Banning Pharmaceutical Logos in Hospitals
A health system located in Minnesota and Wisconsin recently prohibited all branded materials within its 4 hospitals and 17 clinics. This new policy, that has been said to be “one of the toughest in the nation,” prohibits pharmaceutical companies from influencing doctors by limiting and controlling interaction between drug reps and doctors and excluding everything from pens and notepads to surgical caps and stethoscopes; essentially anything bearing a logo.
While some experts feel these materials can influence doctors to prescribe branded drugs over generics and therefore should be banned, others believe that by imposing such tight constraints important drug information and resources will be lost as well. What do you think this could mean for the future of healthcare branding?
I continue to be amazed at how willing states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont and others are to freely admit one or both of the following premises:
1. Their physicians are so stupid as to be easily influenced into prescribing drugs for patients based on seeing a logo on a notepad
2. Their physicians are so corrupt as to be easily influenced in the same way.
Interestingly, physicians never speak out to challenge either premise.
Personally, having grown up in Wisconsin and lived in Minnesota, I blame it on the effects of sustained brain cell exposure to cold temperatures. That, or it’s connected to excessive mosquito bites.