OneKey resource, there is the possibility of maintaining these lists to a common standard across the organization.