SERMO unveils first global physician-to-physician drug ratings tool

SERMO, the largest global social network for physicians with 650,000 members worldwide, has announced the groundbreaking new "Drug Ratings" tool. Drug Ratings is the first and only global peer-to-peer prescription drug review system sourced exclusively from verified licensed physicians. With more than a quarter million ratings and 20,000 comments from doctors worldwide to date in the beta release, the Ratings platform is quickly becoming the largest global database of physician feedback on drugs.

Integrated into the SERMO social network, Drug Ratings gives physicians a clinical decision support tool where they can research, rate, and share their direct experience on the efficacy, safety, tolerability, accessibility, and adherence of specific drugs in real time. Official clinical trial data and product monographs are only half of the story; aggregate real-world experience from peers is the other half. By supplementing manufacturer information with ratings and commentary, physicians gain a deeper look at treatments before they prescribe to support better treatment decisions. Physician reviews and ratings of drugs in this way are a new phenomenon - while drug review sites that gather information from patients exist, there is no doctor-only global database of drug reviews other than SERMO Drug Ratings.

"This is revolutionary for doctors - we trust our peers' experiences most and often refer to each other when deciding what to prescribe. Drug Ratings lets us hear from more of our colleagues, from all around the world in real time," said Dr. Linda Girgis, a family practitioner in New Jersey.

"To date, there have not been networks for physicians to share important information about experiences with the medications prescribed for patients. This new tool offers a large community of physicians access to see the subtle issues involved with medications. Ratings will be an invaluable part of physicians' daily routines. This level of transparency will enhance patient care," said Dr. Heidi Moawad, a neurologist who participated in the beta testing of the Drug Ratings tool.

The doctors' points are substantiated by recent SERMO polling of more than 4,500 doctors, conducted before the tool was released to members:

74 percent of doctors believe drug reviews from other doctors would help inform their prescribing choices(1)

83 percent report that the opinion or feedback of another physician has changed their perception of a drug, and 52 percent feel they don not have all the information they would want about a drug before prescribing(2)

80 percent trust recommendations of a very large number of real-world doctors with product experience over the recommendations of a very small number of key opinion leaders/academics(2)

77 percent rely on Amazon reviews to help inform buying choices(1)

91 percent think that pharmaceutical marketing 'spins' - misrepresents, omits, or otherwise adjusts - information about drugs to show them in a more positive light at least some of the time(2)

69 percent feel that doctors have a better understanding of how a drug works in the real world than pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, or patients(2)

On the SERMO social network, physicians can crowdsource patient cases and seek advice from their peers. Drug Ratings takes this collaboration, known as medical crowdsourcing, to a new level by enabling physicians to instantly access their peers' aggregated personal experiences with drugs. Doctors can search for drugs by brand name, generic name, as well as branded generic name and compare different drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat an indication. The Drug Ratings tool is particularly valuable for physicians researching new-to-market drugs, as open discussions on how certain drugs have performed in the real world for early adopters can be quickly reviewed, disseminated, and adopted more broadly.

"Drug Ratings by doctors, for doctors is the next big frontier of real-world medicine. We believe it will change the way physicians prescribe drugs because they will have the ability to weigh thousands of peer insights when making treatment decisions. By facilitating a seamless knowledge exchange between global doctors, Drug Ratings leads to improved decision-making and better patient outcomes," said Peter Kirk, CEO of SERMO. "Drug Ratings is transparent and democratized medical knowledge from and for doctors around the world. Manufacturers and insurers have been calling the shots when it comes to the evaluation and adoption of drugs in recent decades; Drug Ratings levels the playing field. It gives doctors back their voice in this important discussion. Consumers have Amazon, Yelp or Trip Advisor. Now physicians have peer-to-peer Drug Ratings."

About SERMO and SERMO Drug Ratings
SERMO is the leading global social network for physicians where more than 650,000 fully verified and licensed physicians from over 30 countries talk real-world medicine, collectively patient solve cases, respond to healthcare polls, and earn honorarium from surveys.

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.

SERMO is also the world's largest healthcare professional (HCP) polling company. The SERMO research network is comprised of 1.8 million HCPs from 80 countries, 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.

1. SERMO poll of 1,649 doctors from Argentina, Austria, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Colombia, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, the United States, Venezuela, and South Africa. It was fielded in March 2017. The margin of error is ± 2%.
2. SERMO poll of 2,918 doctors from Argentina, Austria, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, India, Italy, Sri Lanka, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, the United States, Venezuela and South Africa. It was fielded in April 2017. The margin of error is ± 2%.