Technological Innovations in Professional Services

Abstract

The need for medical communications groups to provide technical and scientific information about their companies' products to internal and external customers continues to expand. Over the last five years, the Professional Services Department at Immunex Corporation has experienced a 150% increase in the number of requests for product information. Additionally, the Professional Services Department has become extensively involved in training the field sales force and strategically planning for the presentation and publication of scientific data. In close collaboration with other departments (eg, Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Information Services), the Professional Services Department has taken the lead in developing Web-based databases that rapidly disseminate key information to their various customers in a useful format. This article will describe the databases created by the Professional Services Department and the challenges that were faced in their development. In addition, a formula for successful development and implementation of electronic databases will be suggested.