Startling data found by SK&A audit revels that more than half of healthcare-marketing data used by healthcare advertising agencies, medical device companies and 16 of the top-50 pharmaceutical companies is incorrect.

Irvine, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/11/2009 -- SK&A Information Services, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research, today announced the results of its year-long audit that shows nearly 60% of the 3.8 million healthcare contact records it evaluated on behalf of its clients were inaccurate when matched against SK&A's industry-leading databases of U.S. healthcare sites, practitioners and professionals.

The 2009 audit covered 297 data cleansing and resolution projects for 91 U.S. companies, including healthcare advertising agencies, medical device companies, medical equipment distributors, healthcare IT firms and 16 of the top-50 pharmaceutical companies.

"The results of SK&A's 12-month audit are direct proof companies wishing to build their businesses in the U.S. healthcare market must be committed to ongoing data quality strategy to help ensure the success of their sales and marketing objectives," said Dave Escalante, President and CEO of SK&A. "High-profile companies simply cannot afford to let data quality take a back seat, because, over time, inaccurate data will result in a decline in brand loyalty, inefficient execution of sales and marketing campaigns, as well as the real potential of lost business opportunities."

The findings revealed the primary reason healthcare contact data was erroneous was because of incorrect mailing addresses, which represented 32.4% of the records that SK&A processed and attempted to resolve. The percentage of mailing address error is more than six times the U.S. Postal Service's estimate that 5% of all mail is undeliverable as addressed. Other leading reasons for error in the audited data were physicians and professionals who were deceased, moved or retired (15.6%) and telephone numbers that were incorrect or disconnected (10.2%).

Problems associated with inaccurate healthcare contact data include money wasted on postage, misdirected sales calls, inefficient telemarketing, wasteful and ineffective marketing with customers and prospects, and damaged corporate and brand reputation. It is estimated bad data costs U.S. companies more than $600 billion each year, according to the Data Warehousing Institute.

The healthcare data audit was conducted through SK&A's DMR Source Verified Service, a data cleansing and contact resolution service that uses sophisticated match-identification technology and research-based manual resolution to identify and fix data errors. After matching records to SK&A's accurate databases of Office-Based Physicians, Hospitals, Pharmacies, Nursing Homes, and nearly 10-year-old "inactive" provider and professional dataset, SK&A performs telephone and Internet research, at the client's request, to resolve the most problematic contact records. All DMR Source Verified Service agreements are delivered through SK&A's Irvine, California-based Research Center, where more than 6,000 telephone calls are made each business day to healthcare sites in the U.S.

Summary of SK&A's 2009 Audit of Healthcare Contact Data

Inaccurate Data 59.8%
Accurate Data 40.2%
Total 100%

Top 3 Reasons for Inaccurate Data
Bad Addresses 32.4%
Deceased, Moved or Retired Professionals 15.6%
Bad Telephone Numbers 10.2%

About SK&A Information Services, Inc.
Celebrating its 27th anniversary, SK&A researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A offers the only database of 100% telephone-verified email addresses. SK&A's customers include many of America's most recognized healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions. Please visit http://www.skainfo.com for more information or http://www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering.

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SK&A promotes Jack Schember to VP of Marketing and expands the job responsibilities of VP of Operations Albert Chang.

Irvine, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/07/2009 -- SK&A Information Services, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research, announces the promotion of Jack Schember to VP of Marketing and the expanded responsibilities of VP of Operations Albert Chang. Both management changes were made in the third quarter of 2009.

Schember, who has been with SK&A since 2006, is recognized for driving a 99-percent increase in sales leads as well as a 259-percent increase in marketing-generated sales revenue during his tenure with the company. He also led the revitalization of SK&A's brand image and its new-media visibility by means of its website, videos, social-media platforms, and the blogosphere.

"I have the absolute confidence that Jack and his marketing team will continue to drive SK&A's brand forward, enabling us to maintain existing clients, sign new ones, grow our business, and continue to expand SK&A's presence in the U.S. market," said Dave Escalante, President and CEO of SK&A.

Prior to joining SK&A as a Director, Schember was a marketing manager for the software division at Melissa Data. His career spans more than 15 years with experience in direct and interactive marketing, media relations, magazine and catalog publishing, and event management.

The role of Albert Chang, who recently celebrated his one-year anniversary with SK&A, as VP of Operations, has been expanded to oversee the SK&A Research Center where the company's in-house database of two million healthcare-provider and professional contacts is cultivated, maintained and verified. This also includes the direction of Research Center projects like DMR Source Verified, a data cleansing and appending service, and Market Research Services for SK&A clients. Chang also leads Corporate IT, Data Fulfillment, Customer Service, Software Engineering, and Quality Assurance Departments.

"In a very short time, Albert has proven to be an effective manager and leader of many of SK&A's vital corporate operations. Albert is a great asset to our company," continued Escalante.

Before joining SK&A, Chang served as VP of Data Quality Management for Experian and previously ran operations for JP Morgan Chase and The Bank of New York. He brings with him 16 years of experience in the area of operations and finance management.

About SK&A Information Services, Inc.
Celebrating its 27th anniversary, SK&A researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A also offers the largest database of telephone-verified practitioner email addresses. SK&A's customers include many of America's most recognized healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions. Please visit http://www.skainfo.com for more information or http://www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

SK&A survey finds that 83% of U.S. medical offices accept Medicare and 65% accept Medicaid.

