Research
The Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management has an established history of securing funding from varied resources that goes back to even before it was designated an official center within RIPS. The Center receives substantial external funding from Federal agencies (like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), non-profit associations, and various pharmaceutical companies.
Because of the strong alignment between the missions of the CPMM and the Department of Pharmacy Administration most research is conducted as collaborative projects between the two units. The three research program areas of emphasis in the CPMM are:
Medication Use Outcomes Research Program (MUORP)
Projects in the MUORP take advantage of the faculty’s skills in both primary research and the analysis of large secondary data sets. The CPMM maintains a PHI Restricted Research Server for outcomes research using Medicare, Medicaid, and other administrative claims data sets. These data sets, along with national survey data sets and prescription data sets from community pharmacies, are used by the faculty and graduate students to conduct pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacovigilance research projects.
Given the powerful link between medication use and health outcomes, the CPMM research and initiatives in this area stand to improve health benefit design and prescription drug utilization for Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries and Medicare recipients nationwide.
Pharmacy Entrepreneurship Program (PEP)
Pharmacies are an important small business in the state of Mississippi and are critical to the access and provision of healthcare nationally. Activities in the PEP include research to understand innovation in today’s pharmacy practice and the development of new healthcare services. It also includes initiatives to assist community pharmacies in adapting to today’s environment by providing advice to individuals who are struggling to remain viable.
A major project in the PEP is the dissemination of the RxSync for Pharmacies™ manual that assists community pharmacies in adopting the RxSync Service™. This project has the potential to help community pharmacies be more competitive while increasing patient compliance, satisfaction, and health outcomes. The projects in PEP are beneficial to small businesses that are an essential part of providing healthcare in the state and the nation.
Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Program (PMRP)
Activities in the PMRP include research to understand pharmaceutical companies’ practices and how they affect utilization of medications – examples of this can be seen in direct-to-consumer advertising and strategies to affect physician prescribing. This program has conducted research to investigate medication use patterns in various populations, test various marketing strategies, and measures the influence various factors have on the prescribing of pharmaceuticals. The PMRP has also conducted analyses of new drugs to evaluate their commercial viability – including compounds being developed at the National Center for Natural Products Research, the other research center within RIPS. The true potential of this program lies in developing strategies to affect appropriate marketing and prescribing of pharmaceuticals. As a result, this program area has the potential to enhance utilization of cost-saving and appropriate medications in Mississippi and the nation.