Medicare plans to launch a new site designed to help seniors compare prices of their prescription drugs. The site is designed to allow Medicare participants to come to the site and look up prices of their specific medications at nearby stores that accept Medicare-certified discount cards. Some skeptics argue that other website, such as Drugstore.com, already offer drug price-comparison tools, and that an additional Medicare drug price-comparison site is unnecessary. Link to complete article.

WebMd has launched a Medicare Rx Benefits Resource Center . This new resource area will provide comprehensive information about Medicare and new prescription drug benefits for seniors and their caregivers. The WebMd Medicare center, which was developed in conjunction with The National Council on the Aging, will provide access to various tools related to Medicare drug coverage and eligibility, tools to compare prescription prices, information about medical conditions, medications and other health related issues. Complete Article.

Getting samples into the hands of the right physicians the right time may be the single most effective marketing tactic. The practice of eSampling, however, has yet to catch on in a signficant way. Yet, done correctly, sampling via the Web is an efficient way to reach more physicians at low cost.

Intelligent Online Sampling Strategies from Pharma Marketing News (available until 5/25)
The “e”volution of Pharmaceutical Marketing from MDNetGuide

Online market research is coming of age in 2004 as pharma marketers embrace the Internet as an effective alternative to traditional means such as telephone and structured face-to-face interviews. Conducting quantitative market research online is proving to be more effective, faster, cheaper and preferred by physicians over traditional means. This article also discusses some of the pitfalls of online market research to be avoided. Read more here.