Irvine, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/28/2009 -- With last month's U.S. Census Bureau report showing that the number of Americans supported by government-sponsored health insurance plans rose to 87.4 million in 2008 — 29% of the U.S. population — SK&A, a leading provider of healthcare information and research, today released its Physician Office Acceptance of Government Insurance Programs Report, which reveals that 83% of U.S. medical offices accept Medicare and 65% accept Medicaid.

SK&A surveyed 178,000 U.S. office-based physician medical offices about their acceptance of the government-funded programs Medicare and Medicaid. The survey found Medicare and Medicaid acceptance to be largely influenced by variables such as the size, ownership, location and specialty of the physician practices.

For example, large practices with 26 or more physicians are more likely to accept Medicare (87.1%) and Medicaid (83.6%) than smaller practices with between one and 10 physicians. The higher the patient volume, the more likely it is the practices accept these programs. Offices with daily patient volumes greater than 31 have acceptance rates of 84% for Medicare and 68.4% for Medicaid.

The ownership of the practice is influential in Medicaid acceptance policies. Acceptance of Medicaid is higher with hospital-owned practices (82.1%) compared with non-hospital-owned practices (62.9%). For Medicare, acceptance patterns did not vary significantly by ownership.

SK&A also found that acceptance rates vary by physician specialty. Specialties with the highest Medicare acceptance rates are podiatry (97.6%), thoracic surgery (97.5%) and colon-rectal surgery (97%). Specialties with the lowest Medicare acceptance rates are occupational medicine (16%), holistic medicine (23.2%) and bariatrics (27.7%).

For Medicaid, the top three physician specialties that accept the program are dialysis (95.8%), nephrology (91.8%) and thoracic surgery (91.5%). The lowest acceptance rates for Medicaid come from, like in Medicare, occupational medicine (10%), holistic medicine (10.7%) and bariatrics (13.1%).

The Physician Office Acceptance of Government Insurance Programs Report (Insurance Report) was completed in the SK&A Research Center in Irvine, Calif., where a team of 75 Research Associates telephone-verifies the company's multidimensional databases of two million healthcare contacts and provides custom research for clients to achieve specific outcomes.

The best uses for SK&A's recent Insurance Report include:
• Providing support for healthcare insurance billing and coding accuracy
• Updating healthcare insurance network directories for members
• Supporting online physician lookup directories for consumers and patients
• Identifying the general and specific market size of public insurance programs

Editor's Note: For a copy of the summary findings for publication, please contact Jack Schember, SK&A's Vice President of Marketing, at 800-752-5478, ext. 1259.

About SK&A Information Services, Inc.
Celebrating its 27th anniversary, SK&A researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A also offers the only database of 100% telephone-verified email addresses. SK&A's customers include many of America's most recognized healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions. Please visit http://www.skainfo.com for more information or http://www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

In nearly half of practices, office managers set the policy for allowing sales-rep visits

Irvine, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/04/2009 -- In a national survey of U.S. medical practices, SK&A Information Services, Inc., a leading provider of healthcare information and research, found that office managers wield as much influence as lead physicians in determining the policy for allowing industry sales representatives to visit with physicians. Of the medical practices that allow visits, 48 percent of respondents said the office manager sets the policy while 47 percent said the lead physician sets the policy. Another five percent of survey respondents said the policy is established at the group headquarters level. Moreover, 97 percent said their sales rep visitation policy has been in place for two or more years.

The SK&A Research Center has been surveying U.S. medical offices on their physician access policies for two years, releasing survey results every six months. The latest study reveals the percentage of physicians who welcome visits from sales reps has remained stable during the past six months, increasing slightly from 76.4 percent in December 2008 to 77.3 percent in June 2009.

"Establishing a great business relationship with the office manager is imperative for sales reps trying to meet physicians face-to-face," said Dave Escalante, President and CEO of SK&A. "In nearly half of the medical offices surveyed, the office manager is the literal gatekeeper to seeing the physician. To provide enhanced support for their sales teams, pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and medical equipment companies are executing non-personal promotion marketing campaigns, primarily through direct mail and email, to educate the office manager on the value of their company's products and services."

While access to physicians has remained stable, the percentage of physicians who require or prefer appointments to be set for meetings jumped from 38.8 percent to 48.4 percent during the same time period. Among the many insights from SK&A's Physician Access study of 89 primary specialties:

• 22.7 percent of physicians refuse to see sales reps at any time. Specialty physicians, such as pathologists and radiologists, are much more likely to restrict access than general practitioners.
• 13 percent of group practices have general policies to restrict access to physicians at all their office locations, and seven percent have these policies at some locations.
• When medical practices are owned by hospitals, sales reps can expect more obstacles in reaching physicians. The survey found 29.3 percent of practices owned by hospitals have "no-see" policies.
• Medical practices owned by health systems are slightly more restrictive. The survey found 34.6 percent of these practices have "no-see" policies.
• The larger offices are, the harder it will be to see physicians. Physicians in larger practices, as measured by number of doctors, are less accessible than those with fewer physicians in practice. No access jumps from 13.7 percent in offices with one to two physicians to 42.2 percent in offices with 10 or more doctors.
• Finally, regionally, the West is most restrictive with a 30 percent no-access rate, followed by the East (23 percent), the North (21.7 percent) and the South (19.5 percent).

These findings were based on telephone interviews with 224,895 medical practices representing 649,331 doctors. The physician list is available for sale to assist healthcare marketers in appointment-setting and connecting with prescribers. Custom reports based on geography, specialty, practice ownership or sizes are also available, upon request.

Editor's Note: For a copy of the summary findings for publication, please contact Jack Schember, SK&A's Director of Marketing, at 800-752-5478 x 1259.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm